The Seven Types of Waḥy, How Revelation Came to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم

Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله catalogued seven distinct modes through which revelation came to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, not a single undifferentiated experience, but a spectrum ranging from the easiest to the most overwhelming.

❧The first: true dreams

The lowest form of inspiration, and the only type still available to any member of the Ummah. True dreams are not restricted to Prophets; anyone can receive them. Our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم received true dreams both before and after his prophethood. Every vision he saw would unfold in the day that followed, exactly as seen, "like the break of dawn," as Āʾisha رضي الله عنها described. He said: "Nothing remains of prophethood except the true dream." (Tirmidhī)

❧The second: Ilhām: the angels other than Jibrīl

This is the whispering of the angels to the heart. It does not make the recipient a Prophet. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says in the Quran about the mother of Mūsā: وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ أُمِّ مُوسَىٰ, "We inspired the mother of Mūsā." (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:7). He uses the word waḥy but this does not make her a Prophetess. Similarly, He says of Maryam: وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْهَا. This is a higher form of inspiration granted to the extraordinarily righteous that Allah chooses, but it is categorically different from the waḥy of the Prophets.

❧The third: Jibrīl appearing in human form

The most common form in Madīnah. Jibrīl would take the form of Diḥyah ibn Khalīfa al-Kalbī رضي الله عنه, who was considered the most handsome of all the companions, and come to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in that guise. Āʾisha رضي الله عنها said she would see the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم speaking with who appeared to be Diḥyah. When she asked afterwards what Diḥyah had wanted, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would tell her: "That was not Diḥyah, that was Jibrīl." The companions sometimes saw Jibrīl in this form and sometimes did not. This is the Jibrīl of the famous hadīth of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb: "A man entered upon us, his clothing brilliantly white, his hair intensely black, with no trace of dust on him, and none of us recognized him", and he questioned the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم about Islām, Imān, and Iḥsān. In this form, the revelation was easiest for the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to bear. He remained in his normal state and communicated with Jibrīl directly.

❧The fourth: Jibrīl in his angelic form, the Prophet entering the world of Waḥy

This is the mode that ʿĀʾisha described: "I have seen him on the coldest of days, and when the Waḥy descended he would break into a sweat." When this happened, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would lower his face, his eyes would close, and the world around him became unreachable. Something was happening between him and Jibrīl in a realm we will never access. He compared the sound to the ringing of a bell, حَتَّى بَلَغَ مِنِّي الْجَهْدَ, a loud, difficult sound to bear. Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām رضي الله عنه asked the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم directly: كَيْفَ يَأْتِيكَ الْوَحْيُ يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ؟, "How does the revelation come to you?" The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم described both this mode and the third: "Sometimes Jibrīl comes to me in the form of a man and I understand what he says. And sometimes it comes like the ringing of a bell, and that is the hardest for me. Then it ceases and I have understood what was said."

The physical weight of this mode is documented. When Sūrat al-Māʾidah was revealed, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was on his camel, and the camel had to sit down. Camels can bear hundreds of kilograms; the revelation forced it to the ground. And in another narration, a companion reported that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم rested his head on his thigh and the Waḥy began, and the companion felt a pressure building and building until he thought his thigh bone would crack. Allah himself described it: إِنَّا سَنُلْقِي عَلَيْكَ قَوْلًا ثَقِيلًا, "We are going to cast upon you a heavy word." (al-Muzzammil 73:5)

❧The fifth: seeing Jibrīl in his original form

Jibrīl's original form: 600 wings, so vast he blocked the entire horizon. This happened at least twice, and both are documented. The first was the initial revelation at the Cave of Ḥirāʾ, when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم looked up from the mountain and saw Jibrīl seated on a throne between the heavens and the earth. The second was during the Isrāʾ wal Miʿrāj. Some scholars mention a third occurrence. This is the highest level of encounter with the angel of revelation.

❧The sixth: direct inspiration from Allah without an angelic intermediary

Ibn al-Qayyim mentions this category but examples of it are disputed. It is the direct communication of Allah's will to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم bypassing even the intermediary of an angel.

❧The seventh: Allah's direct speech: Kalāmullāh

The highest. The rarest. This happened once: on the night of the Isrāʾ wal Miʿrāj, when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ascended beyond the point where even Jibrīl said: "I do not have permission to go beyond here. You go on." And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم went alone to a station no prophet before him had reached. He heard the scribes writing. He was closer than two bow-lengths. He saw the veil, the Ḥijāb, of light. When asked "Did you see your Lord?" he replied: "How could I see Him? There was a veil of light." And there, Allah spoke to him directly, without angel, without intermediary, as He had spoken to Mūsā on Mount Sinai, except that Allah summoned Mūsā to the mountain, while He summoned the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم above the seven heavens.