Dawah in Makkah: The Reality

image source: salafimedia.com

     
     The fact that he (صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم) sat amongst them (mushrikeen of Makkah) for thirteen years, does not mean that he praised or commended them or took some kind of oath upon respecting them, as is done by many of the ignorant ones, who attribute themselves to the Da‛wah, towards the modern Yāsiq of this era (i.e. the constitution of the apostate governments). Rather, he صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم used to declare his open enmity and disavowal towards the polytheists (Mushrikīn) and their deeds and show his disbelief in their gods, despite his weakness and the weakness of his companions. And we have explained this for you in what has passed. And when you consider the Makkah-period of the Qur’ān, much of this will become clear to you. From it, for instance, His, the Most High’s statement in describing the condition of His Prophet صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم in Makkah towards the disbelievers:

And when those who disbelieve see you, they take you not except for mockery (saying): “Is this the one who talks (badly) about your gods?” While they disbelieve at the mention of the Most Beneficent (Allāh). [al-Anbiya:36]

Ibn Kathīr said, “They meant, ‘Is this the one who swears at your gods and ridicules your intelligence?’ to other than that.”  

     And also herein, for you, is what came in the Musnad of Imām Ahmad, as well as others, with an authentic chain, concerning his صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم’s description and his condition in Makkah during the time of weakness. Contemplate it and understand it and look how the disbelievers (Kuffār) described our Prophet as swearing at their gods and ridiculing their intelligence. And observe them well as they surrounded him, alone by himself, and they forced his acknowledgment of what he said, by saying to him, “Are you the one who says such-and-such and such-and-such?” So he would reply to them without any cozying-up to, or terror, or fear, or apprehension; rather with full stability and firmness and clarity, “Yes, I am the one who says that.” 

‛Abdullāh ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “Narrated to me, my father, that Ya’qūb said, ‘My father told us from Ibn Is’hāq, who said Yahyā ibn ‘Urwah ibn Az-Zubayr told me from his father from ‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr al-‘Ās, who said:

What is the worst act of enmity that the Quraysh had done against the Messenger of Allāh صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم ?” He replied, “I went to Al-Hijr one day, and their dignitaries were there talking about the Messenger of Allāh صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم …

So they said, “We never tolerated a man like the way we did Muhammad… He has mocked our elders, cursed our forefathers, criticized our religion, divided our community, and attacked our gods! We indeed have been very patient with him regarding a grave matter.” 

While they were at that state, the Messenger of Allāh  صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلمcame walking to Ar-Rukn. Then he went around the Ka’bah (making  Tawāf  three times). When he passed by them, they started to mock him by repeating some of his (own) sayings. I looked at the Prophet and could see the anger in his face. And when he passed by them the second time, they mocked him again, and I saw the anger in his face (once more)- then he walked (away). Then when he passed by them for the third time and they had mocked him again – the Prophet  صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم replied:

“O people of Quraysh! Hear this: By Him in Whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad- I have come to you, to slaughter you.”

His words struck them so severely, that there wasn’t any man from amongst them, except it was as if there was a bird falling upon his head (i.e. they were shocked, terrorized, and dumbfounded) – such that even the one who was the most wickedly harsh against the Prop het before this, was saying the most kind and tender words he could think of; such that even one of them said, “O Abul-Qāsim (Muhammad): Go! Go, O righteous one! Indeed, By Allāh, you are not ignorant!” So the Messenger of Allāh left.

The next day, they gathered together to meet at Al-Hijr and I was with them. They asked each other, “Do you remember what he said to you, and what you said to him? To such a degree, that he manifested to you that which you hate, yet you let him go!” So when they were in this state, the Messenger showed up again. So they all immediately surrounded him, and interrogated, “Are you the one who is mocking our gods and our religion?” The Prophet replied, “Yes. I am the one who says these things.” 

I saw one of them (beginning to) pull the garment of the Prophet, but Abū Bakr jumped and stood between them and him. While crying, Abū Bakr said, “Would you kill a man because he says: My Lord is Allāh”? [Ghāfir: 28]

Upon that, they left him. This was the worst thing I saw from the Quraysh against the Prophet صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم .”

And in another narration, also within Al-Musnad, that the Prophet صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم was praying at the Ka‛bah at the second instance when ‘Uqbah ibn Abī Mu’īt came and grabbed the shoulder of the Prophet صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم and twisted his cloak (Thawb) around his throat and strangled him with a severe strangling. So Abū Bakr, may Allāh be pleased with him, came forward and grabbed his shoulder and repelled him from the Messenger of Allāh صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم saying, “Would you kill a man because he says, ‘My Lord is Allāh,’ while coming to you with clarifications from his Lord?”

So contemplate the condition of the Prophet صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم whom the angels described in Sahih al-Bukhari (saying) that: “He صلي الله ءليه ؤ سلم divided the people.”  Contemplate this condition of his, with the disbelievers (Kuffār) of his time, and how it was open enmity to all those who were enemies of the religion and a splitting of the path with clear disavowal (Barā’ah). And it was nowhere near the improper conditions of the people of our time from the inclination towards the people of falsehood from the people of the religion. They cozy-up to them and they make things nice for them. Furthermore, they even support them and give victory to them. And the issue is not considered (by them to be) an issue of enmity and disavowal. Rather, (they considered it) to be mutual cooperation and joining forces for the good of the nation and the society, while they sit in their laps and they suckle from their milk. So Allāh is the One from Whom we seek help.

[An extract from Millat Ibrahim -Sheikh AbuMuhammad al Maqdisi]