The Prophet Muhammad
used to spend much time in prayer and worship of the one God. This he used to
do in a cave, known as Hira, in the al-Noor mountain near the city of Mecca.
In 610 CE, at the age
of forty, Muhammad received the first of the divine revelations when he was
engaged in devotion and prayer inside the cave of Hira.
In the name of Allah
the Merciful, the Compassionate; Read in the name of thy Lord who created,
Created man from a clot, Read and thy lord is the most noble, Who taught by
pen, Taught man what he knew not .
The Prophet Muhammad
conveyed the news and the Message to Ali and Lady Khadijah. Ali and Lady
Khadijah both embraced the new revelation instantly and without any hesitation.
Khadijah was thus the
first woman to believe in the Messenger of Allah and the first woman to pray
with him. She supported him wholeheartedly and spent all her wealth in the way
of Allah. She was the first woman that the Prophet married and he married no
other during her lifetime. She was immensely loyal to the Prophet. The Angel
Gabriel ordered him to convey a special greeting and a blessing from God and
ordered that he gave the land of Fadak to Fatimah as an appreciation for what
her mother had spent in the way of Allah.
The Prophet Muhammad
began to invite individuals to the new revelation, albeit in secret. There were
very few supporters and believers. When the Prophet performed a congregational
prayer, he was joined by were Lady Khadijah and Ali. This low-key approach
continued for three years.
Afterwards, on
instructions from the Almighty, the Prophet's invitation to Islam started to
became more and more public. The Almighty instructed His messenger to begin
with his clan:
And warn your nearest kinsmen
For this purpose the
Prophet Muhammad prepared a banquet and invited the elders and chiefs of the
Bani-Hashim, who were forty in number. After they were served with a good
feast, the Prophet invited them to Islam. He called upon them to support him in
his mission, and promised them that whoever did so would be appointed as his
successor.
Yet, none took up the
offer dismissing the Prophet and his mission as nonsense, with the sole
exception of Ali. Ridiculing the whole thing, the Bani Hashim chiefs turned to
Abu Talib saying, “Your son will be your commander, you should obey him!”
Nevertheless the mission continued unabated albeit with very few supporters.
The followers of the
new religion started to grow, and so did the concern of the Quraysh towards
them. The elders of Quraysh send Abu Talib, the trusted uncle of the Prophet to
him, asking him to stop his call for this new religion, and in return they
would give him whatever he wanted. “If you want wealth, we will give you as
much as you want, if you want women we will marry you the most beautiful women
of Arabia, and if you want position and status we will make you the owner-king
over us.”
When Abu Talib
conveyed the message of the elders of Quraysh to his nephew-prophet, the
Messenger of Allah replied, “I swear by the Almighty that if they put the Sun
in my right hand and the Moon in my left on condition so that I desist from
this affair I would not leave it until Allah causes it to prevail or I die in
the process.” Then the Messenger of Allah began to weep and rose and made to
leave, but Abu Talib called him and said: “Come back my nephew. Say what you
like my nephew, for by Allah I will never hand you over to them ever.”
The Quraysh realized
that they were dealing with a true and determined prophet. From then on, open
hostility towards this new religion, its prophet, and its followers started to
increase. Lady Khadijah dedicated all her wealth and resources for the cause of
her prophet-husband's mission. The extent of this hostility reached blatant
persecution of the followers of the new religion and its prophet.
Neutralise the Messenger and his Message
Then the Quraysh
plotted amongst themselves about the companions of the Messenger of Allah who
had entered Islam with him from amongst their tribes. Each tribe pounced upon
any of its own who were Muslims, tormented them and forced them out from their
religion.
Abu Talib protected
the Messenger of Allah, and seeing what the Quraysh were doing to the sons of
Hashim and Abdul-Muttalib, he called upon them to protect the Messenger of
Allah just as he was protecting him. So they gathered with him and stood up
with him, except for Abu Talib's brother Abu Lahab and his sons who had
assisted the Quraysh against the Prophet.
Then the Quraysh
openly decided to kill the Messenger of Allah. When this news reached Abu Talib
he gathered the sons of Hashim and Abdul-Muttalib and took the Messenger of
Allah to his quarter and protected him from those who sought to kill him.
The Quraysh imposed
total and complete embargo against the Prophet and his followers in all its
forms; social, economic, political, etc. No citizen of Mecca was allowed to buy
from or sell to them, no one was allowed to marry anyone of them, or even
befriend or socialize with them, not even help them. Nor would a peace
settlement be accepted from them ever, nor they would be shown any mercy until
they had handed over the Messenger of Allah to be killed.
The Quraysh agreed to
draw up a document to this effect, and one of them wrote this document in his
own hand, which subsequently was afflicted by paralysis, and then they hung the
document inside the Kabah.
The Prophet and many
of his followers, and members of the Hashim clan withdrew to Abu Talib and
entered the Abu Talib’s Quarter known as Sheb Abu Talib, which had become their
virtual open-top prison. Their condition deteriorated as time went by, and
although some friends of sympathizers managed to smuggle in some help to the
Muslims, but this was few and far between. There they remained in the quarter
for three years until they were exhausted. The voices of the children could be
heard from the quarter crying of hunger.
The Quraysh also
increased the pressure on those who had entered Islam but had not entered the
quarter. The trials became grave and the Muslims were severely shaken. It is
reported that Ali son of Abu Talib used to secretly leave the quarter in
disguise and fetch foodstuff to the besieged, carrying it into the quarter on
his back.
In one of the divine
revelations made to him, the Messenger of Allah informed his uncle Abu Talib
that Allah had sent woodworms to their document that had eaten every word
except the name of Allah. Having heard this Abu Talib said: “No! By the falling
stars, you have not lied to me.”
Abu Talib set out with
a group of the clan of Abdul-Muttalib until he reached the vicinity of the
Kabah, which was full of the people of Quraysh. He spoke and said to them:
“Something has
occurred which may be a cause for a settlement between you and us so bring out
your document. They said: 'The time has come for you to accept and recant. Only
one man has caused the split between you and us, and you have put your people
in jeopardy because of him.'
Abu Talib said: “I
propose a matter for you in which there is fairness. My nephew has told me and
he has not lied to me, that Allah distances Himself from this document and has
erased all your treachery and enmity and all that remains written is His name.
If it is as he has said then by Allah, we will never hand him over to you until
the last of us dies. If what he has said is false then we will hand him over to
you so that you may kill him or spare him as you wish.'
They said: “We agree.”
Then they opened the document and found it as they had been told but some of
them clung to their falsehood and obstinacy and said: “This is sorcery from
your companion.” Then some of those who had made the pact spoke and tore up the
document.
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