The Third Example: With ‘Utbah ibn Rabee‘ah
After Hamzah ibn ‘Abdul-Muttalib and ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with them, had embraced Islam, hardships started to fade. This new situation disturbed the disbelievers and they became very anxious as the number of Muslims increased and they announced their Islam and showed their indifference to the disbelievers’ hostility. This encouraged the people of the Quraysh to make compromises to the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ). They sent ‘Utbah ibn Rabee‘ah to offer the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), certain things, hoping that he might accept part of them and thus, be given whatever worldly pleasures he might want. ‘Utbah approached the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), sat beside him, and said, “O nephew! You are fully aware of your high status in our tribe and in our family background, and you have shocked your people with a great matter whereby you disunited them, belittled their minds, abused their deities and religion, and accused their ancestors of disbelief. Listen to me! I am going to offer you a number of things to consider, that you might accept some of them.”
The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), said: “I am listening, O Abu Al-Waleed.” He began,
O nephew! If you brought that matter, [i.e. Islam], seeking money, we will collect for you from our money until you become the richest among us. If you brought it to attain honor, we will make you our master so that we would not make a decision without you. If you brought it seeking to be a king, we will crown you as king over us. If this matter was just a vision that you could not repel, we will spend all our money to seek treatment for you until you recover, for a man might be overcome by his companion from the Jinn until he is in need of treatment to be cured of this.
When ‘Utbah finished, the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), who was listening to him said: “Have you finished, O Abu Al-Waleed?” He replied in the affirmative, and so the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), continued: “It is my turn, so listen to me.” He began reciting verses from the Quran where Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Ha, Meem. [This is] a revelation from the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.A Book whose verses have been detailed, an Arabic Quran for a people who know,As a giver of good tidings and a warner; but most of them turn away, so they do not hear.And they say, “Our hearts are within coverings from that to which you invite us, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a partition, so work; indeed, we are working.”} [Quran 41:1-5]
The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), continued reciting this chapter, and ‘Utbah was listening attentively with his hands behind his back supporting him, until the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), reached the verse of prostration where he prostrated. Then, he told Abu Al-Waleed to choose whatever he wanted after hearing the Quranic verses.
In another narration, it was said that ‘Utbah continued listening to the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), until he reached the verse where Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {But if they turn away, then say, “I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt [that struck] ‘Aad and Thamud.”} [Quran 41:13] On hearing that, ‘Utbah stood up in a state of panic and put his hands upon the mouth of the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), trying to silence him, saying, “I ask you by Allah and the ties of kinship to stop.” He rushed back to his people as if thunderbolts were chasing him and encouraged the Quraysh to leave Muhammad alone.
The Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), selected these verses of the Quran by the bounty of Allah The Almighty in the first place, then, by virtue of his great wisdom, to inform ‘Utbah of the reality of the mission and the Messenger. He wanted him to know that Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), was conveying a Book from the Creator to His creation whereby he would guide them from error and save them from Hell. Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), was commanded to believe in this Book, implement it and abide by its rulings before anybody else. Just as Allah The Almighty orders people to consistently observe His orders, Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), was even more required to do so. He was not seeking kingship, money or high status. Allah The Almighty made all these things available for him, but he abstained and refused to take anything from such perishable things because he was true in his Da‘wah and sincere to his Lord The Almighty.
This is one of the greatest incidents that indicated the patience and wisdom of the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ). He remained steadfast and sincere in his Da‘wah. He did not seek money, position, kingdom or marriage to compromise his Da‘wah, and he selected the correct words in the appropriate places, and this is the core of wisdom and the core of great morals.
The Fourth Example: With Abu Jahl
The polytheists decided to spare no effort to fight Islam, harm the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), and those who embraced Islam and make them experience various forms of torture and pain.
Ever since the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), declared his Da‘wah to Allah The Almighty and expounded the false beliefs of the pre-Islamic era, anger blew in Makkah and its people regarded Muslims as rebellious and disobedient. Thus, the people of Makkah shook the land beneath the Muslims, shed their blood and violated their property and honor in the Secure Sacred land. They waged a war against the Muslims - a war of mockery, contempt, belying, distorting the teachings of Islam, casting doubts, fostering false claims, and denying the Quran and claiming that it consists of legends of the former peoples.
There were also absurd negotiations that took place, like the attempt of the disbelievers to make Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), worship their deities one year for which, in return, they would worship Allah The Almighty the following year. They accused the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), of madness, sorcery, lying and soothsaying, but he was patient, hoping for the reward of Allah, His victory and the establishment of Islam.
The disbelievers harmed the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), much more than they harmed many of the believers. Abu Jahl attacked the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), and wanted to soil his face with dust, but Allah The Almighty saved him and turned the tables on Abu Jahl. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, he said,
Abu Jahl asked [people] whether Muhammad prostrated in their presence. It was said to him, “Yes.” He said, “By Al-Laat and Al-‘Uzza (two idols), if I were to see him doing that, I would trample on his neck or I would smear his face with dust.” He, therefore, went to the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) as he was engaged in prayer and thought of trampling on his neck. He went near him but turned upon his heels and tried to repulse something with his hands. It was said to him, “What is the matter with you?” He said, “There is between me and him a ditch of fire, terror and wings.” Thereupon, the Messenger sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) said: “If he had come near me the angels would have torn him to pieces.” Then, Allah The Almighty Revealed (what means): {No! [But] indeed, man transgresses…} [until the end of the chapter]. [Quran 96:6-19] [Muslim]
Allah The Almighty protected the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), from this tyrant and other wicked people. He also endured this great harm for the sake of Allah The Almighty and sacrificed his body, money and time in His cause.
The Fifth Example: The throwing of abdominal contents onto the back of the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention )
The Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), suffered a great deal of harm. In a Hadeeth on the authority of Ibn Mas‘ood, may Allah be pleased with him, he said,
Once the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) was praying at the Ka‘bah and Abu Jahl was sitting with some of his companions. He said to them, “Who amongst you will bring the abdominal contents [intestines, etc.] of the camel of Banu so-and-so and put it on the back of Muhammad when he prostrates?” The most wretched of them got up and brought it. He waited until the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) was prostrating and then placed it on his back between his shoulders. They began laughing at him. I was watching but could not do anything. I wish I had some people with me to take it off his back. The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) was prostrating and he did not lift his head up until Faatimah [the Prophet's daughter] came, and she was very young then. She threw the [camel's abdominal contents] away from his back and cursed them. When the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) finished his prayer, he raised his voice and supplicated to Allah against them saying thrice: “O Allah! Punish the Quraysh.” When they heard his voice, they stopped laughing and were terrified of his supplication. The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) then said: “O Allah! Punish Abu Jahl ibn Hishaam, 'Utbah ibn Rabee‘ah, Shaybah ibn Rabee‘ah, Al-Waleed ibn ‘Utbah, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, and ‘Uqbah ibn Abi Mu‘ayt (and he mentioned a seventh whose name I cannot recall).” By Allah who sent Muhammad sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) with the truth, I saw the dead bodies of these people who were mentioned by the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) being dragged into a pit where the dead bodies of the disbelievers who were killed in Badr were thrown. [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
