As time went by, the Makkans used every opportunity to torment the Muslims. It became a favourite pastime for the Quraysh to subject Muslims to physical torture or mental pressure. Their victims were numerous and of various tribes and positions.
Allah’s Messenger () was also not spared though he was under the protection of his uncle Abu Talib and his clan. They accused him of being a magician, a poet and a fortune-teller. They told him to his face that he was mad. All this, however, did not weaken the Prophet’s resolve to carry on with his mission – conveying the word of Allah to his people. He called on everyone to abandon pagan worship and to
accept Islam.
One day a group of the Quraysh elders met at the Ka’bah. The Prophet ( ) appeared. He walked to the Ka’bah and started his tawaaf. They jumped at him and started to maul him. He stood firm and resolute. One of them took him by the collar and others pushed him around. Abu Bakr () tried to defend him, shouting at them, ‘Do you want to kill a man for merely saying Allah is my Lord?’
Uqbah ibn Abee Mu’ayt was a bitter enemy of the Prophet () and Islam. One day he pulled the Prophet’s upper garment and tried to strangle him. Once when the Prophet () was prostrating himself near the Ka’bah, Uqbah brought the entrails of a goat and flung them on his back. Fatimah (), the Prophet’s daughter, came out and removed the dirty stuff.
In addition to Abu Lahab, his wife and Uqbah ibn Abee Mu’ayt, Abu Jahl also sought to inflict bodily harm on the Prophet ( ). On one occasion, he took a big stone and attempted to let it fall on the Prophet’s head while he was prostrating in the courtyard of the Ka’bah. But as he drew near, he saw a huge camel charging in his direction. He threw the stone down and fled to tell this story to his fellow idolaters. This incident gives us an example of how Allah completes what He Wills. When the Prophet ( ) was told about what Abu Jahl did and said, he remarked, ‘It was the angel Jibreel! Had Abu Jahl drawn closer, he would have taken his life.’
Hamzah embraces Islam
One day Abu Jahl passed by the Prophet ( ) when he was near the hill of as-Safa, a short distance from the Ka’bah. Abu Jahl assaulted and abused him. He also ridiculed Islam. He talked about the Prophet’s message with contempt. The Prophet () did not say a single word in reply. A maid, however, saw this happening through a window of a house in which she worked. When Abu Jahl had finished his evil act, he went to join a group of his folk sitting near the Ka’bah. Soon afterwards Hamzah, an uncle of the Prophet (), returned from a hunting trip. Hamzah enjoyed his hunting. It was his habit, whenever he returned from hunting, to go first to the Ka’bah and do a tawaaf. This time, the maid stopped him as he passed by her. She described to him what she saw Abu Jahl doing to his nephew. She also told him that the Prophet ( ) did not say or do anything in return.
Hamzah became furious with Abu Jahl. He went straight to the mosque to search for him when he discovered him with his kinsfolk. He went up to him with his bow in his hand. As he stood over Abu Jahl’s head, he stuck him with the bow with all his strength, causing a long cut in his forehead.
He then said, ‘Do you abuse him when I follow his faith? I say the same as he says. Try to stop me if you can.’ As Abu Jahl’s wound began to bleed, his folks tried to avenge him. He, however, realized that the situation could go out of hand. So he told them, ‘Leave Hamzah alone. I have abused his nephew very badly.’
Hamzah had acted on the spur of the moment. But he went to the Prophet () and learnt from him about Islam. Hamzah’s acceptance of Islam gave the Prophet () and the Muslims a feeling of strength because Hamzah was a very brave fighter in Arabia.
Exercises
A. Read this chapter and list out the names of those people who were bitter enemies of Islam
B. Fill in the blanks
1 . Prophet Muhammad () was protected by
2 . While the Quraysh mauled the Prophet () defend him.
C. Answer these questions
1 . What did the Quraysh accuse the Prophet () of?
2. Who was Uqbah ibn Abee Mu’ayt? How did he try to hurt the Prophet ()?
3. What did Abu Jahl see as he walked towards the Prophet () to hurt him? How did the Prophet () explain this strange incident?
4. Why did Hamzah embrace Islam?
5. What made Hamzah () an important addition to the Muslim community?
Prophet Muhammad
The Quraysh Approach Abu Talib
Some of the Quraysh chiefs, which included Utbah and Abu Jahl, went to Abu Talib to make him convince the Prophet () to change his mind. They made the same suggestions which Utbah had already put before the Prophet ( ). Abu Talib sent for the Prophet () and told him what the people had said. Abu Talib then added, “My nephew, I have become old. It is not possible for me to face the attack of the Quraysh. Do not put me in such trouble. It is beyond my power.” Allah’s Messenger () answered, “My uncle, by Allah, If they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in the left so that I would abandon this matter, I would not abandon it until Allah gives me victory or I die while calling to it.”
Abu Talib was a very important person in Makkah. He commanded the highest respect among the chieftains of Makkah. He was the chief of the Banu Hashim tribe. The enemies of the Prophet () were reluctant to attack the Prophet () because of the presence of Abu Talib. The Prophet () got up. His eyes were filled
with tears. Moved by what the Prophet () said, Abu Talib said to him, “I will not withdraw my support. I will not hand you over to your enemies while it is within my power.”
Exercises
A. Fill in the blanks with suitable words.
1 .The Quraysh approached change his mind.
2 . The Prophet () said that he would not give up calling to Allah even if in his left hand and the in his right hand .
B. Answer these questions.
1 . Whom did the Quraysh approach to make the Prophet () change his mind?
C. Think-up
Why do you think Abu Talib disagreed to help the Prophet () first, then agreed later?
