Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was forty years old – in the year 610 AD when the Divine Call came to him in his retreat in Hira, the cave to which he was in the habit of retreating to for prayer and contemplation. He beheld a gracious Presence, the Angel Gabriel, who asked him to recite. Holy Prophet answered that he knew not how to recite. The Angel took hold of Holy Prophet, squeezed him firmly against his body and insisted: “Recite in the name of thy Lord Who created: Created man from a clot of blood. Recite! Thy Lord is the Most Beneficent, who taught man by the pen, taught him what he knew not” (96:2-6). Holy Prophet Muhammad repeated the words as commanded. The Angel then vanished.