In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
A Concise Summary of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
The divisions of the call to Islam (Da'wah).
The call to Islam during the life of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is divided into two phases:
The Meccan phase and the Medinan phase.
The Meccan phase is further divided into two parts:
The secret phase.
This lasted for three years.
And the public phase.
This was by speech only, without combat.
It began from the start of the fourth year of the Prophetic mission.
And continued until the migration to Medina.
The secret call to Islam.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, began to call those he trusted to Islam in secret.
He informed his wife Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, may Allah be pleased with her, and his daughters.
And Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him.
He was under the care of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
And his freedman, Zayd Ibn Harithah.
The first to believe in him from outside his household was:
Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him.
He entered the religion of Allah during this early period of the call.
“Is he whose bosom Allah hath expanded for Al-Islam, so that he followeth a light from his Lord, (as he who disbelieveth)? Then woe unto those whose hearts are hardened against remembrance of Allah. Such are in plain error.” (39:22)
A small number of the early noble Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, embraced Islam.
These individuals accepted Islam in secret.
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would meet with them and guide them in the religion while remaining hidden.
This was because the call was still individual and secret.
The revelation had continued and intensified following the descent of the beginning of Surah al-Muddaththir.
People began to hear whispers of the call to Islam.
During this secret period, the poor and the enslaved entered the faith.
A Concise Summary of the Prophetic biography (Seerah).
Authored by Sheikh Musa al-Rashid al-Azimi.
Presented by the Mawaddah Association in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
If the longing of all worlds for one another is great,
The longing for you, O Prophet, knows no bounds.
May Allah send blessings upon you as long as the call to prayer is raised,
And as long as lips move in remembrance.