God has raised prophets to preach to
mankind and teach them true faith and right
conduct. They have been always, to start
with at least, persecuted (annoyed and
injured). The Prophet of Islam had the
largest share, as Prophet for all mankind,
of both preaching and persecution.
The spirit of preaching was revealed to him
early in his career: (74, 1 - 7)
He must proclaim the glory
of God, purity of faith and morals,
cleanliness and godliness. Preaching must be
selfless. The Prophet should be patient in the
face of dangers and difficulties.
What was the subject of his preaching? It was
right faith and good conduct ... there is God
and there is life after death. Man is on trail
here and he is accountable for his actions.
The Quran is a wonderful record of things
taught by the Prophet. Truth was revealed to
him in plain Arabic and he was specially
gifted to explain things. The Quran is "a
glorious testimony to the unity of God".
The great sights and sounds of nature, the
human mind itself, are quoted as proofs for
that unity. When the Maker is one, worship in
His due alone. Service is a better word than
worship for man is a servant of his Maker all
his life, and not only during the hours set
apart for worship.
In glowing words is the Hereafter set forth.
Do they not behold the dead earth how it is
quickened. Their sleep is a wonderful sign.
They die (sleep) and are raised the words that
the meaning stares one in the face. "It
is as though one actually saw the earth
heaving, the mountains crumbling to dust, and
the strs hurled here and there in wild
confusion."
The Quran lays great stress on an upright
life. Its choice of word for virtue (ma'ruf)
and vice (munkar) is highly
appropriate. Ma'ruf is what a normal person
naturally likes. Munkar is what is distasteful
to human nature. A very great virtue is the
brevity of the thing. A single verse covers
the whole range of good and evil: "Lo!
Allah enjoineth justice and kindness, and
giving to kinsfolk, and forbiddeth lewdness
(unchaste conduct) and abomination (munkar)
and wickedness. He exhorteth you in order that
ye may take heed."
The Quran holds up the Prophet as an excellent
exemplar. The Arabs had known him since
childhood. He was one of them. He was not
literate How did he come by this noble Book
except by divine inspiration? The great
message and the mighty messenger are both
signs of God. The message is "a mercy for
the people."
The Prophet began preaching in earnest. But,
to start with, the preaching was of a private
nature. Khadija was the first to believe in
him She is a glory to her sex. She stood by
her Prophet husband in the darkest hours of
despair. Ali, son of Abu Talib, and a cousin
of the Prophet, was the next. He was then
eleven. The Prophet had adopted him to relieve
his uncle of some of his economic burden. Ali
was ever brave and generous. He was always a
faithful follower of the Prophet. Once he and
the Prophet were praying together, when they
were surprised by Abu Talib. The Muslim form
of prayer was strange for the old man. He
asked the Prophet what faith he followed.
"The way of Abraham, by nature
upright," replied the prophet.
"Uncle, it will gladden my heart if you
adopt the pure faith, in place of your worship
of the many idols." "And what is
your faith?" asked the father of
Ali." "I go with the Prophet."
"You may follow his lead my son, he will
not lead you to evil. As for you, son of my
brother, you shall have my protection as long
as I am alive. Personally, I would rather
follow the faith of my fathers." Zaid was
the next convert. He was a freed man, the son
of a free Arab. He had chosen, however, to
live with the Prophet to serve him.
The most noble conversion, in several
respects, was that of Abu Bakr. He believed
the moment he heared from the lips of the
Prophet of his station as leader. Abu Bakr was
two years younger than the Prophet. For years
they had been fast friends. Abu Bakr was a
rich trader of Mecca and was held in high
esteem. An English writer has said, "Abu
Bakr was a man without doubts, his beliefs cut
down to acts cleanly as a sharp knife
cuts." So fervent was his faith, and so
great his influence that no less than six
notables of Mecca entered the fold of Islam on
his asking them to do so. They were Uthman,
son of Affan, Zubair, a nephew of Khadija,
Abdur Rahman, so of Auf, Talha, Sa'ad, son of
Abi Waqas and Abu Obaida, son of Jarrah. They
did great things for Isam, every one of the
noble six.
Among the women converts were the Prophet's
aunt, wife of his uncle Abbas, Asma, daughter
of "Umais, Asma, daughter of Abu Bakr,
and Fatima, sister of Omar.
A number of slaves, men and women, were also
among the first believers. Altogether there
were some thirty converts to Islam during two
or three years of quiet preaching.
"And warn thy tribe of near
kindred." In response to this command the
Prophet invited some forty members of Banu
Hashim to dinner. After a hearty meal, the
guests were thus addressed by the Prophet:
"I have brought to my people deliverance
and success in this life, and in the life to
come. Who will help me in my task?" There
was no response. Instead, an awkward silence
followed the address. Then Ali stood up. He
said, "I will, O Prophet of Allah."
The Prophet turned to Abu Talib, "Listen
to your son and follow his advice." The
party burst into a laugh. They jokingly said
to abu Talib, "Mark you, Muhammad orders
you to obey your son in future!"
One day the Prophet went up the Mount Safa and
called out the Meccans, as was the usual Arab
practice when people had to be warned against
some imminent danger, Here was a unique way of
reaching the hearts of the audience. They
called him Al-Amin. Would they believe him if
he told them that an army lay in hiding, on
the other side of the hill? "Yes",
was the ready response. "Well", said
the Prophet, "the Hereafter has been
opened to me. Abjure idols. Worship Allah.
Give up evil ways. Do good. Mind death and
fear the judgement that you shall face after
death. I see all this as the very truth."
Abu Lahab felt insulted. He burst out in rage,
'My you perish! Did you call us out merely for
this?" While Abu Lahab was still speaking
angrily, the audience dispersed. The sermon
had fallen on deaf ears.
Meanwhile the Quraish were alarmed. They would
have none of the new faith as they called it.
Islam is ancient. Their apathy and enmity are
easily explained. They could not understand
how a man like themselves could be a messenger
of Allah. They would prefer one who was not an
earthly being. They ridiculed the idea of a
life after death. "Bring us back our
fathers of old, if you are truthful,"
they demanded. They were a proud people and
thought it a disgrace to meet the humbler
(some of them were even slaves) converts on a
basis of equality. Tribal jealousy had also
something to do with it. Why should they
follow a prophet out of Bani Hashim? The idols
had complete hold of their mind. ---
"What! only One to be worshipped. We go
the way of our fathers." They also found
in Islam a cheallenge for their evil ways.
They feared their power and prestige were at
stake. Above all their pockets were touched.
The idols removed, who would bring gifts to
the Ka'ba?
The Quraish tried to meet the new danger. They
found that mere ridicule was of no avail. They
tried persecution to force the Muslims back to
idol worship. The poorer and the weaker
converts came in for special ill-treatment.
Bilal, a negro, is a typical case. He was a
slave of Ommeya bin Khalf. His cruel master
made him lie bare-backed on burning sand, his
face to the sun. he placed on Bilal's chest a
huge block of stone with the words,
"There shall you lie till you are dead or
have given up Islam." Bilal's was a hard
lot indeed but his reply was "the One,
the One!" The truth of the verse
"Say He is Allah, the One," had
entered his soul. This went on many days until
he was on the verge of death. Luckily he was
ransomed by Abu Bakr, who also purchased the
liberty of six other slaves. bilal is a
familiar word in Islam, and is its first
muezzin. As a negro he could not pronounce an h
in the call to prayer. The Medinite Arabs
objected to this insult to their language as
they called it. They passed for an Arab
muezzin. The Prophet brushed this aside.
"Bial is Bilal. His as hadu is better
than your ash-hadu!" Here is
appreciation indeed. This is equality. So
spoke the noblest champion of human rights.
The Quraish were not hard on the poor slaves
alone. They were cruel even to their own kin.
Such was their dread and hatred of Islam.
Hakam the uncle of Uthman wrapped him in a mat
of palm. He was then smoked from underneath.
Musab bin Umair was turned out of his house
for Islam, by his mother. They would sometimes
put a Muslim relative in the raw hide of camel
or a cow and leave them in the scorching head
of Arabia. So cruel was the torture in all
these cases, and many more, that only a firm
faith could stand all this harsh treatment.
The Prophet received these insults and
injuries too. They scattered thorns in his way
and places where he was expected to pray. They
would throw dirt and filth at his door to
annoy him. Once he was at prayers in front of
th Ka'ba. Aqaba, son of Mu'it twisted his
mantle into a rope, put it round the neck of
the Prophet, and rudely dragged him. Abu Bakr
happened to pass by and rescued the Prophet.
He rebuked the insolent: "Will you kill a
man because he says Allah is his Lord!"
They then fell upon Abu Bakr and beat him
hard. On another occasion Abu Jahl asked his
friends to place the entrails of a slaughtered
camel on the Prophet's back when he was at
prayer. They took keen delight in all this.
Once Abu Jahl had to suffer for his insolence.
The Prophet was once resting on Mount Safa
when Abu Jahl passed by. He was filled with
rage and began to abuse the Prophet. The
Prophet left the place quietly. He never
returned evil for evil. However the matter was
reported by a slave-girl to his brave uncle
Hamza, as he returned home in the evening
after hunting. Hamza went straight to where
Abu Jahl sat with his companions. He struck
Abu Jahl on the head with his bow and spoke to
him sharply. What is more, he openly declared
his faith as a Muslim and challenged the group
to do their worst.
Thus the Meccans were very hard on the
Muslims. The Prophet advised some of his
companions to migrate to Abyssinia. That
country was under a noble and just Christian
rule, caller the Negus (Najashi). They left in
two batches on two different occasions. The
leader of the first batch of eleven was Uthman,
son of Affan. His wife Ruqayya, a daughter of
the Prophet, also went with him. The
persecuted Muslims did find shelter in
Abyssinia, but their cruel enemies followed
them into their exile. The Meccans bribed the
countries and the priests of the Negus to help
them against the Muslim refugees.
But the just ruler must hear the other party.
The Muslim case was so plainly put forth by
J'afar, son of Abu Talib, that the Negus was
highly impressed.
At the request of the Negus, J'afar recited
the opening verses of Mary (Chapter 19) from
the Quran. The statement of J'afar, followed
by the recitation of the noble verses, deeply
touched the heart of the Negus. Tears rolled
down his cheeks.
The scheme of the Meccan enemies thus failed,
to the great relief of the Muslim refuges.
After their unsuccessful return from the court
of the Negus, the Meccans were harder than
ever on the Muslims. Islam, however got
another staunch champion in Omar. The
conversion of Omar is one of the marvels of
Divine grace. Omar had left his house intent
on killing the Prophet. One the way, at his
sister's house, he was charm ed by a
recitation of the opening verses of Ta'Ha
(Chapter 20). He now went to the house of
Arqam. There the Prophet and the Muslims used
to get together for safety and secrecy,
especially during prayers. Omar kissed the
hand of the Prophet and declared his faith.
The assembly shouted Allah O Akbar for
joy. Omar encouraged them to pray in public.
The clever among the unbelieving Meccans tied
to buy the Prophet with promises of wealth and
power and beauty. They failed in all their
efforts in this regard.
They next tried to deprive the Prophet of the
sympathy and support of Abu Talib. No less
than three deputations, at short intervals,
waited upon Abu Talib. Hard pressed, against
his inner feelings, the uncle requested the
nephew to let the Quraish alone not to call
them to Islam. The Prophet's reaction was dee
and dignified. He would not forsake his
supreme duty, even if they were to place the
sun on his right, and the moon on his left
hand. He would be faithful till the end. Nor
did Abu Talib desert him.
The enemy then placed a strict social ban on
the kinsfolk of the Prophet. They were forced
to live under very hard conditions in a gorge,
Shibi Abi Talib , for three years. Most
of them must have starved but for timely help
by some generous enemies. But during the sacrd
months when he was free to move about, the
Prophet would still preach to all whom he
could reach. What an ardent zeal for his
life-work! At last at the suggestion of five
notables the ban was lifted.
Relieved from the ban, two very sad losses
awaited the Prophet. It was the tenth year
after the Call. Abu Talib, a life-long helper
of the Prophet, died. A few days later his
noble wife passed away, the first to believe
in him, Khadija. It was a grievous loss. The
Prophet bore it patiently -- he never
complained, he was all praise however hard the
trial - but he never forgot the sweet memory,
love and devotion of his faithful wife.
Ten years had passed and yet there were
dangers all round. The Muslims were to be
given, however, a place of safety.
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