Question:
I have been watching your class, and you mentioned something about revelation coming to the Prophetﷺ. You said that Jibreel(AS) would come and recite to him, and after just one recitation, it would be recorded in his heart. You provided evidence for that. You also said that at other times, Jibreel (AS) would come and speak, and even if people were nearby, they would not understand—only the Prophetﷺ and Jibreel (AS) understood. I did not understand this. Please explain.
Answer:
Regarding becoming scholars or in matters of revelation (wahi)—revelation comes from Allahﷻ in various forms. One form is that Jibreel(AS) would come and recite, and the Prophetﷺ would listen and memorize it. That is one type.
Another type of revelation came not in words but like the sound of a bell. When we say “sound of a bell,” a person hears the sound but does not understand it as words. It cannot be comprehended directly. However, because he was a Prophetﷺ , Allahﷻ granted him the capacity to grasp and understand it.
An example to understand this: In the past, telegrams were used. When a telegram was sent, it was not possible to send actual voice or words. Instead, a machine would produce sounds—a series of clicks. Each letter had a specific number of clicks. For example, the letter “A” might be four clicks, “B” three clicks, and so on.
The person receiving would hear the clicks and convert them into letters, then into words like “Your father has passed away.” If you were just standing by, you would only hear clicks—you wouldn’t understand the message. But the trained operator understood because he knew the code.
Similarly, when revelation came like the sound of a bell, it was not in human language. The Prophetﷺ would understand it, but others would not.
Aisha (Mother of Believers) narrated in Sahih Bukhari (Hadith 2) about how revelation came. The Prophetﷺ said: “Sometimes revelation comes to me like the ringing of a bell, and this is the most difficult for me.”
That means the revelation came without human speech. The sound was not in words, but the Prophetﷺ understood its meaning. Others could not. If someone says it was not from Allahﷻ because it was not in words, that is incorrect. It was revelation, but in a form that required special understanding.
In modern times, we send messages directly in text, which is easy. In the time of telegrams, it was not like that. The message was sent as sound, and the receiver converted it. Similarly, revelation sometimes came as a sound that only the Prophetﷺ could comprehend with great difficulty.
In Sahih Bukhari (Hadith 3215), there is also a narration about this. Some revelations came through an angel in human form speaking directly, which was easier. But when it came like the sound of a bell, it was intense and difficult for the Prophetﷺ .