Muhammad was going public with his ministry. This was around the year 613. So who would listen? When

Muhammad went public the backlash was not immediate from most Meccans – he received plenty of mockery, but no outright violence. That would soon change.

When Allah's succour and the triumph cometh

And thou seest mankind entering the religion of Allah in troops,

Then hymn the praises of thy Lord, and seek forgiveness of Him. Lo! He is ever ready to show mercy.

On the shores of Lake Michigan, in the near north suburbs of Chicago, sits a large white temple that is so impressive it was named one of the seven wonders of Illinois. Keep in mind Illinois contains all the eye-popping, history-making architecture of Chicago, so yeah, it’s a pretty amazing structure – even next to the Sears Tower, Trump Tower, Hancock Building and all the other Chicago marvels.  It is the North American headquarters of the Bahai Faith, whose founder – Baha-ullah -- was once a Muslim.

The Prophet said: Allah will raise for this community at the end of every hundred years the one who will renovate its religion for it. In Arabic, this person is called the Mujaddid, or one who brings renewal.

A mysterious force grabbed hold of him, and he could not move. The force ordered him to recite, and soon came the words of the first Islamic revelation:

Read: In the name of thy Lord Who createth,

Createthman from a clot.

Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous,

Who teacheth by the pen,

Teachethman that which he knew not.

In one sense, this surah is pretty self explanatory. Abu Lahab is not a fictional person – he was an actual early enemy of Islam. This explains what will ultimately happen to Abu Lahab, and to his wife, and to others like him who rail against Islam. There is also a larger metaphor at play here.

Sufis are Muslims who seek a direct experience of the divine. They can be Sunni or Shia or any other kind of Muslim, and trace their lineage directly to Muhammad. Sufis have always been small in number but great in influence, something they certainly have in common with their Christian counterparts.

O Allah's Messenger! How is the Divine Inspiration revealed to you?" Allah's Messenger replied, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says." 'Aisha added: Verily I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) being inspired divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over).

Muhammad didn’t receive his first revelation until he was 40, starting an action packed 12 years of ministry until his death. But what came before that?

There is little on Muhammad’s first 40 years, not dissimilar to the pre-ministry days of Jesus. And what is there, it really is impossible to tell legend from fact from hagiography.

Regardless of what you want to call it, there are a few good stories about Muhammad before his ministry. Here are my top 5:

Muhammad once called this surah “equivalent to one-third of the whole Quran.” The emphasis is on the oneness of God, the essential nature of God and the impossibility of comparing God to anything in his creation.