Читать книгу Muhammad: Man and Prophet - Adil Salahi - Страница 18

9

Misrepresentation

WHEN THE PROPHET carried out God’s commandment to declare His message in public, he moved into a new stage in the history of the Islamic message concluding the first period of secrecy. The message itself was now preached publicly, but the identity of its followers, its numerical strength and its organization were not fully known to the people of Makkah who remained hostile to Islam. There are no accurate records of the numbers of those who adopted the faith of Islam at any particular time, especially in the early period. One can only guess that at the end of the first three years when the stage of secrecy was over, there were barely more than 60 Muslims. By the time of the first emigration to Abyssinia, in the fifth year of the beginning of Islamic revelations, there were more than twice this number of Muslims in Makkah. Right from the early days, the Prophet was keen to mould his companions into a closely-knit community in which everyone was ready to help others. The unifying bond of that community was faith. Hence it was very important that every single Muslim should realize that the adoption of the new faith meant a radical transformation in his life. It is in this light that we find Abū Bakr buying those slaves whom he saw being tortured and setting them free. Abū Bakr could simply have bought them and allowed them to live with him in safety, providing them with full protection against any of the persecutors. However, he did not stop at that. He immediately set them free to demonstrate that the bond of faith superseded all values and considerations which were thought to be of great importance in the Arabian society of Makkah. Abū Bakr’s actions were an early indication of a basic characteristic of the Muslim community which was united by the bond of brotherhood in faith.

One of the very important features of this new community was prayer. That was the act of worship which provided the new Muslims with a sense of their link with God as they offered their worship. Prayer was made a duty binding on Muslims from the very early days of Islam. The Prophet passed on to his followers the instructions he received through the Angel Gabriel to have ablution before prayer and to offer two prayers a day, one in the morning and one before sunset. Each prayer was two rakʿahs in the same form as the Muslims have always adopted. The new Muslims were keen to offer their prayers either individually or in small groups. They went out of the built-up area of Makkah to pray where they could not be seen. Sometimes they were discovered by non-Muslims, as indeed happened one day with the Prophet who was offering his prayers with his young cousin ʿAlī. Abū Ṭālib was passing by and it was the first time he saw Islamic prayer. He asked his nephew, the Prophet, about his prayer and asked ʿAlī why he was joining him. ʿAlī told him that he had accepted the faith of Islam and that he believed in Muhammad as a Prophet and a messenger of God. Abū Ṭālib simply said to his son: “Since he has called you to something that is good, then follow him.”¹

Group prayer is characteristic of the Islamic faith. Congregational prayer is so important that many scholars consider it a duty. In the early days of Islam, it gave the new Muslims a sense of identity. Therefore, they were keen to go out in groups to offer their prayers. One day, a group of Muslims were discovered by unbelievers who insulted them and ridiculed their prayer. The two groups were soon involved in a heated argument, since the Muslims felt they could face up to them. Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, who was not yet twenty, took a camel bone and hit one of the unbelievers with it, injuring him. This was the first time blood was ever spilled in defence of Islam. But the incident indicated the readiness and willingness of the Muslims to defend themselves. However, they were restrained by God from getting involved in a fight with the unbelievers.

The First Islamic School

The Prophet’s efforts to mould his followers into a closely-knit community prompted him to establish a centre for the Muslims. Obviously, in those early days, it was not possible for the Muslims to hold their meetings in public. Therefore, the Prophet chose the house of one of his companions, al-Arqam, to be the meeting-place. At that time al-Arqam was about 20 years old; he belonged to the clan of Makhzūm, to which Abū Jahl also belonged. His house was near al-Ṣafā, in the centre of Makkah. In other words, the Prophet chose a house which was right in the midst of the concentration of unbelievers. That was a very strategic spot, since the Quraysh could not have expected that such a meeting-place would be chosen in that central area under the very nose of Abū Jahl, the archenemy of Islam. Nevertheless, the Prophet was able to meet his companions there, teach them the basic principles of their faith, strengthen their bond of brotherhood, and shape their community in the true Islamic mould so that it could serve as an example for future generations, whenever a Muslim community came into existence.²

As days went by and the Quraysh increased its opposition to Islam, it became more and more aware that the followers of Muhammad were setting themselves apart as a community. Therefore, it was important for the Quraysh to try to establish a counter-bond. They wanted their faith to override all considerations of family and tribal ties. But how could pagan idolatry give any person an ideal for which a family tie could be sacrificed? A group of the Makhzūm clan decided that they would use strong tactics against those of their members who became Muslims. There were quite a few young men from the clan who adopted Islam, including Salamah ibn Hishām and ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿah. But in order for their plan to succeed, they also wanted to include with them a man who belonged to their best families, al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd. They went to his brother Hishām and told him that they wanted to punish those young men, so they would appreciate it if he turned his brother over to them. They said that in this way, they could be certain that no other men from their clan would contemplate joining the followers of Muhammad. Hishām told them that they could speak to his brother, but warned them against causing him any bodily harm. He said: “Take care, because if you kill him, then by God I will kill the most honourable among you.” Thus al-Walīd was spared the punishment, and the attempt of those men from Makhzūm was foiled.

Which Approach to Follow: Moderate or Hard Line?

When a protracted problem of the kind Makkah witnessed in those early years of Islam (in the early seventh century) faces any human society, there will be no shortage of suggestions on how it may be solved. The methods suggested, however, will simply alternate between the moderate and conciliatory approach, which aims at reaching some sort of accommodation with the other side, and militant, hard-line proposals which advocate a radical solution.

When the chiefs of Makkah took stock of their longstanding dispute with Muhammad and realized that despite their opposition, the followers of Muhammad were increasing and moulding themselves into a separate community, the far-sighted among them recognized that the problem they faced was unlikely to fade away or disappear. One of the first to realize that Islam was getting stronger, despite all the Quraysh’s attempts to stop its advance, was ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah, one of the leading figures in Makkah.

One day, as ʿUtbah was sitting with a group of the Quraysh notables, he noticed the Prophet sitting alone close to the Kaʿbah. ʿUtbah suggested to his friends: “Shall we go to Muhammad and make him some offers? He may accept one or the other. If he does we will give him that and put an end to our problem with him.”

This idea was greeted with unanimous approval. As ʿUtbah sat with the Prophet he addressed him: “My nephew, you know you command a position of high esteem and noble birth among us. You have brought into the life of your community something very serious indeed. You have thus caused disunity to creep into their ranks; you have belittled their ideals, ridiculed their gods and their religion and spoken ill of their forefathers. Now listen to me. I am making you some offers which I would like you to consider. You may, perhaps, find some of them acceptable.”

The Prophet asked him to make his proposals, and listened attentively. ʿUtbah said: “My nephew, if you have started this affair hoping to make 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 ʿUtbah stopped, the Prophet asked him whether he had finished. As ʿUtbah affirmed that he had, the Prophet asked him to listen to what he had to say. The Prophet then recited the first 38 verses of Sūrah 41 of the Qur’ān. ʿUtbah listened attentively. When the Prophet finished his recitation, he prostrated himself in humble devotion to God, before saying to ʿUtbah: “You have heard what I have to say and you can make up your own mind.”

ʿUtbah left quietly and went to his people, who realized as they saw him approaching that a change had come over him. They looked up at him curiously, listening to his words: “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.” They retorted: “He has certainly bewitched you.” He said: “I have stated my opinion, and you can do as you wish.”³

Once again the Quraysh seemed totally unable to listen to words of wisdom. ʿUtbah was known among them as a man of objective views, balanced temperament and moderate approach. What he was suggesting to them was simply to adopt a wait-and-see policy. They would lose nothing by doing that. Indeed, they would stand to gain if the Prophet were successful with his efforts. But they preferred to suppress the new call, wasting in the process all chances of prospective gain.

A Tilt Towards the Hard Line

As the days passed and week followed week, with no hint of rapprochement between the Prophet and the Quraysh, an atmosphere of polarization infiltrated life in Makkah. This polarization was so real that it occasionally transcended tribal loyalties. This meant that no Muslim, whatever his position or his tribal affiliation, was immune from harassment by the Makkans, should the opportunity for such harassment arise. To torment Muslims and subject them to physical torture or mental pressure became the favourite pastime for the Quraysh hardliners. Their victims were numerous and of various tribes and positions.

The Prophet himself was not immune to this, despite the protection afforded him by his uncle and his clan. Rather than violate their own tribal standards, the Makkan leaders made their henchmen abuse the Prophet by word, gesture and action. They accused him of being a magician, a poet, and a fortune-teller, and told him to his face that he was mad. All this, however, did not affect the Prophet or weaken his resolve to carry on with his mission, conveying the word of God to his people. He continued to defy the Makkans in matters of faith, stating his case openly and calling on everyone to abandon pagan worship and accept Islam.

One day, a group of the Quraysh elders met at the Kaʿbah. Their conversation inevitably touched upon their continuing problem with Muhammad and his message. Some of them said: “Our patience with this man and our tolerance of what he does are unbelievable. He has ridiculed our elders, abused our forefathers and our gods, looked with contempt on our religion and caused disunity to creep into our ranks. We have certainly suffered a great deal from him.”

As they said that, the Prophet (peace be upon him) appeared. He walked to the Kaʿbah and started his ṭawāf. When he passed by them, a nasty taunt was directed at him. His colour changed but he went on with his ṭawāf. When he passed by them the second time, they repeated their taunt and his face changed colour again. They repeated the same taunt again as he went past the third time. At this point, he stopped and addressed them, saying: “Do you hear me, people of Quraysh? By Him who holds my soul in His hand, I am threatening you with throat-cutting.”

They were all taken aback by what he said. Even the hardest of them was quick to pacify him. Conciliatory words came from everywhere: “Go about your business, Abū al-Qāsim. You were never known to lose control of yourself.” He left them and went away.

The following day, they met in the same place. They started to blame one another for their meekness. As they were encouraging one another to show more firmness with him, he appeared. They jumped at him and started to maul him. He stood firm, defiant, resolute. Everyone was asking him whether he maintained his position that their idols were false and he said time and again: “Yes, indeed I say that.”

One of them took him by the collar and others pushed him around. Then Abū Bakr tried to defend him, shouting at them: “Do you kill a man for merely saying God is my Lord?” They then left him, having savagely manhandled him. But that did not weaken his resolve to carry on with his mission.⁴

More Physical Abuse

Perhaps that was the worst physical assault against the Prophet. Hitherto, the Quraysh had respected, to varying degrees, the protection Abū Ṭālib and the Hāshimite clan afforded him. To the Prophet, however, the worst thing he could face from his people was spending all morning talking to them without a good word from anyone. This was worse than physical abuse, because he was so keen that his people should follow Divine guidance, knowing that it would bring them happiness in both this life and the life to come. But that particular event was rather significant. Apparently, it needed such a collective first assault for the Makkans to realize that they could get away with something worse. Abū Jahl was quick to realize that he could always rely on the support of the Quraysh if he wished to abuse Muhammad (peace be upon him). He therefore looked for a chance to do so.

One day Abū Jahl passed the Prophet near the hill of al-Ṣafā, a short distance from the Kaʿbah. Realizing that the Prophet was alone, Abū Jahl assaulted and abused him. He also ridiculed Islam and talked about the Prophet’s message with contempt. 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. When Abū Jahl finished his repugnant exercise, he went to join a group of his folk sitting near the Kaʿbah.

Soon afterwards, Ḥamzah, an uncle of the Prophet who was about the same age as the Prophet or a little older, was returning from a hunting trip. Ḥamzah enjoyed his hunting. It was his habit, whenever he returned from hunting, to go first to the Kaʿbah and do a ṭawāf. He then greeted every group of people who sat there, as was the Makkan habit. He was well respected and everyone enjoyed his company.

This time, the maid stopped him as he passed by her. She related to him what she saw Abū Jahl doing to his nephew, Muhammad, and told him that the Prophet did not return any insult.

Ḥamzah was furious with Abū Jahl. He went straight to the mosque in search of him. When he saw him with his kinsfolk, he went up to him with his bow in his hand. As he stood over Abū Jahl’s head, he struck him with the bow with all his might, causing a long cut in his forehead. 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 Abū Jahl’s wound started to bleed, his comrades tried to avenge him. He, however, realized that the situation could deteriorate, so he told them, “Leave Abū ʿImārah [Ḥamzah] alone. I have indeed abused his nephew badly.”⁵

This incident is laden with tribal overtones. Ḥamzah’s fury and retaliation were motivated by tribal loyalties. Similarly, Abū Jahl’s conciliatory remark after he was punished by Ḥamzah aimed to avoid any tribal clash over the matter. Had Ḥamzah been overcome by the sheer number of his opponents, his tribe would have had to avenge his humiliation. Matters could have got out of hand. Ḥamzah’s declaration that he was a follower of Muhammad was made in a moment of great anger, so it might have had no real foundation and he might still be persuaded to forget the matter - or so Abū Jahl might have thought.

On this last point he was totally mistaken. Ḥamzah might have said what he did on the spur of the moment and without realizing its implications; however, he went to his nephew and learnt from him about Islam. As he listened, a feeling of reassurance grew stronger and stronger within him. He had no regrets. His decision gave the Prophet and the Muslims a feeling of strength, because he was one of the most courageous fighters in Arabia. The Quraysh realized that Ḥamzah was a significant recruit to Islam. It was not simply that the number of Muslims increased by one, but that now the community of Muslims had within its ranks a man of immense power who commanded great respect and imparted much confidence to them. To the last day of his life Ḥamzah continued to be one of the main stalwarts of the new call to Islam.

A Hostile Conference

People have continued to come to Makkah for pilgrimage ever since the Prophets Abraham and Ishmael built the Kaʿbah. God has ensured that successive generations have continued to revere ‘the House’ as it was generally called by the Arabs, and to travel to it to offer their devotion to the Creator. It was Abraham who called upon people, in fulfilment of God’s instructions, to visit the Kaʿbah for pilgrimage. At the time when the Prophet Muhammad started preaching the message of Islam in Makkah, pilgrimage was well established in the traditions of the city. People from all over Arabia came to Makkah at a specific time every year to do their pilgrimage rituals. This, of course, enhanced the position of the Quraysh, who resided in Makkah as the leading tribe in Arabia. One should add here, however, that pre-Islamic pilgrimage included many practices which could not be described as ‘religious’, or even ‘moral’. These were introduced over the years by the Quraysh as the overseers of pilgrimage. Thus, a great institution of worship was distorted and forced out of its religious nature. The fact remained, however, that people from the four corners of Arabia travelled to Makkah every year and stayed there for some time before returning home.

The Quraysh enjoyed the advantages it reaped from pilgrimage and tried to protect them against any threat. Now, however, it was waking up to the fact that the pilgrimage might produce some unwelcome results. This recognition manifested itself in various preventive measures taken by the Quraysh. At a meeting attended by a large number of Makkans and chaired, as it were, by al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah, a well-defined strategy was agreed.

In his opening address, al-Walīd said: “Now that the pilgrimage season is approaching, people will start arriving from all over the place. They must have heard about your friend [meaning the Prophet]. So you had better agree what to say when you are asked about him. We must guard against having too many opinions, particularly if they are mutually contradictory.”

When his audience asked his advice as to what they should say, he preferred to listen to their suggestions first. What concerned al-Walīd most was that the opinion they would come out with should take account of the fact that Muhammad was asking people to listen to the Qur’ān, God’s message, expressed in beautiful language and a powerful style. The description they would attach to Muhammad should also account for his persuasive, eloquent argument.

Descriptions like ‘fortune-teller’, ‘madman’, ‘poet’ and ‘magician’ were proposed. None was considered convincing by al-Walīd, who pointed out weaknesses in each, one after the other. He told his people that what Muhammad said was nothing like what was said by such men. When nobody could suggest anything more plausible, they asked al-Walīd if he had a better suggestion.

He 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 recognized 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.” They all approved of al-Walīd’s suggestion and set about preparing their propaganda campaign to make the pilgrims wary of Muhammad and unwilling to meet him.⁶

This was the first conference organized by the enemies of Islam on how to distort its image and how to turn people away from it before they had a chance to realize that Islam was identical with the truth.

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. The hardliners of the Quraysh made a special effort to meet as many pilgrims as possible to explain to them the nature of their problem with Muhammad (peace be upon him) and to warn them against his magic. As pilgrims group themselves on tribal lines, the Quraysh’s efforts often took the form of a semi-official tribal meeting in which a delegation of the Quraysh sought to meet as many as possible of the pilgrims of any one tribe to offer their advice and to warn them against the ‘disastrous’ effects that might arise from any person’s attempt to meet Muhammad. Anyone who met him risked being bewitched, they claimed.

Evil Tactics Backfire

The Quraysh’s campaign was certainly successful. Nobody wanted to learn about Islam in that pilgrimage season. All tribes pledged their support to the attitude of the elders of the Quraysh in trying to contain the problem they faced. The success, however, was short-lived. Those very people who listened to the warnings and thought they were wise to avoid Muhammad and his followers carried the news to their people as they went back. They obviously repeated the Quraysh’s account and views. As news travels, it starts to change. In this instance, the venom of the Quraysh’s false charges was bound to be toned down. In those days, when none of our present-day communications technology was in existence and publicity about anything was limited to word of mouth, the Quraysh did Islam an unintentional service: they allowed the whole of Arabia to learn about the existence of Islam. That was a very important first opportunity for Islam to get beyond the confines of Makkah.

An example of how the Quraysh’s attempts were counterproductive can be provided by the story of Ḍammād, a man from the tribe of Azd Shanū’ah who was well known as a faith healer. Ḍammād heard some idiots in Makkah claiming that Muhammad was a madman. He asked them: “Where is this man? I hope I can cure him by God’s will.” He met the Prophet and told him that he was a faith healer and that God could cause him to be the medium to cure some people. He asked him whether he would like to try. The Prophet said: “Praise be to God, we glorify Him and seek His help. Whoever God guides to the truth will have none to mislead him and whoever God leaves to go astray will have no one to guide. I bear witness that there is no deity other than God, who is the only God and who has no partners.”

Ḍammād said: “By God, I have listened to many fortune-tellers, astrologers, magicians and poets, but I have never heard anything like these words.” He asked the Prophet to repeat what he had said, and expressed his admiration. He then said: “Let us shake hands. I pledge that I am a Muslim.” The Prophet asked him whether he was willing to give his pledge on behalf of his people, and Ḍammād answered in the affirmative. He became an advocate of Islam among his people.⁷

At one point in this period, there was a very real danger of which Abū Ṭālib was keenly aware. As he watched the efforts of the Quraysh to dissuade other tribes from listening to Muhammad, he felt that the Quraysh might attempt a joint action against the Hāshimite clan to which he and his nephew, the Prophet, belonged. The Hāshimite clan would be no match for such a grouping, which could provide an effective but bloody solution to the problem. Today, one may be able to feel how delicate the situation in Makkah was at the time. To forestall any attempt, Abū Ṭālib made sure that everybody in Makkah was absolutely clear on where he stood and what would be expected should the Quraysh think of taking any collective, punitive measures against the Hāshimites or against Muhammad. In a splendid long poem, he sought to emphasize the sanctity of Makkah, outline the Hāshimite heritage in the holy city, praise the nobility of Makkah and reassure them that he was one of them; but he also declared his determination to defend his nephew to the bitter end. This served as a warning against misadventure. None was attempted for some time to come.

NOTES

1. Ibn Hishām, al-Sīrah al-Nabawiyyah, Dār al-Qalam, Beirut, Vol. 1, pp. 263-264.

2. Ibid., p. 270.

3. Ibid., pp. 313-314.

4. Ibid., pp. 309-310.

5. Ibid., pp. 311-312.

6. Ibid., pp. 288-289.

7. Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāyah wal-Nihāyah, Maktabat al-Maʿārif, Beirut, Vol.3, pp. 36-37.