An Outline of Early Islamic History — Page 10
10 But Muhammad was not at ease. One day as he was returning home from the cave Hira, he heard a voice calling him. When he looked around, he had the vision of the same angel sitting on a chair perched high between the earth and the heavens. Muhammad was alar med. So, he hurried home. Again he asked his wife to cover him up. Then he heard a mighty voice commanding him to stand up, give glory to the Lord and warn all men. From that day on he heard the voice very often. Early Converts He now knew that he had been raised a Prophet. He started in earnest his great work of calling men to the One True God, the Lord of the Heavens and Earth. First he worked quietly among his friends and relations. His wife, the good lady Khadija, was the fir st to believe him. Among his friends Abu Bakr, among his relations Ali and among slaves Zaid readily accepted him. Abu Bakr was a wise man and highly respected by the people of Mecca. Ali was a boy of eleven and Zaid was the Prophet’s freed slave. Five mor e joined the new faith through the efforts of Abu Bakr. They were Usman bin Affan, Abdur Rehman bin Auf, Saad bin Abu Viqas, Zubair bin al Awam and Talib bin Ubaidullah. In a short time, more were added to the list. Their names are: Abu Ubaida bin al Jarra h, Abdullah bin Jahsh, Ubaidullah bin Jahsh, Abu Salma bin Abu Asad, Abu Hafiza bin Utba, Abdullah bin Masood, Saeed bin Zaid, Usman bin Mazoon, and Bilal the Abyssinian. Umm - e - Fazal, wife of Abbas, Asma, daughter of Abu Bakr and Fatima bin Khattab were th e only ladies beside Khadija,