Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca, Arabia c. 570 AD which was the cultural and religious center of Arabia. Arabia was made up of semi-warring tribes worshipping many gods. At he heart of Mecca was the Ka'aba , a cube shaped shrine (as you see in photo) known as the House of Allah which contained 360 idols. Here Allah was worshipped along with the other gods.

Muhammad became dissatisfied with polytheism and became a Hunufa, literally, one of "those who turn away" seeking for truth in his inner consciousness. During the month of Ramadan, Muhammad used to retire in a desert cave on Mt. Hira to meditate. He was now 40 years of age and on one of these occasions he experienced a revelation.

One night while asleep or in a trance he heard a voice commanding him to "read" but since he could not read it was really a command to memorize and recite, "In the name of the Lord, who created ...." Surah 2:97). When he stepped outside the cave he saw an angel on the horizon and no matter in which direction he turned he saw the same vision. This lasted for a considerable time and then vanished. This experience left Muhammad fearful and shaken because he thought he may have encountered an evil spirit. In time he came to believe these revelations from Allah (God) which lasted for 23 years came through the archangel Gabriel as he states:

"Say: Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel-for he brings down the (revelation) to thy heart by Allah's will, a confirmation of what went before, and guidance and glad tidings for those who believe." (Surah 2:97) Muhammad also tells us, "They say: "(Allah) hath begotten a son" :Glory be to Him.-Nay, to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and on earth: everything renders worship to Him." (Surah 2:116)

In the New Testament we read that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her not to fear because "'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power or the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.'" (Lk 1:35)

The archangel Gabriel is here contradicting himself. He tells Mary that Jesus is the Son of God but c. 600 years later he tell Muhammad that Jesus is not the Son of God. This is an impossibility due to the nature of angels which do not forget. So, who revealed himself to Muhammad? If it was the same Gabriel, than Muhammad must have misunderstood the archangel. Or, if we maintain that Muhammad repeated only what he heard, it certainly was not a spirit who wanted the Arabs to believe that Jesus was God's Son. Was this an evil spirit? Considering the fact that Muhammad delivered the Arab world from paganism to worship the One God of Abraham, it does not appear so. So, how are we understand "this spirit" of revelation? It would appear more reasonable to presume that "this spirit" was acting upon Muhammad limited knowledge and understanding thus achieving only a limited perspective of faith and certainly not the ultimate vision of faith.

We know that his mystical experiences were painful. He would shudder violently, sweat profusely and fall into a trance. Every time he felt as if his soul was torn away from him. Maxime Rodinson has this to say: "It is ... conceivable that what Muhammad saw and heard may have been the supernatural beings described to him by the Jews and Christians with whom he talked. It is understandable that, in the words that came to him, elements of his actual experience, the stuff of his thoughts, dreams and meditations, and memories of discussions that he had heard should re-emerged, chopped, changed and transposed, with the appearance of immediate reality that seemed to him proof so some external activity which, although inaccessible to other men's minds, was yet wholly objective in nature." (Maxime Robingson, Muhammad, The New Press, NY., 1971, pg. 77)

If we compare Muhammad with Christ's revelations to mankind we discover that Christ's revelations were clear-eye, there was no trembling, sweating or trance but only the clear proclamation of the Truth. The only time Christ profusely sweated was in the garden of Gethsemane while contemplating his approaching death when he submitted his human nature, that is, his human will, to the will of the Father which was also His Divine Will.

Did Muhammad Speak the Word of God?