his hostility to the Prophet and to Islam, Abū Lahab was supported by his wife, Umm Jamīl Arwa bint Ḥarb, the sister of Abū Sufyān, who was later to become the leader of the Quraysh in its determined opposition to Islam until Makkah fell to the Prophet and its population accepted the new faith. Umm Jamīl was perhaps even more hostile to the Prophet than her husband. She would ridicule him and throw dust and harmful objects in his path; she composed songs abusing him and sang them on occasions.6
The hostility of Abū Lahab and his wife to the cause of Islam and their active opposition to it, and abuse of the Prophet, brought them denunciation by God Himself, who revealed a powerful short sūrah of the Qur’ān, mentioning Abū Lahab by name and warning him and his wife of their approaching doom. The sūrah may be rendered in translation as follows: “May the hands of Abū Lahab perish: doomed he is. His wealth and his gains shall not avail him. He shall be plunged in a flaming fire, and his wife, the carrier of firewood, shall have a rope of palm fibre round her neck.” (111: 1-5)
It may be true that the Prophet encountered some hostility when he proclaimed his message on the top of the hill of al-Ṣafā. He might have been confronted by an arrogant uncle who could not see further than the end of his nose. But the effect of that proclamation was tremendous. Every household in Makkah was talking about the new message and what change it would bring about in the lives of the Arabs. The fact that there was a nucleus of a community of believers made it easy for the Makkan people to take a reasonably correct measure of the implications of the new call. They realized that the change it was sure to bring about would be total. Hence, the elders of Makkah were soon in council discussing what steps they needed to take.
The Quraysh’s Complaint
It should be said in fairness that the chiefs of Makkah did not take any action worth noting against the Prophet in the early stages. When he started to criticize their pagan faith and ridicule their idols, however, they began to think that the matter was much too serious to ignore. Yet, they could not do much about it because Abū Ṭālib protected his nephew against all threats. To ignore such protection by the Makkan chiefs would contravene one of the basic conventions of their social set-up. Therefore a small delegation composed of a number of the most influential people in Makkah went to Abū Ṭālib complaining about his nephew’s behaviour. The delegation included the two brothers ʿUtbah and Shaybah, sons of Rabīʿah from the clan of ʿAbd Shams; Abū Sufyān Sakhr ibn Ḥarb from Ummayah; Abū al-Bakhtarī al-ʿĀṣ ibn Hishām and al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib from Asad, Abū Jahl ʿAmr ibn Hishām and al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah from Makhzūm; the two brothers Nabīh and Munabbih sons of al-Ḥajjāj from Sahm and al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wā’il, also from Sahm. They made their complaint clear to Abū Ṭālib and they offered him the choice between telling Muhammad not to criticize their ways and ridicule their idols or allowing them to take such effective measures as they might deem necessary to end the trouble. Abū Ṭālib, who continued to follow the religion of his people, spoke to them gently and calmed them down. He did not promise them much.7
The Prophet continued to preach his message regardless. The crisis with his people increased in intensity. Feelings of hostility spread. So the delegation went again to Abū Ṭālib and said to him: “Abū Ṭālib, you enjoy a position of honour and respect among us. We have requested you to stop your nephew, but you have not taken any action. We certainly cannot just sit and do nothing when he continues to speak ill of our forefathers and to ridicule us and our gods. You have to stop him or we will fight him and you over this question until one of the two parties is destroyed.”
Abū Ṭālib was in a dilemma. He did not like to quarrel with his people, yet he could not bear to let his nephew down. So he called Muhammad and explained to him what had taken place between him and his visitors. He then said to him: “You see the difficulty of my situation. Do not put my life and your life at risk, and do not burden me with what I cannot bear.”
The Prophet felt that his uncle might be contemplating withdrawing his protection so he stated his own position with the greatest emphasis he could muster: “Uncle, should they give me the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand in return for abandoning my call, I would not do anything of the sort until God has brought this message to triumph or until I have perished.” The Prophet was under the pressure of such strong emotions that tears sprang to his eyes. He started to walk away, but his uncle called him back, saying reassuringly: “My nephew, you may go and say whatever you like. I will never withdraw my protection from you, and never will I let you down.”8
The Prophet was happy with his uncle’s support and continued to preach his message undeterred by the Quraysh’s opposition. They, however, felt that their opening approaches to Abū Ṭālib had brought no positive results. They had to contemplate other measures. The hardliners among the chiefs of Makkah were gaining the upper hand.
NOTES
1. Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, Dār al-Qalam, Beirut, Vol. 1, pp. 280-281. Also, Amīn Duwaydār, Ṣuwar Min Ḥayāt al-Rasūl, Dār al-Maʿārif, 4th edition, Cairo, pp. 144-145; al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ, al-Maktabah al-Raḥīmiyyah, India, Vol. 2, pp. 702-703.
2. Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī al-Ḥasanī Nadwī, Muhammad Rasulallah (The Life of the Prophet Muhammad) Academy of Islamic Research and Publications, Lucknow, India, p. 111.
3. Amīn Duwaydār, op.cit., p. 144.
4. Ibid., pp. 138-139.
5. Ibid., pp. 139-141.
6. Ibn Hishām, op.cit., p. 380.
7. Ibid., pp. 282-284.
8. Ibid., pp. 284-285.
WHEN MUHAMMAD, GOD’S Messenger, declared his message in public and called upon the people of Makkah to adopt it as a faith and a way of life, in submission to God and fulfilment of His commandments, he in effect went on the offensive in a struggle which was to dominate the rest of his life. Up till that moment, the Prophet and his early followers confined themselves to a secret approach made to a limited number of people on a private and individual basis. These efforts won for the new message of Islam a hard core of advocates whose dedication would never slacken. The Prophet’s public declaration of his message, however, changed the whole picture as the target of his efforts changed. The whole society was called upon to accept a total change in the basis upon which it was built, and of the principles and values it upheld.
The change meant much more than the mere substitution of one god for a collection of idols made of dates, stone, gold, wood or mud. The Arabs of Makkah were not just asked to pay homage to God instead of their idols; they were asked to accept His rule regarding all aspects of their social, cultural and political life. In other words, the change would also include their social practices and economic and commercial interests, as well as their political power and influence.
The response of those who wielded power in the Makkan society was therefore hostile, as was only to be expected. They realized that unless they met the new call with stiff and determined opposition, it was bound to win acceptance with a large section of the population – especially among the poor, the slaves and the deprived, but also among open-minded and liberal-thinking individuals from the powerful classes. Hence, a campaign of persecution was launched against the followers of the new calling.
The early Muslims did not belong to any particular
