Zams2001,
Let me tell you some things you may not understand.
Muhammad the prophet sincerely wanted to follow God, that much I truly believe. His history is such that in his early troubled childhood and on into his twenties and thirties, he did much to help his society. As he approached 40 years of age, he still could not shake from his troubled concerns about the debased state of his own people. He saw intertribal dissensions and he saw sects and creeds lead to disputes. When he looked at Judaism and Christianity during that era, he saw much the same problems. (Church history shows what was going on in Christendom at the time of Muhammad)
He withdraw to the cave on Mout Hira where he spent hours in prayer and contemplation. I'm sure he had plenty of times when his heart was in agony and emotional turmoil.
It was during one of these nights he received his first "revelation"
That this revelation was a momentous event in world history, can not be denied, no matter what you believe about it's truth. For Muhammad, he was totally convinced that it happened and it totally transformed his idea of who he was an what his mission in life was to be.
He came to a conviction that he should proclaim a new Word from God, that would drive him relentlessly for the rest of his life.
Now.. here is my concern Zams2001
Jewish and Christian traditions at the time had already a long history for the role of a prophet. Most of them, like Muhammed had an intense preoccupation with God. A strong compulsion came from that prophetic role to declare the will of God, regarding moral issues of the day. The scriptures of both religions speak loudly how to judge whether or not a vision is from God, or a prophet is a true prophet.
Amongst the pagan Arabs of Muhammad's time, there was no such tradition. They knew only of the Shair (knower or magician). These were men who generally attributed what was revealed to them, as coming by a familiar spirit or a jinn/shaytan.
Traditions show that Muhammad immediately saw himself and his revelation in this way.. and it wasn't until after his wife Khadijah took him to Waraqah (the son of his wife's uncle) that he stopped thinking of himself as a madjinun (one possessed). Waraqah was of the opinion that Muhammad had been visited by the Namus al Akbar, that is, the messenger and message, thought to have visited both Moses and Jesus.
Others around Mecca at the time agreed with Muhammad's earliest thoughts about himself and took this to the extreme meaning and led to lots of persecution. They accused him of sorcery, fraud and taking ideas from foreigners especially the Jewish and Christian faiths and using them in his own.
It was Khadijah who convinced him that he was indeed a special messenger, an apostle and a prophet from God, sent with a message to reclaim his fallen people and it is generally agreed she was the first convert to what was to be falled al Islam (The surrender)
I'll share more about the early years of Muhammed next time, but listen to what the New Testament warned many, many hundreds of years before Muhammed's revelation came to him
"If we OR AN ANGEL from heaven, should preach any othe Gospel to you than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned." ..Galations 1:8
and this verse, though written to warn Christians that false prophets were around who pretended to be apostles of Christ.. rings a warning that is appropriate for all who see visions of "angels or supernatural beings" and think they are from God
.. and no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light, it is not surprising then that his servants (demons and false prophets), masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. 2 Corinthians 12:14
I know you probably will say that as it's Paul who is writing it's not to be believed, but God Himself said the same thing in the Torah...again in warning to the Jewish nation that false prophets would see visions not sent by God
Jeremiah 14:14
Then the Lord said to me, "The prophets are prophesying in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them, or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries, and the delusions of their minds. Therefore, this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are propheysing in my name? I did not send them..."
Believers everywhere in God, are told to look at those who claim to see visions of angels or of anything, and to be sure that what they have seen and heard is truly of God... and not a vision from Satan appearing as an angel of light. It's worrying that Muhammed's first reaction, until he was convinced otherwise by his wife, was that he was demon possessed and that his message may have come from a jinn or shaytan.
Zams2001, all of us, whether Christian, Muslim or believer in any faith, has to ask ourselves questions when anyone claims to have heard from God.. this is what I am asking you to do, even as you ask me to do the same thing as a Christian, and tell me that Jesus was only a man, and not God.