How Did Quraysh React When the Prophet (PBUH) Began Calling to Islam Openly?
ما هي ردة فعل قريش على جهر النبي ﷺ بالدعوة؟ وما أثر هذا الصنيع على الدعوة؟
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 on the roads by which people came to Makkah for the season, and no one passed them without being warned against him and told about him.
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 an apostate and a liar.”
Oddly enough, their plot backfired 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 هذه الدعوة، 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.
1. Mockery, Slander, and Psychological Warfare | الاستهزاء والسخرية والحرب النفسية والإعلامية
At al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah's suggestion, Quraysh agreed to call him a sorcerer who divides families, as the scholar's answer describes, and they sat on the roads into Mecca at the pilgrimage season to warn visitors against him. The Quran records their charge of sorcery and lying (38:4).
وَعَجِبُوا أَن جَاءَهُم مُّنذِرٌ مِّنْهُمْ وَقَالَ الْكَافِرُونَ هَـٰذَا سَاحِرٌ كَذَّابٌ (سورة ص: 4)
اتفقت قريش برأي الوليد بن المغيرة على أن تقول إنه ساحر يفرق بين المرء وأهله كما يذكر الشيخ، وجلسوا بسبل الناس في الموسم يحذرونهم منه، وقد حكى القرآن قولهم: (هَٰذَا سَاحِرٌ كَذَّابٌ).
2. Brutal Torture of Vulnerable Believers | التعذيب الجسدي والتنكيل بالمستضعفين من المؤمنين
Those with no clan to protect them suffered most. Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said the first seven to show their Islam included Ammar, his mother Sumayyah, Suhayb, Bilal and al-Miqdad (may Allah be pleased with them); the polytheists put coats of iron on them and left them in the sun, and Bilal kept saying "One, One" as they dragged him through the streets of Mecca (Sunan Ibn Majah 150, graded hasan by al-Albani; quoted by Ibn Kathir). Khabbab ibn al-Aratt (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet ﷺ complaining of what they had suffered (Sahih al-Bukhari 3852).
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ (سورة البروج: 10)
أصاب الأذى أشده من لا عشيرة له؛ قال ابن مسعود: أول من أظهر الإسلام سبعة، منهم عمار وأمه سمية وصهيب وبلال والمقداد، فأخذهم المشركون فألبسوهم أدراع الحديد وصهروهم في الشمس، وكان بلال يطاف به في شعاب مكة وهو يقول: أحد أحد (سنن ابن ماجه 150، حسنه الألباني). وجاء خباب يشكو إلى النبي ﷺ ما لقوا من المشركين (صحيح البخاري 3852).
3. Diplomatic Bribes: Offering Kingship and Wealth | محاولات المساومة والإغراء بالملك والمال
Quraysh then tried bargaining. Utbah ibn Rabi'ah, in Ibn Ishaq's account quoted by Ibn Kathir, offered him wealth until he was the richest of them, leadership, kingship, or, if what came to him was a jinn he could not repel, physicians paid for with their wealth.
ثم جربت قريش المساومة؛ ففي رواية ابن إسحاق التي أوردها ابن كثير أن عتبة بن ربيعة عرض عليه المال حتى يكون أكثرهم مالا، والسيادة، والملك، وإن كان ما يأتيه رئيا لا يستطيع رده طلبوا له الطب.
4. The Firm Prophetic Response to Temptation | الرد النبوي الحاسم: لو وضعوا الشمس في يميني
Ibn Ishaq reports that when Abu Talib asked him to spare them both, the Prophet ﷺ said: "Uncle, by Allah, if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left on condition that I give up this matter, I would not give it up until Allah makes it prevail or I perish in it." Ibn Ishaq had it from Ya'qub ibn Utbah, who said only that he was told it, so its chain is not connected.
روى ابن إسحاق أن أبا طالب لما كلمه قال ﷺ: «يا عم، والله لو وضعوا الشمس في يميني والقمر في يساري على أن أترك هذا الأمر حتى يظهره الله أو أهلك فيه ما تركته». ورواه ابن إسحاق عن يعقوب بن عتبة أنه حُدِّث به، فإسناده غير متصل.
5. The Three-Year Cruel Boycott in the Valley of Abu Talib | الحصار الاقتصادي والاجتماعي الجائر في الشِّعب
Musa ibn Uqba's account, quoted by Ibn Kathir, says Quraysh wrote a pact not to sit with Banu Hashim, trade with them or enter their homes until they handed over the Prophet ﷺ. Banu Hashim stayed three years in their valley under great hardship, until men of Quraysh with Hashimite mothers moved to break the pact, and termites had eaten it.
في رواية موسى بن عقبة التي أوردها ابن كثير أن قريشا كتبت صحيفة ألا يجالسوا بني هاشم ولا يبايعوهم ولا يدخلوا بيوتهم حتى يسلموا رسول الله ﷺ، فلبث بنو هاشم في شعبهم ثلاث سنين في جهد شديد، حتى تلاوم رجال من قريش ولدتهم نساء من بني هاشم فنقضوها، وقد بعث الله على الصحيفة الأرضة.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
How did Quraysh initially react to the public preaching of Islam?
They reacted with mocking, slander, accusing the Prophet ﷺ of being a sorcerer, poet, or madman.
What did Quraysh do to early Muslims who lacked tribal protection?
They tortured them: Ibn Mas'ud reports that they put coats of iron on them and left them in the sun (Sunan Ibn Majah 150).
What diplomatic compromises did Quraysh offer to Prophet Muhammad?
They offered to make him their king, give him immense wealth, or cure him through physicians if he ceased preaching.
What was the three-year boycott of Banu Hashim?
A comprehensive social and economic blockade in the Valley of Abu Talib where all trade and marriage with them were banned.