بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Circle 5: Pleading with The Prophet (saw) to Abandon the Da’wah
We said that the Quraysh used four tactics against the Prophet’s (saw) call. In this Halaqa we will discuss the first tactic which is Pleading with the Prophet (saw) to abandon the da’wah.
The Quraysh tried various methods and means to stop the Prophet (saw) and his call. They sent Abal Waleed Utbah bin Rabia as an ambassador to the Prophet (saw) to persuade him and he would say:
“Oh Muhammad, indeed you know very well your status to us in lineage and prevalence and indeed people know that you have come with a great matter for which you have broken their unity, and demean their clever (made them ignorant), and ashamed their deities and way of life, and renounced their forefathers. Indeed, the nobles among your people have gathered, and agreed that I speak with you some issues and that you look at them and that you examine them, you could agree with some or be pleased with all”.
The Prophet (saw) told Utbah: “Speak oh Abal Waleed I am listening.”
Utbah said: “Oh the son of my brother, if you desire for what you have come with wealth, we will gather it and give it to you such that you become the richest among us! And if you desire position we will make you our master such we don’t decide against you. If you desire leadership, we will make you our king. And if what you have is as a result of nightmares that you can’t protect yourself from, we will seek for you cure and we will spend from our wealth till we cure you from it or we are defeated.”
The Prophet (saw) listened to Utbah and when he finished he told him: “Are you through Oh Abal Waleed?” Utbah respondede: “Yes”. The Prophet (saw) said: “Then now listen to me”; Abal Waleed said: “I will listen to you”. The Prophet (saw) said:
حَم ، تنزيلٌ مـِنَ الرَّحمَن ِالرَّحيم ِ، كِتابٌ فـُصِّـلـَتْ آيَاتـُهُ قـُرآنا ً عَرَبيَّا ً لِقـَوم ٍ يَعلمُونَ ، بـَشيرا ً وَنذيرا ًفأعْرَضَ أكثرُهُمْ فـَهُمْ لا يَسمَعُونَ ، وَقـَالـُوا قـُلـُوبُنا فِي أكِنـَّةٍ مِمَّا تـَدعُونـَا إليهِ وَفي آذانِنـَا وَقر ٌوَمِنْ بَينـِنـَا وَبَينـِكَ حِجَابٌ فاعمَـلْ إنـَّـنـَا عَامِلـُونَ
Haa Mym. [This is] a revelation from the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful * A Book whose verses have been detailed, an Arabic Qur’an 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. [Fussilat: 1-5]
The Prophet (saw) then continued reciting Surah Fussilat to Utbah while he maintained silence putting his hands behind listening keenly to the Prophet’s (saw) recitation until he stopped at the verse of prostration which is His (swt) saying:
وَمِنْ آياتِهِ الليلُ وَالنـَّهارُ وَالشمسُ وَالقمَرُ لا تـَسجُدُوا لِلشمس ِوَلا لِلقمَر ِوَاسجُدُوا للهِ الذي خـَلقـَهُنَّ إنْ كـُنتـُمْ إيَّاهُ تعبُدُونَ
And of His signs are the night and day and the sun and moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostate to Allah, who created them, if it should be Him that you worship.
[Fussilat: 37]
The Prophet (saw) after prostration he told him: “You have heard what you have heard it is therefore upon you and what you have heard”
After that Utbah stood up and went to his people where upon his approach, his people whispered among themselves that By Allah Abal Waleed is coming back to you with a face different from what he left with, when he sat among them they asked him: “What is behind you oh Abal Waleed? He replied, “Indeed behind me I have heard words, by Allah, I have never heard the likes of them. By Allah, they are not poetry neither are they witchcraft nor magic…! Oh congregation of Quraysh listen to me and assign me this responsibility and let go of this man and what he has come with. By Allah, from the words I have heard, should the Arabs confront him, they would have quenched you on their behalf, and should he overpower them, his kingdom will be your kingdom and his majesty will be your majesty and you will be happier through him…”
After this, the Quraysh went to the Prophet’s (saw) uncle Abu Taalib asking him to restrain him (saw) from his da’wah to please the Quraysh and their chiefs. The Prophet (saw) replied with words, which neither agreed to their demands nor allowed a compromise saying: “Oh Uncle! By Allah, were they to put the sun on my right hand or the moon on my left hand so that I abandon this matter I would not except that Allah makes it dominant or I die on its course.”
They also demanded from the Prophet (saw) to allow the polytheists to practice what they have and they too will allow him to practice what he has. A retaliatory answer was revealed Allah (swt):
ودوا لو تدهن فيدهنون
They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you
[Al-Qalam:9]
They demanded from the Prophet (saw) to worship their gods one year and they worshipping his God for the other year. Allah (swt) responded by revealing:
قل يآ أيهاالكافرون¤لاأعبدماتعبدون¤
Say, “O disbelievers! *I do not worship what you worship.
[Al-Kaafiroon: 1 – 2]
Allah (swt) halted their funny persuasions by those definite explanations.
When all their previous attempts that the Quraysh used to make the Prophet (saw) abandon his call failed, they came up with another style among the malicious styles of compromise…
They agreed to compromise their stand on him as long as he will not ill mention their gods. The Prophet (saw) was about to accept this with the hope that they would accept Islam thinking that this would not harm the da’wah. But; through the divine assistance and by the gracious and Godly protection of this da’wah, he (saw) was guided as he never rose from this compromise sitting until Jibril (as) came to him with His (swt) saying:
وَإنْ كادُوا لـَيـَفـتِنـُونـَكَ عَن ِالذي أوحَينـَا إليكَ لتفتريَ عَلينـَا غيرَهُ إذا ًلا تـَّخذوكَ خلِيلا ً، وَلـَولا أنْ ثــَبـَّـتـنـَاكَ لقـَدْ كِدْتَ تركـَنُ إليهمْ شَيئا ً قليلا ً ، إذا ً لأذقـْـنـَاكَ ضِعفَ الحَيَاةِ وَضِعْـفَ المَمَاتِ ثـُمَّ لا تـَجـِدُ لكَ عَلينـَا نـَصِيرا ً
And indeed, they were about to tempt you away from that which We revealed to you in order to [make] you invent about Us something else; and then they would have taken you as a friend*And if We had not strengthened you, you would have almost inclined to them a little*Then [if you had], We would have made you taste double [punishment in] life and double [after] death. Then you would not find for yourself against Us a helper. [Al-Israa: 73-75]
Indeed, any deviation of a da’wah carrier from the side of the da’wah however small it is; it is considered a deviation on the whole da’wah. Since any section among sections of da’wah carrying is a replica of the other, which is a shari’ah rule among shari’ah rules of the method (Tariqah) of carrying the da’wah. It is incumbent to abide by it and is not allowed at all to deviate from it.
It will continue in UQAB Issue 10… In Shaa Allah.