How do Muslims imagine Mohammed received his revelations? Did he hear or see the words?

Question

I expect he must have seen the words because Gabriel commanded him to "Recite!" and he protested that he could not read, but I wonder what Muslims believe.

Answer 1

The Prophet (peace be upon him) couldn't read nor write, and this isn't a form of belittlement to him as most of the Arabs at that time didn't know how to read nor write, it was only a few number of Arabs that did and those were the noble and rich men. As for your question, when Jibreal (Gabriel) came to him in the cave and told him to read (أقرأ) he said that I can't read because he thought that he wanted him to actually read, but when the Angel repeated it and said, "Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has created (all that exists).", he understood that the Angel wanted him to repeat after him, so he did.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) can receive revelation in different ways. Some of them are mentioned by Aisha in the following narration, "Al-Harith bin Hisham asked Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! How is the Divine Inspiration revealed to you?" Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "Sometimes it is (revealed) like the ringing of a bell, this form of Inspiration is the hardest of all and then this state passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a man and talks to me, and I grasp whatever he says." 'Aisha added: Verily I saw the Prophet (ﷺ) being inspired divinely on a very cold day and noticed the sweat dropping from his forehead (as the Inspiration was over)."

It could also be in the form of a dream. Aisha said, "The commencement of the Divine Inspiration to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) was in the form of good dreams which came true like bright daylight."

These are but some of the ways he (ﷺ) received revelation.