众所周知,麦加是阿拉伯人的中心,也是克尔白天房的看守者所在之地。所有阿拉伯人所崇拜的偶像和石刻神像,其守护与看管都掌握在麦加人手中。因此,在这个被视为偶像崇拜巢穴的地方,要达成改革与正道的目标是何等艰难。在这样的环境中开展工作,无疑需要坚定不移的意志和决心,这正是伊斯兰的号召之所以采取秘密方式的原因,以免麦加人因突如其来的惊扰而愤怒。

It is well-known that Makkah was the centre for the Arabs, and housed the custodians of Al-Ka‘bah. Protection and guardianship of the idols and stone graven images that received veneration on the part of all the Arabs lay in the hands of the Makkans. Hence the difficulty of hitting the target of reform and rectitude in a place considered the den of idolatry. Working in such an atmosphere no doubt requires unshakable will and determination, that is why the call unto Islam assumed a clandestine form so that the Makkans should not be enraged by the unexpected surprise.

先知(愿主福安之)很自然地从家中开始他的神圣使命,然后逐步向与他关系最亲近的人传达。凡是他认为会确认从主那里降临之真理的人,他都召唤他们归信伊斯兰。事实上,许多对先知(愿主福安之)毫无一丝怀疑的人,立即响应,并欣然接受了真正的信仰。伊斯兰文献称他们为早期皈依者:先知的妻子、信士们的母亲海蒂彦(Khadijah)首先进入伊斯兰的大门,随后是他的被释奴宰德·本·哈里萨(Zaid bin Harithah),他的堂兄阿里·本·艾比·塔利卜('Ali bin Abi Talib),阿里自幼便与他一同生活,接着是他的挚友艾布·伯克尔·易斯兰·西迪格(Abu Bakr As-Siddiq,意为"证实真理者")。所有这些人都在召唤开始的第一天便宣誓归信伊斯兰。 艾布·伯克尔自从他皈依伊斯兰的第一天起,便成为一位充满活力、极其热忱的行动者。他富有、乐于助人、温和且正直。人们常到他家中,因他的学识、友善、令人愉快的陪伴和生意而亲近他。他邀请他所信任的人归信伊斯兰,通过他个人的努力,不少人皈依了伊斯兰,例如奥斯曼·本·阿凡(‘Uthman bin ‘Affan Al-Umawi)、祖拜尔·本·阿瓦姆(Az-Zubair bin ‘Awwam Al-Asadi)、阿卜杜勒·拉赫曼·本·奥夫(‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf)、萨阿德·本·艾比·瓦卡斯(Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas)、祖赫里(Az-Zuhri)和塔勒哈·本·乌拜杜拉(Talhah bin ‘Ubaidullah At-Tamimy)。这八人构成了阿拉伯半岛新信仰的先驱,更确切地说,是先锋。 在最早的穆斯林之中，有阿比西尼亚人毕拉勒·本·拉巴赫，来自哈里斯·本·法尔部落的阿布·欧拜代·本·吉拉赫（穆斯林民族中最可信赖的人），阿布·赛拉迈·本·阿卜杜·阿萨德，马赫祖姆部落的阿尔格姆·本·阿比·阿尔格姆，奥斯曼·本·马兹欧尊及其两位兄弟古达玛和阿卜杜拉，阿卜杜·马纳夫之子穆塔利卜之孙哈里斯·本·穆塔利卜之子欧拜代，阿丹部落的赛义德·本·載德及其妻子法蒂玛（哈塔卜之女，欧麦尔·本·哈塔卜之妹），哈巴ㅂ·本·阿拉特，阿卜杜拉·本·麦斯欧德·哈兹利，以及许多其他人。他们都是穆斯林的先行者。他们分属古莱氏的各个支系。传记作家伊本·希沙姆统计，他们超过四十人。

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) naturally initiated his sacred mission right from home and then moved to the people closely associated with him. He called unto Islam whomsoever he thought would attest the truth which had come from his Lord. In fact, a host of people who nursed not the least seed of doubt as regards the Prophet (Peace be upon him), immediately responded and quite readily embraced the true faith. They are known in the Islamic literature as the early converts, Khadijah, the Prophet’s spouse, the mother of believers, was the first to enter the fold of Islam followed by his freed slave Zaid bin Harithah, his cousin, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, who had been living with him since his early childhood, and next came his intimate friend Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (Abu Bakr the truth verifier). All of those professed Islam on the very first day of the call. Abu Bakr, and from the first day he embraced Islam, proved to be an energetic and most zealous activist. He was wealthy, obliging, mild and upright. People used to frequent his house and draw nigh to him for his knowledge, amity, pleasant company and business. He invited whomever he had confidence in to Islam and through his personal efforts a good number of people converted to Islam, such as ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan Al-Umawi, Az-Zubair bin ‘Awwam Al-Asadi, ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Awf, Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas, Az-Zuhri and Talhah bin ‘Ubaidullah At-Tamimy. Those eight men constituted the forerunners and more specifically the vanguard of the new faith in Arabia. Among the early Muslim were Bilal bin Rabah (the Abyssinian), Abu ‘Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah from Bani Harith bin Fahr (the most trustworthy of the Muslim Nation), Abu Salamah bin ‘Abd Al-Asad, Al-Arqam bin Abi Al-Arqam from the tribe of Makhzum, ‘Uthman bin Maz‘oun and his two brothers Qudama and ‘Abdullah, ‘Ubaidah bin Al-Harith bin Al-Muttalib bin ‘Abd Munaf, Sa‘id bin Zaid Al-‘Adawi and his wife Fatimah - daughter of Al-Khattab (the sister of ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab), Khabbab bin Al-Aratt, ‘Abdullâh bin Mas‘ud Al-Hadhali and many others. These were the Muslim predecessors. They belonged to various septs of Quraish. Ibn Hisham, a biographer, counted them to be more than forty.

伊本·易司哈格说："此后，人们成群结队地进入伊斯兰教的门下，无论男女，这一新的信仰再也无法隐秘地保存下去了。"

Ibn Ishaq said: “Then people entered the fold of Islam in hosts, men or women and the new faith could no longer be kept secret.”.

先知（愿主赐福并使其平安）曾在私下里与新皈依者相聚，向他们讲授宗教，因为当时伊斯兰的宣教仍是以个人和秘密的方式进行。启示加快了速度，并在“披着衣服的人啊”这最初几节之后继续降下。这一时期降示的经文和章节篇幅都很短，停顿有力，节奏极其动人，与那种细语低吟的氛围完全协调。贯穿其中的核心主题，是净化灵魂，并警戒穆斯林不要落入今世虚幻浮华的迷惑。早期的经文还对火狱与乐园（天堂）作了极为精确的描述，引导信士走上一条与当时同族中盛行的恶行截然相反的新路。

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to meet and teach, the new converts, the religion in privacy because the call to Islam was still running on an individual and secret basis. Revelation accelerated and continued after the first verses of “O you wrapped in garments.” The verses and pieces of Sûrah (chapters) revealed at this time were short ones with wonderful strong pauses and quite fascinating rhythms in full harmony with that delicate whispering setting. The central topic running through them focused on sanctifying the soul, and deterring the Muslims from falling prey to the deceptive glamour of life. The early verses used as well to give a highly accurate account of the Hell and the Garden (Paradise), leading the believers down a new course diametrically opposed to the ill practices rampant amongst their compatriots.

穆卡提勒·本·苏莱曼说：“拜功（礼拜）在伊斯兰宣教的早期就被确立为一种义务的功修，清晨两拜，傍晚也是两拜。”

Muqatil bin Sulaiman said: “Salât (prayer) was established as an obligatory ritual at an early stage of the Islamic Call, a two rak‘ ah (unit of prayer) Salât in the morning and the same in the evening;.

“你当赞颂你的主的超绝完美，赞颂你的主的时候，在晚间，也在清晨。”{40:55} Note: the parenthetical glosses in the original are rendered within the translation to preserve meaning: “你当在‘Ashi（即正午过后至日落之间的时段）和Ibkar（即日出或清晨至正午之前的时段）赞颂你的主的超绝完美。”{40:55}

“And glorify the praises of your Lord in the ‘Ashi (i.e. the time period after the mid-noon till sunset) and in the Ibkar (i.e. the time period from early morning or sunrise till before mid-noon).” [40:55].

伊本·希贾尔说:"先知(愿主福安之)在"夜行"之前确实有过礼拜,但礼拜在被规定为每日五次的常规拜功之前是否已确立为义务性的功课,仍是一个有争议的问题。据传,义务性的礼拜曾确立为每日两次,即日出之前的晨礼和日落之后的昏礼。有传述系列证明,当先知(愿主福安之)首次接受启示时,天使吉卜利勒(Gabriel)前来,教他如何行小净(Wudu)。先知(愿主福安之)完成后,他双手捧起一捧水,洒在自己的腰部。"

Ibn Hijr said: “Definitely the Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to pray before ‘The Night Journey’ but it still remains a matter of controversy whether or not the prayer was established as an obligatory ritual before imposing the rules of the usual five prayers a day. It is related that obligatory prayer was established twice a day, in the morning before sunrise and after sunset. It is reported through a chain of narrators that when the Prophet (Peace be upon him) received the first Revelation, Gabriel - the angel, proceeded and taught him how to observe Wudu (ablution). When the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had finished, he took a handful of water and sprinkled it on his loins.

据伊本·希沙姆记载，每当礼拜时间到了，安拉的使者ﷺ和他的圣门弟子们便走进一处山谷，秘密地礼拜。阿布·塔利卜有一次看见安拉的使者ﷺ和阿里在礼拜，便问他们在做什么。当他得知这是天命的拜功时，便叫他们坚持这一善行。

Ibn Hisham reported that when it was time for prayers, the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) and his Companions went into a mountain valley to pray secretly. Abu Talib once saw the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) and Ali praying, he asked them what they were up to. When he got to know that it was obligatory prayer, he told them to stay constant in their practice.

在这一阶段的宣教中,尽管是秘密进行、一对一地开展的,但其消息仍然走漏了出去,并在整个麦加引起了公众的关注。起初,麦加的领袖们并不太在意穆罕默德ﷺ,也不理会他的教导。他们最初以为穆罕默德ﷺ不过是一位宗教哲学家,与欧迈耶·本·艾布·萨勒特、古斯·本·赛伊德、阿慕尔·本·奴菲勒及其同类相似,这些人常常对神性和宗教义务发表议论。但这种漠不关心的态度很快转变为真正的忧虑。古莱氏的多神教徒开始密切而焦虑地留意穆罕默德ﷺ的一举一动,唯恐他的宣教会传播开来,并改变当时盛行的思想观念。

This stage of the Call, even though conducted in a clandestine manner and on an individual basis, its news leaked out and assumed a public interest all over Makkah. In the beginning, the Makkan leaders did not care much about Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and took no heed of his teachings. At first, they thought that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was merely a religious philosophist like Omaiyah bin Abi As-Salt, Quss bin Sa‘idah, ‘Amr bin Nufail and their ilk who used to philosophize on godship and religious obligations. But this attitude of indifference soon changed into real apprehension. The polytheists of Quraish began to watch Muhammad’s movements closely and anxiously for fear of spreading his Call and producing a change in the prevalent mentality.

经过三年的秘密活动，一群信士逐渐形成，他们彼此友爱、互相合作，心中只有一个明确的目标：传播伊斯兰的召唤，并使之在人心中牢固确立。整整三年，穆罕默德ﷺ一直满足于在一个相当狭小的圈子里施教。然而，公开宣讲主的信仰的时机已经到来。天使吉卜利里（Gabriel）为他带来了又一启示，即真主的旨意，要他去面对他的族人，推翻他们的虚妄，并摧毁他们的拜偶像行为。

For three underground years of activism, a group of believers emerged stamped by a spirit of fraternity and cooperation with one definite objective in their mind: propagating and deeply establishing the call unto Islam. For full three years Muhammad (Peace be upon him) had been content to teach within a rather narrow circle. The time had, however, come to preach the faith of the Lord openly. The angel Gabriel had brought him down a further Revelation of Allâh’s Will to confront his people, invalidate their falsehood and crush down their idolatrous practices.