The Quraish
Attempt to Stop the Call
By Ben Al-Hussaini
In the name of Allāh,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful;
All the praise and Thanks ise due to Allāh, the Lord of the al-‘ālameen. I testify that there is none worthy of worship
except Allāh, and that Muhammad,
sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam
is His Messenger.
Description: Tension between Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and Quraish gradually increased, as
Muhammad’s spiritual influence spread.
Methods Devised By the Quraish.
Having
observed that the Call of Prophet Muhammad (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) had been rising to the new level which
was conducted in the open, the Quraish, in their attemp to suppress him had
adopted several means :
1.
Touting, degrading, ridiculing, belying and mocking against the new converts
and Muhammad (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) in
particular with the aim to dispel their spirit and struggle into despair.
They
put their efforts to degrade The Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) as a man possessed by a jinn or insane
person:
“And they say, O you (Muhammad, sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) to whom the Dzikir
(the Qur’ān) has been sent down: Verily, you a mad
man.”
[Surah
An-Nahl, 15: 6]
And
as liar practicing witchcraft:
“And they (Arab pagans) wonder that a warner (Prophet Muhammad,
sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) has come to them from among themselves! And
the disbelievers say: “This (Prophet Muhammad ,sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) is sorcery, a liar,”
[Surah
An-Nur, 38:4]
They
looked at him as if they could scare him or suppressed him from his firmness
and steadfast; they used all sort of terms to abuse him:
“And verily, those who disbelieve would almost make you slip
with their eyes through hatred when they hear the Reminder (the Qur’ān) and they say: ‘Verily, he (Muhammad, sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) is a mad man!’”
[Surah
Al-Qalam, 68:51]
2.
Distorting Muhammad’s teaching, creating doubts, circulating false propaganda,
forging groundless allegations concerning his message, person and character and
going to access in such a manner in order to screen off any scope of sound
consideration from the public.
In respect of Qur’ān they used to allege that it was:
“Tales of the ancients, which he (Muhammad, sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) has written down, and they are dictated to
him morning and afternoon”
[Surah
Al-Furqan, 25: 5]
The
wicked persons went on ceaselessly putting in people’s ears that the Qur’ān was not the true Revelation:
“This (the Qur’ān) is nothing but a lie
that he (Muhammad, sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam)
has invented, and others have helped him in it.”
[Surah
Al-Furqan, 25:4]
They
also raised another baseless and superficial objection against Prophet Muhammad
(sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa
sallam):
“Why does this Messenger (Muhammad, sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) eat food and walk about in the markets
(like us)?”
[Surah
Al-Furqan, 25:7]
Qur’ān has strongly negated their
allegations and has explained that the statements of the Prophet Muhammad
(sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa
sallam) are the Revelations of Allāh, and their nature and contents
provide a bold challenge to those who attributes his Prophetic expressions; at
times to the mental fits of a dreaming reformer, at others to the feelings of
an obsessed poet or the unclear mutterings of an insane man.
3.
Contrasting the Qur’ān with methodology of the ancients in order to distract people’s
interests from Allāh’s Words.
It
is narated that An-Nadir bin Harith, went to
Heerah where he learnt the traditions of the king of Persia and accounts of
people like Rustum and Isphandiyar, and returned to Makkah. He would shadow the
steps of the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) in wherever meeting the later held to preach
the new faith and to remind people against Allāh
wrath. An-Nadir would follow the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and narrate to the same audience the tales
about people of Persia and asked the audience whether he had surpassed the
Prophet (sallallāhu
‘alayhi wa sallam). [1] Ibn ‘Abbas (radiyallāhu’anhu)
related that An-Nadir would also engage beautiful female singers to entice away
from Prophet (sallallāhu
‘alayhi wa sallam) gatherings of Call.
Allāh has revealed:
“And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e music,
singing, etc) to misled (men) from the path of Allāh.”
[Surah
Ar-Raad, 13:6]
Tension
in the city increased gradually, month by month, as the spiritual influence Prophet
(sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa
sallam) spread, undermining the hegemony of the elders of Quraish and bringing
division into their families. This influence became even more dangerous to the
established order when the content of the successive revelations was broadened
to include denunciation of the callousness of the Makkan plutocracy, their
greed for ‘more and more’ and their avarice.
And
Allāh Almighty Knows
best.
Footnotes:
1.
Ibn Hisham 1/299, 300, 358
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