(9) the life of the prophet muhammad - misrepresentation

The Life of the Prophet (saws)

9. Misrepresentation

The Prophet’s efforts to mould his followers

into a closely-knit community prompted him to establish a centre for the Muslims

He chose the house of one of his companions, Al-Arqam, near al-Safa, in the centre of Makkah

The Prophet was able to meet his companions here, teach them the principles of their faith and strengthen their bond of brotherhood

The First Islamic School

The chiefs of Makkah realised that despite

their opposition, the followers of Muhammad were increasing and moulding into a separate community

One of them, Utbah ibn Rabi’ah, recognised that the problem was unlikely to fade away or disappear

With the approval of the other leaders, Utbah made some offers to the Prophet in the hope that he would accept one or the other

Which Approach to Follow

Utbah ibn Rabi’ah said, “My nephew, if you

have started this affair hoping to make some money out of it, we are all willing to give you some of our own wealth so that you would be the richest among us. If it is honour and position you want, we will make you our master and seek your advice in all matters. If it is a throne you are after, we will make you our king. If, on the other hand, you are possessed and are unable to resist what overwhelms you, we will spare no expense in seeking a medical cure for you.”


When Utbah stopped, the Prophet asked him

whether he had finished The Prophet responded to Utbah by reciting

the first 38 verses of Surah 41 of the Qur’an Utbah listened attentively and then returned

to his people


Utbah advised his people, “I have heard

something the like of which I have never heard in my life. It is neither poetry nor sorcery. Take up the suggestion I am making to you, and lay the blame for the outcome at my door. Leave this man alone. What I have heard from him will certainly bring about great events. Should the rest of the Arabs kill him, you would have been spared the trouble. If he wins, whatever glory he achieves will be yours.”


Utbah’s people retorted that he had been

bewitched Once again the Quraysh seemed totally

unable to listen to words of wisdom Utbah advised them with a win-win suggestion

but they preferred instead to suppress the new call


As the days and weeks passed, the torment

and abuse of the Muslims by the Quraysh continued

The victims of this abuse were numerous and included the Prophet himself, despite the protection afforded to him by his uncle and clan

They accused him of being a magician, a poet, and a fortune-teller, and told to his face that he was mad

A Tilt Towards the Hard Line

One day Abu Jahl passed by the Prophet while

he was alone and assaulted and abused him The Prophet did not say a single word in reply The incident was witnessed, however, by a

maid looking through a window of a house in which she worked


Soon afterwards, Hamzah, an uncle of the

Prophet was returning from a hunting trip It was his habit, whenever he returned from

hunting, to go first to the Ka’bah, to do a Tawaf and then to greet every group of people who sat by the Ka’bah

This time, the maid stopped him as he passed by her and related to him what she saw between Abu Jahl and his nephew, Muhammad


Hamzah was furious and went straight to the

Mosque in search of Abu Jahl When he saw him with his kinsfolk, he went

straight up to him and struck him with his bow He then said, “Do you abuse him when I follow

his religion? I say the same as he says. Try to stop me if you can.”


As Abu Jahl’s wound started to bleed, his

comrades stood up to avenge him Abu Jahl, however, realised that the situation

could deteriorate, so he told them to leave him alone

Hamzah’s declaration that he was a Muslim was made in a moment of anger and Abu Jahl hoped he could be persuaded to forget the matter


Unfortunately for Abu Jahl, Hamzah went

straight to his nephew and learnt from him about Islam

As he listened, a feeling of reassurance grew stronger and stronger within him

His decision gave the Prophet and the Muslims a feeling of strength, because he was one of the most courageous fighters in Arabia


With the Hajj season approaching, people from

all over Arabia would be coming to Makkah to perform their pilgrimage rituals

The Quraysh realised that they had better take some preventative measures with regards to the Prophet and his contact with incoming pilgrims

At a meeting attended by a large number of Makkans a well-defined strategy was agreed

A Hostile Conference

The Makkan leaders realised that they had to

agree on what to say when asked about Muhammad

Descriptions like ‘fortune-teller’, ‘madman’, ‘poet’ and ‘magician’ were proposed but none were considered convincing

When nobody could suggest anything more plausible, they asked Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, the chair of the meeting, if he had a better suggestion


Al-Walid said, “What Muhammad says is

certainly beautiful. It is like a date tree with solid roots and rich fruit. Every one of these suggestions you have made is bound to be recognised as false. The least disputable one is to claim that he is a magician who repeats magic words which make a man fall out with his father, mother, wife and clan.”


The Quraysh launched its smear campaign

against Islam and the Prophet, charging the latter with being a magician who could only bring about discord within people’s families and clans

They made a special effort to meet as many pilgrims as possible to explain to them their problem with Muhammad and to warn them against his magic


The Quraysh’s campaign was successful in

deterring pilgrims from speaking with Muhammad and from learning about Islam

However, those very pilgrims who listened to the warnings and avoided the Prophet carried the news back to their people

And thus the whole of Arabia began to learn about the existence of Islam

Evil Tactics Backfire

(Source: ‘Muhammad – Man and Prophet’ by Adil

Salahi)

End

(9) the life of the prophet muhammad - misrepresentation

Spiritual