When the Holy Prophet (S) returned from the cave in Mount Hira after the first revelation, he immediately went home. As well as his wife Bibi Khadija (A), his young cousin Imam Ali (A) also lived with the Holy Prophet (S) for two reasons: Imam Ali (A) lived with the Holy Prophet (S) because his father Abu Talib could not afford to support all of his four sons and his mother Bibi Fatimah binte Asad had promised to turn over Imam Ali (A) to the Holy Prophet (S), as he had already lost a son.

When he reached his home, the Holy Prophet (S) informed his wife about what had happened, and she immediately believed in his mission and became a Muslim. The next person the Holy Prophet (S) spoke to was Imam Ali (A), who was only 12 years old at the time. Imam Ali (A) also accepted Islam on hearing the experiences of the Holy Prophet (S).

Thus Bibi Khadija (A) was the first woman to become a Muslim, and Imam Ali (A) the first man. The third person to become a Muslim was Zaid bin Harith, who was the Holy Prophet's (S) freed slave and adopted son.

The Holy Prophet (S) received further revelations from Allah and he gradually began to spread the religion of Islam. For the first three years of his mission, he did not make a general invitation to everybody, but selected certain special people who he saw were ready to embrace the religion of Allah. As a result of his limited activity only 30 people became Muslims in these first three years.

The Quraish and their leader Abu Sufyan knew what was going on, but they were not bothered by the Holy Prophet's (S) activities at this time. They thought that this new religion would soon die out.

During the three years, the Quraish did not harm the Holy Prophet (S), and continued to respect him. In return, he did not openly criticise their idols and remained busy in keeping in contact with his small group of Muslims.

The attitude of the Quraish remained relaxed until the day when the Holy Prophet (S) began to preach the religion of Islam openly on the command of Allah.