In the Middle East, from Turkey to the Nile, the religion of the male Moon god predominated. Over time, the Moon god's influence waned in other cultures, but in the Arabian Peninsula he continued as the greatest of the gods. Of the 360 ​​gods worshipped at the Kaaba, the Moon god remained the chief one before Muhammad was born. In Arabia, the Moon god's name was Sin, but he was called Al-ilá, meaning "the god," "the deity" (i.e., the chief god), and was abbreviated as Allah.

When Muhammad was born, the Arabs added the word "Allah" to the names of their children. Muhammad's father was called Abd-alá and his uncle Obeid-alá.

Adult men in Mecca would often retreat to the surrounding desert, hills, and grottoes to fast, meditate, and worship their gods. In 610, Muhammad stocked up on food and spent days in a cave on Mount Hira near Mecca. For several nights, alone in the cave, he meditated, worshipped and recited repetitive prayers, a way of attracting demons.

One night a demon woke him up, shook him and said, “You are the apostle of Allah.” Panicked, he fled the cave, climbed down the mountain, crawled home and said to his wife, “Cover me! Cover me! I fear for my life!” Khadijah wrapped him in a blanket. He told her that an evil djinn had appeared to him.

For days, Muhammad continued to find no peace. He raved, had visions, heard noises and whispers, believed that evil spirits were speaking to him, but he saw no one. He wondered: “Is it not the devil who calls me?” He felt possessed by demons or that he had gone mad, several times he thought of committing suicide and once he wanted to throw himself off a cliff. His cousin Ali and Khadijah assured him that it had not been a demon but an angel.

One day Khadijah told him that when the hallucination returned he should tell her, to check if it was a demon or the angel Gabriel. The next time Muhammad told him that the entity had just come. Khadijah told Muhammad to sit on her left; she asked him if he could see it and he said yes. Khadijah told him to sit on her right thigh; she asked him if he could see it and he said yes. Khadijah told him to sit on her stomach. She stripped, took off her veil, ordered him to penetrate her and asked him again if he could see it. This time Muhammad said no.

Then she assured him that she had seen the angel Gabriel, because a demon would have stayed to enjoy watching the copulation. Muhammad no longer had any doubts and became Allah's spokesperson. Khadijah was his first believer, the first Muslim and "the mother of Islam."