Baʿthah al-Rasūl

Baʿthah al-Rasūl refers to the beginning of the prophetic mission of Muḥammad ﷺ, understood in the Islamic sources as the moment he was chosen by Allah to receive revelation and convey His message to humanity. In the Qurʾānic worldview, this event represents the divine initiation of guidance for mankind through the final messenger, as part of the broader continuity of prophethood (Nubuwwah) established with earlier messengers.

The Qurʾān presents the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ as the final messenger, sent as a mercy to the worlds (raḥmah lil-ʿālamīn), and emphasizes that revelation is a divine act initiated by Allah alone. The beginning of this process is reflected in Sūrat al-ʿAlaq, where the first revealed verses command: “Recite in the name of your Lord who created” (Qurʾān 96:1–5). According to the authenticated reports in al-sunnah al-nabawiyyah, these verses were the first revelation received by the Prophet ﷺ in the Cave of Ḥirāʾ through the angel Jibrīl.

The sunnah describes that the Prophet ﷺ experienced the first revelation during a period of seclusion (taḥannuth) in Ḥirāʾ, where he would worship Allah according to the remaining monotheistic practice of his forefathers. The encounter with Jibrīl marked the transformation of this spiritual inclination into formal prophethood. The Prophet ﷺ returned to his household deeply affected by the experience, and his wife Khadījah bint Khuwaylid provided reassurance, affirming his noble character and supporting him in this moment of transition.

The sunnah further reports that Khadījah took him to her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who was familiar with earlier scriptures. He is reported to have recognized the experience as consistent with the coming of divine revelation to prophets, affirming that the one who came to him was the same messenger (Nāmūs) who had come to Moses. This early confirmation is significant in the sīrah tradition as it situates Baʿthah al-Rasūl within the continuity of earlier prophetic experiences.

Following this initial revelation, the sunnah records a temporary pause in revelation (fatrat al-waḥy). During this period, the Prophet ﷺ experienced longing for the return of revelation, which then resumed with the command to rise and warn (Qurʾān 74:1–7). This marked the transition from personal spiritual preparation to public proclamation of the divine message.

From the perspective of the Qurʾān, the prophetic mission begins with the call to tawḥīd (affirmation of the oneness of Allah), rejection of shirk, and moral accountability in preparation for the Day of Judgment. Early Meccan revelation emphasizes ethical reform, worship of Allah alone, and the restoration of justice in society. The sunnah complements this by describing how the Prophet ﷺ began inviting those closest to him to Islam before extending the message publicly.

The Qurʾān also indicates the inevitability of opposition to the messengers, and the early sīrah reflects this reality as Quraysh gradually resisted the message due to its challenge to inherited beliefs and social order. Despite opposition, the Prophet ﷺ remained patient, following the Qurʾānic command to endure with steadfastness, and continued delivering the message with wisdom and gentleness as described in the sunnah.

In Islamic theology, Baʿthah al-Rasūl marks the beginning of the final phase of divine guidance for humanity, culminating in the completion of revelation in the Qurʾān. The Prophet ﷺ is described in the Qurʾān as the seal of the prophets (khātam al-nabiyyīn), indicating the finality of his mission and the universality of his message.

In conclusion, Baʿthah al-Rasūl, understood through the Qurʾān and al-sunnah al-nabawiyyah, represents the divinely initiated beginning of the final prophetic mission. It establishes the foundation of Islamic revelation, defines the role of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ as messenger of Allah, and inaugurates the process through which the Qurʾān was revealed as guidance for all humanity.

## References

1 Qurʾān 96:1–5; 74: 1-7. 2 Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī, trans. Syed Muḥammad Ibrāhīm and Ḥabīb al-Raḥmān Ṣiddīqī (Karachi: Nafīs Academy, 1990), 2: 55-61. 3 Ṣafī al-Raḥmān Mubārakpūrī, al-Raḥīq al-Makhtūm (Urdu) (Lahore: Maktabah al-Salafiyyah, 1995), 96-102. 4 Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Yasār and Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām, Sīrat Ibn Hishām, Urdu trans. Syed Yāsīn ʿAlī Ḥusnī Niẓāmī (Lahore: Idārah Islāmiyāt, 1994), 1: 155-160. 5 Shiblī Nuʿmānī and Syed Sulaimān Nadwī, Sīrat al-Nabī (Lahore: Maktabah Khalīl, 1990), 1: 102-105. 6 Abū ʿUbayd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Saʿd al-Baṣrī, Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd, trans. ʿAbdullāh al-ʿAmadī (Karachi: Dār al-Ishāʿat, 2003), 1: 187-88. 7 Qāḍī Muḥammad Sulaymān Salmān Manṣūrpūrī, Wa-mā arsalnāka illā raḥmatan li’l-ʿālamīn (Lahore: Progressive Books, 2022), 33-35. 8 Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah, Urdu trans. Muḥammad Ismāʿīl al-Jarūwī (Karachi: Dār al-Ishāʿat, 2001), 1: 46-49