- His Da’wah in public started when the season of Hajj was close. The Arab tribes headed towards Makkah in this season, so Quraysh wanted to cut this Da’wah off. Quraysh knew that the Arab delegations would come to them. They thought that it was necessary to say a word to the Arabs regarding Muhammad, peace be upon him, so that his Da’wah would not have an impact on the Arabs.
- Quraysh consulted Al-Walid bin Al-Mughirah, who was one of the masters of the Arabs, and he told them that they must agree on one word to be said about Muhammad, peace be upon him, so that they would not belie each other. It was mentioned in some narrations that he said to them: “Give me time to think about it”, so he kept thinking until he came up with his opinion which he explained to them…
- Al-Walid put together all the adjectives used to describe the Prophet, peace be upon him, such as being a soothsayer, a mad man, a poet, a liar, or a magician. However, those descriptions were not appropriate in describing him, peace be upon him, so Quraysh excluded them except calling him a magician, since he caused separation between the husband and his wife between the son and his father, and between the brothers, although his apparent characteristics had nothing to do with that of the magician.
- That was the opinion of Al-Walid bin Al-Mughirah, which was mentioned in the Noble Qur’an, with a precise detailed description of his situation. Allah the Almighty says: “for he contemplated and determined ˹a degrading label for the Quran˺ May he be condemned! How evil was what he determined! May he be condemned even more! How evil was what he determined! Then he re-contemplated ˹in frustration˺, then frowned and scowled, then turned his back ˹on the truth˺ and acted arrogantly, saying, “This ˹Quran˺ is nothing but magic from the ancients. This is no more than the word of a man.” [Al-Muddathir 74: 18-25]
- After the assembly agreed on that decision, they began to implement it. They sat in the paths of the people when they arrived Makkah to warn them about the Prophet, calling him names.
- The main executor of this fabrication and falsehood was Abu Lahab. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, used to follow the people during the season of Hajj to their homes, and he used to follow them in Okaz, Majnah and Dhu al-Majaz, calling them to worship Allah the Almighty, while Abu Lahab used to walk behind him saying to those people, “Do not obey him, for he is a liar.”
Oddly enough, their plot fired back as it affected the Da’wah in a positive way the Arabs never thought of. Their claims and lies made free propaganda for the Da’wah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, among the pilgrims. As a result, the pilgrims made one of their goals to listen to the one whose people claim that he was a magician. Consequently, the Arabs spread what they heard during the season of Hajj to other countries that a man in Makkah claimed that Allah the Almighty had sent him, and news about him, peace be upon him, spread all over the Arab countries.
- وافق جهره ﷺ بالدعوة قرب موسم الحج الذي تفد فيه قبائل العرب على مكة، فأرادت قريش أن تقطع وعرفت قريش أن وفود العرب ستقدم عليهم، فرأت أنه لا بد من كلمة يقولونها للعرب في شأن محمد ﷺ حتى لا يكون لدعوته أثر في نفوس العرب.
- استشارت قريش الوليد بن المغيرة وهو سيد من سادات العرب، فقال لهم الوليد إنه لا بد أن تتفق قريش على كلمة واحدة تقال في محمد ﷺ، بحيث لا يكذب بعضهم بعضًا، وتذكر الروايات أنه قال لهم: ” أمهلوني حتى أفكر في ذلك، فظل الوليد يفكر ويفكر، حتى أبدى لهم رأيه…”.
- جمع الوليد كل ما قيل في النبي ﷺ من أنه كاهن، أو مجنون، أو شاعر، أو كاذب، أو ساحر، فلم تكن تلك الأوصاف لائقة بجنابه ﷺ فاستبعدوها، لكنهم رأوا أن يقولوا إنه ساحر، لأنه يفرق بين المرء وزوجه وبين الابن وأبيه، وبين الأخ وأخيه، وإن كانت أوصافه الظاهرة ليست أوصاف الساحر.
- كان ذلك هو رأي الوليد بن المغيرة الذي سطره القرآن الكريم، ووصف حاله بدقة متناهية، وذلك في قول الله تعالى: “إِنَّهُ فَكَّرَ وَقَدَّرَ. فَقُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ. ثُمَّ قُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ. ثُمَّ نَظَرَ. ثُمَّ عَبَسَ وَبَسَرَ. ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ. فَقالَ إِنْ هذا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ يُؤْثَرُ. إِنْ هذا إِلَّا قَوْلُ الْبَشَرِ”
- وبعد أن اتفق المجلس على هذا القرار أخذوا في تنفيذه، فجلسوا بسبل الناس حين قدموا الموسم، لا يمر بهم أحد إلا حذروه إياه، وذكروا لهم أمره.
- كان المنفذ الأكبر لهذا الإفك والباطل هو أبو لهب، فقد كان رسول الله ﷺ يتبع الناس إذا وافى الموسم في منازلهم وفي عكاظ ومجنة وذي المجاز، يدعوهم إلى الله، وأبو لهب وراءه يقول: لا تطيعوه فإنه صابئ كذاب.
أَثَّرَ ذلك على الدعوة بطريقة إيجابية لم تكن العرب تحسب حسابها، فقد صنعت دعاية مجانية لدعوة النبي ﷺ في أذهان الحجيج، فجعل الحجيج أحد أهدافهم الاستماع إلى هذا الذي يزعم قومه أنه ساحر، فأدى ذلك إلى أن صدرت العرب من ذلك الموسم وهي تتداول فيما بينها أن رجلاً في مكة يزعم أن الله قد بعثه، وانتشر ذكره ﷺ في بلاد العرب كلها.