The Sealed Nectar (11 page)

It was verily a loud suggestive Call stating unequivocally to the closest people that belief in his Message constituted the corner- stone of any future relation between him and them, and that the blood- relation on which the whole Arabian life was based, had ceased to exist in the light of that Divine ultimatum.

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Shouting the Truth and the Polytheists’ Reaction

The Prophet’s voice kept reverberating in Makkah until the following verse was revealed:

"Therefore proclaim openly (All? ’s Message — Islamic Monotheism), that which you are commanded, and turn away from
Al- Mushrik
? (polytheists)." [Al- Qur'an 15:94]

He then commenced discrediting the superstitious practices of idolatry, revealing its worthless reality and utter impotence, and giving concrete proofs that idolatry per se or taking it as the media through which an idolater could come in contact with All? , is manifest falsehood.

The Makkans, on their part, burst into outrage and disapproval. Muhammad’s [pbuh]

words created a thunderbolt that turned the Makkan time- honoured ideological life upside down. They could ill afford to hear someone attaching to polytheists and idolaters, the description of straying people. They started to rally their resources to settle down the affair, quell the onward marching revolution and deal a pre- emptive strike to its votaries before it devours and crushes down their consecrated traditions and long standing heritage. The Makkans had the deep conviction that denying godship to anyone save All? and that belief in the Divine Message and the Hereafter are interpreted in terms of complete compliance and absolute commitment, and this in turn leaves no area at all for them to claim authority over themselves and over their wealth, let alone their subordinates. In short, their arrogated religiously- based supremacy and highhandedness would no longer be in effect; their pleasures would be subordinated to the pleasures of All? and His Messenger and lastly they would have to abstain from incurring injustices on those whom they falsely deemed to be weak, and perpetrating dreadful sins in their everyday life. They had already been fully aware of these meanings, that is why their souls would not condescend to accept this ‘disgraceful’ position not out of motives based on dignity and honour but rather because:

"Nay! (Man denies Resurrection and Reckoning. So) he desires to continue committing sins." [Al- Qur'an 75:5]

They had been aware of all these consequences but they could afford to do nothing before an honest truthful man who was the highest example of good manners and human values. They had never known such an example in the history of their folks or grandfathers. What would they do? They were baffled, and they had the right to be so.

Following careful deliberations, they hit upon the only target available, i.e. to contact the Messenger’s uncle, Abu Talib and request him to intervene and advise his nephew to stop his activities. In order to attach a serious and earnest stamp to their demand, they chose to touch the most sensitive area in Arabian life, viz., ancestral pride. They addressed Abu Talib in the following manner: "O Abu Talib! Your nephew curses our gods; finds faults with our way of life, mocks at our religion and degrades our forefathers; either you must stop him, or you must let us get at him. For you are in the same opposition as we are in opposition to him; and we will rid you of him."

Abu Talib tried to appease their wrath by giving them a polite reply. The Prophet

[pbuh] , however, continued on his way preaching All? ’s religion and calling men 54

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hitherto, heedless of all their desperate attempts and malicious intentions. [Ibn Hisham 1/265]

An Advisory Council to debar Pilgrims from Muhammad’s Call
During those days, Quraish had another serious concern; the proclamation of the Call had only been a few months old when the season of pilgrimage was soon to come. Quraish knew that the Arab delegates were coming within a short time. They agreed that it was necessary to contemplate a device that was bound to alienate the Arab pilgrims from the new faith preached by Muhammad [pbuh] . They went to see Al- Waleed bin Al- Mugheerah to deliberate on this issue. Al- Waleed invited them to agree on a unanimous resolution that could enjoy the approbation of them all.

However, they were at variance. Some suggested that they describe him as
Kahin
, i.e., soothsayer; but this suggestion was turned down on grounds that his words were not so rhymed. Others proposed
Majnun
, i.e., possessed by jinn; this was also rejected because no insinuations peculiar to that state of mind ware detected, they claimed. "Why not say he is a poet?" Some said. Here again they could not reach a common consent, alleging that his words were totally outside the lexicon of poetry.

"OK then; let us accuse him of practising witchcraft," was a fourth suggestion. Here also Al- Waleed showed some reluctance saying that the Prophet [pbuh] was known to have never involved himself in the practice of blowing on the knots, and admitted that his speech was sweet tasting root and branch. He, however, found that the most plausible charge to be levelled against Muhammad [pbuh] was witchcraft. The ungodly company adopted this opinion and agreed to propagate one uniform formula to the effect that he was a magician so powerful and commanding in his art that he would successfully alienate son from father, man from his brother, wife from her husband and man from his clan. [Ibn Hisham 1/271; Fi Zilal Al- Qur'an 29/188]

It is noteworthy in this regard to say that All? revealed sixteen verses as regards Al-Waleed and the cunning method he contemplated to manipulate the people expected to arrive in Makkah for pilgrimage. All? says:

"Verily, he thought and plotted; so let him be cursed! How he plotted! And once more let him be cursed, how he plotted! Then he thought; then he frowned and he looked in a bad tempered way; then he turned back and was proud; then he said:

‘This is nothing but magic from that of old; this is nothing but the word of a human being!’ " [Al- Qur'an 74:18- 25]

The most wicked of them was the sworn enemy of Islam and Muhammad [pbuh] , Abu Lahab, who would shadow the Prophet’s steps crying aloud, "O men, do not listen to him for he is a liar; he is an apostate." Nevertheless, Muhammad [pbuh]

managed to create a stir in the whole area, and even to convince a few people to accept his Call. [At- Tirmidhi; Masud Ahmad, 3/492,4/341]

Attempts made to check the Onward March of Islam

Having fully perceived that Muhammad [pbuh] could never be desisted from his Call, Quraish, in a desperate attempt to quell the tidal wave of the Call, resorted to other cheap means acting from base motives:

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1. Scoffing, degrading, ridiculing, belying and laughter- instigating cheap manners, all of which levelled at the new converts in general, and the person of Muhammad [pbuh] in particular, with the aim of dragging the spirit of despair into their morale, and slackening their ardent zealotry. They used to denounce the Prophet [pbuh] as a man possessed by a jinn, or an insane person:

"And they say: O you (Muhammad [pbuh]) to whom the
Dhikr
(the Qur’? ) has been sent down! Verily, you are a mad man." [Al- Qur'an 15:6]

or a liar practising witchcraft,

"And they (Arab pagans) wonder that a warner (Prophet Muhammad [pbuh]) has come to them from among themselves! And the disbelievers say: "This (Prophet Muhammad [pbuh]) is a sorcerer, a liar." [Al- Qur'an 38:4].

Their eyes would also look at the good man as if they would ‘eat him up’, or trip him up, or disturb him from the position of stability or firmness. They used all sorts of terms of abuse ‘madman’ or ‘one possessed by an evil spirit’, and so on:

"And verily, those who disbelieve would almost make you slip with their eyes through hatreds when they hear the Reminder (the Qur’? ), and they say: Verily, he (Muhammad [pbuh]) is a madman!" [Al- Qur'an 68:51]

Amongst the early converts, there was a group who had unfortunately no strong clan at their back to support them. These innocent souls were ridiculed and jeered in season and out of season. Referring to such people, the highbrow Quraish aristocrats used repeatedly to ask the Prophet [pbuh], with jest and scorn:

"All? has favoured from amongst us?" [Al- Qur'an 6:53]

And All? said:

"Does not All? know best those who are grateful?" [Al- Qur'an 6:53]

The wicked used to laugh at the righteous in many ways: a. They would inwardly laugh at their Faith, because they felt themselves so superior.

b. In public places, when the righteous passed, they used to insult and wink at them,

c. In their own houses, they would run them down.

d. Whenever and wherever they saw them, they reproached and called them fools who had lost their way. In the Hereafter, all these tricks and falsehoods will be shown for what they are, and the tables will be reversed. All? had said:

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"Verily! (During the worldly life) those who committed crimes used to laugh at those who believed; and whenever they passed by them, used to wink one to another (in mockery); and when they returned to their own people, they would return jesting; and when they saw them, they said: ‘Verily! These have indeed gone astry!’ But they (disbelievers, sinners) had not been sent as watchers over them (the believers)." [Al- Qur'an 83:29- 33]

2. Distorting Muhammad’s teachings, evoking ambiguities, circulating false propaganda; forging groundless allegations concerning his doctrines, person and character, and going to excess in such a manner in order to screen off any scope of sound contemplation from the public. With respect to the Qur’? , they used to allege that it was:

"Tales of the ancients, which he (Muhammad [pbuh]) has written down, and they are dictated to him morning and afternoon." [Al- Qur'an 25:5]

The iniquitous went on ceaselessly inculcating in people’s ears that the Qur’?

w as not a true Revelation:

"This (the Qur’? ) is nothing but a lie that he (Muhammad [pbuh]) has invented, and others have helped him at it." [Al- Qur'an 25:4]

The wicked would also attribute to men of All? just such motives and springs of action as they themselves would be guilty of in such circumstances. The pagans and those who were hostile to the revelation of All? and Islam, could not understand how such wonderful verses could flow from the tongue of the Prophet [pbuh] without having someone to teach, and claimed:

"It is only a human being who teaches him." [Al- Qur'an 16:103]

They also raised another baseless and superficial objection:

"Why does this Messenger (Muhammad [pbuh]) eat food and walk about in the markets (like ourselves)?" [Al- Qur'an 25:7]

They were sadly ignorant and painfully at fault for they could not perceive that a teacher for mankind is one who shares their nature, mingles in their life, is acquainted with their doings, and sympathises with their joys and sorrows.

The Noble Qur’? has vehemently refuted their charges and allegations and has explained that the utterances of the Prophet [pbuh] are the Revelations of the Lord and their nature and contents provide a bold challenge to those who attribute his Prophetic expressions to some base origin, at times to the mental throes of a dreaming reformer, at others to the effusion of a frenzied poet or the incoherent drivelling of an insane man.

3. Contrasting the Qur’? with the mythology of the ancients in order to distract people’s interests from All? ’s Words. Once An- Nadr bin Harith addressed the Quraishites in the following manner: "O Quraish! You have experienced an 57

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unprecedented phenomenon before which you have so far been desperately helpless. Muhammad [pbuh] grew up here among you and always proved to be highly obliging, the most truthful and trustworthy young man. However, later on when he reached manhood, he began to preach a new faith alien to your society, and opposed to your liking so you began to denounce him at a time as a sorcerer, at another as a soothsayer, a poet, or even an insane man. I swear by All? he is not anyone of those. He is not interested in blowing on knots as magicians are, nor do his words belong to the world of soothsaying; he is not a poet either, for his mentality is not that of a rambler, nor is he insane because he has never been witnessed to develop any sort of hallucinations or insinuations peculiar to madmen. O people of Quraish, it is really a serious issue and I recommend that you reconsider your attitude."

It is narrated that An- Nadr, at a later stage, headed for Heerah where he got conversant with the traditions of the kings of Persia and the accounts of people like Rustum and Asphandiar, and then returned to Makkah. Here he would always shadow the Messenger’s steps in whatever audiences the later held to preach the new faith and to caution people against All? ’s wrath. An-Nadr would directly follow the Prophet [pbuh] and narrate to the same audience long tales about those people of Persia. He would then always append his talk with a question cunningly inquiring if he did not outdo Muhammad [pbuh].[Ibn Hisham 1/299,300,358; Tafheem- ul- Qur'an 4/8,9].

Ibn ‘Abbas [R] related that An- Nadr used to purchase songstresses who would through their bodily charms and songs entice away from Islam anyone developing the least attachment to the Prophet [pbuh]; in this regard, All?

says:

"And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing, etc.) to mislead (men) from the Path of All? ." [Al- Qur'an 31:6] [Tafheem- ul- Qur'an 4/9]

4. In a fresh attempt to dissuade Muhammad [pbuh] from his principled stand, Quraish invited him to compromise on his teachings and come to terms with their pre- Islamic practices in such a way that he quits some of his religion and the polytheists do the same. All? , the All- High says: 5. "They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so they (too) would compromise with you." [Al- Qur'an 68:9].

On the authority of Ibn Jareer and At- Tabarani, the idolaters offered that Muhammad [pbuh] worship their gods for a year, and they worship his Lord for a year. In another version, they said: "If you accept our gods, we would worship yours." Ibn Ishaq related that Al- Aswad bin Al- Muttalib, Al- Waleed bin Al- Mugheerah, Omaiyah bin Khalaf and Al- ‘As bin Wa’il As- Sahmy, a constellation of influential polytheists, intercepted the Prophet [pbuh] while he was circumambulating in the Holy Sanctuary, and offered him to worship that they worshipped, and they worship that he worshipped so that, according to them, both parties would reach a common denominator. They added