1. From the method of intimidation and threats:
a. Leaders of Quraish came to Abu Talib and said to him: “O Abu Talib, you are elderly and honorable, and have a high status among us. And we have asked you to forbid your nephew from what he is doing, yet you did not. And we, by God, do not have patience for this: he is cursing our fathers, insulting our dreams, and dishonoring our gods, so either you stop him, or we will fight both you and him until one of the two parties perishes.
Abu Talib was deeply distressed at this threat and the breach with his people and their enmity, so he sent for his nephew and told him what the people had said, “Spare me and yourself and put not burden on me that I can’t bear.” Upon this the Prophet (Peace be upon him) thought that his uncle would let him down and would no longer support him, so he replied:
“O my uncle! by Allah if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left on condition that I abandon this course, until Allah has made me victorious, or I perish therein, I would not abandon it.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) got up with tears in his eyes, and as he turned away, his uncle called him and said, “Come back, my nephew. Go and preach what you please, for by Allah I will never forsake you.
Another incident involved threats and enticement to Abu Talib. A youth called ‘Amarah bin Al-Waleed bin Al-Mugheerah, went to see Abi Taleb representing the pagans of Makkah. He said, “O Abu Talib! we have brought you a smart young boy, so as to make use of his mind and strength and take him as your son in exchange for your nephew, who has run counter to your religion, brought about social discord, found fault with your way of life, so that we kill him and rid you of his endless troubles; just man for man.” Abu Talib’s reply was, “It is really an unfair bargain. You give me your son to bring him up and I give you my son to kill him! By Allah, it is something incredible!! It will never happen” Al-Mut’im bin ‘Adi bin Nofal bin Munaf a member of the delegation, interrupted saying that Quraish had been fair in that bargain because “they meant only to rid you of that source of hateful trouble, but as I see you are determined to refuse their favours.” Abu Talib by Allah you have not been fair to me, but you all got together to let me down and turn the people against me. Do whatever you please. ‘
2 The method of temptation: When Hamza (May Allah be pleased with him) embraced Islam, and the disbelievers of Makka saw the companions of the Messenger of Allah ( Peace be upon him ) increasing in number, ‘Utbah bin Rabi’a, a chief among them, offered to approach the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and hold a bargain with him whereby they give him whatever worldly wealth he asks for, and maybe he will accept some of them, on condition that he keep silent and no longer proclaim his new faith. The people of Quraish endorsed his proposal and requested him to undertake that task. ‘Utbah came closer to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and addressed him in the following words:
My nephew. You are one of us, and you are of a high status. We have seen no other man of Arabia, who has brought so great a calamity to a nation, as you have done. You have outraged our gods and religion and slandered our forefathers and wise men with impiety and error and created strife amongst us. If you are doing all this with a view to getting wealth, we will gather to give you greater riches than any Quraishite has possessed. If ambition moves you, we will make you, our chief. If you desire kingship, we will readily offer you that. If you are under the power of an evil spirit that seems to haunt and dominate you so that you cannot shake it off, then we shall call in skillful physicians and we will spend our money to cure you.
“Have you said all?” asked Muhammad (Peace be upon him); and then, hearing that all had been said, he said, ‘Oh Abu Waleed! Have you finished talking? He said: ‘Yes’. So, He (peace be upon him) said: Then listen to me: and he recited:
( Ḥâ-Mĩm. ˹It is˺ a Book whose verses are perfectly explained—a Quran in Arabic for people who know, delivering good news and warning. Yet most of them turn away, so they do not hear. They say, “Our hearts are veiled against what you are calling us to, there is deafness in our ears, and there is a barrier between us and you. So do ˹whatever you want˺ and so shall we!”) and continued with the verses of Fusilat. And the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) went on reciting the Chapter while ‘Utbah was sitting and listening attentively with his hand behind his back to support him. When the Messenger reached the verse that required prostration, he immediately prostrated himself. After that, he turned to ‘Utbah saying: “Well Abu Al-Waleed! You have heard my reply, you are now free to do whatever you please.”
‘Utbah then retired to his company, his compatriots saw him, and they swore that he had returned to them with a countenance, unlike the one he had before meeting the Prophet (Peace be upon him). He immediately communicated to them the details of the talk he gave and the reply he received. He appended saying: “I have never heard words similar to those ones he recited. They relate neither to poetry nor to witchcraft nor derive from soothsaying. O people of Quraish! I request you to heed my advice and grant the man full freedom to pursue his goals, in which case you could safely detach yourselves from him. I swear that his words bear a supreme Message. Should the other Arabs rid you of him, they will then spare you the trouble, on the other hand, if he accedes to power over the Arabs, then you will bask in his kingship and share him his might.” The infidels jeered at ‘Utbah and claimed that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had bewitched him. He said: ‘This is my opinion, so do as you see fit’.
In another version of the same event, it is related that ‘Utbah went on attentively listening to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) until the latter began to recite Allah’s Words: ( If they turn away, then say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “I warn you of a ˹mighty˺ blast, like the one that befell ’Ȃd and Thamûd.”) Here ‘Utbah stood up panicked and stunned putting his hand on the Prophet’s mouth beseeching him: “I beg you in the Name of Allah and relation ties to stop lest the calamity should befall the people. He then hurriedly returned to his compatriots and informed them of what he had heard.
3. These two ways that the people of falsehood used to show that to bring around the people of truth from what they believe, they will use one of two ways, either the path of encouragement or the path of intimidation.
So whichever path the preacher leans towards, they will take his way, and the infallible is the one whom Allah protects. and the infallible is the one that Allah makes firm on his path. Allah Almighty said to his Prophet (peace be upon him):
( They definitely ˹thought they˺ were about to lure you away from what We have revealed to you ˹O Prophet˺, hoping that you would attribute something else to Us falsely—and then they would have certainly taken you as a close friend.)
هذا التعامل بالأسلوبين يفيد أن أهل الباطل يحاولون استمالة أهل الحق عما هم عليه بأحد طريقين، إما طريق الترغيب، وإما طريق الترهيب، فأي الطريقين مال معه الداعية سلكوا طريقه، والمعصوم من عصمه الله والمعصوم من ثبته الله، وقد قال الله تعالى لنبيه ﷺ:” وَإِنْ كَادُوا لَيَفْتِنُونَكَ عَنِ الَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ لِتَفْتَرِيَ عَلَيْنَا غَيْرَهُ وَإِذًا لَاتَّخَذُوكَ خَلِيلًا. وَلَوْلَا أَنْ ثَبَّتْنَاكَ لَقَدْ كِدْتَ تَرْكَنُ إِلَيْهِمْ شَيْئًا قَلِيلًا. إِذًا لَأَذَقْنَاكَ ضِعْفَ الْحَيَاةِ وَضِعْفَ الْمَمَاتِ ثُمَّ لَا تَجِدُ لَكَ عَلَيْنَا نَصِيرًا
. من أسلوب الترهيب والتخويف
أ. جاء سادات قريش إلى أبي طالب فقالوا له: “يا أبا طالب إن لك سنا وشرفا ومنزلة فينا. وإنا قد استنهيناك من ابن أخيك فلم تنهه-أي طلبنا منك أن تنهاه عما فعله-، وإنا والله لا نصبر على هذا، من شتم آبائنا، وتسفيه أحلامنا، وعيب آلهتنا، حتى تكفَّهُ عنا، أو ننازله وإياك في ذلك، حتى يهلك أحد الفريقين.
فعظم ذلك الكلام والتخويف على أبي طالب، فبعث إلى رسول الله ﷺ وقال له: “يا ابن أخي إن قومك قد جاءوني، فقالوا لي: كذا وكذا، فأبق عليّ وعلى نفسك، ولا تحملني من الأمر ما لا أطيق
فظن رسول الله ﷺ أن عمه خاذله، وأنه ضعف عن نصرته، فقال 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“، ثم استعير(نزلت دموعه) وبكى، وقام، فلما ولى ناداه أبو طالب فلما أقبل قال له: اذهب يا ابن أخي فقل ما أحببت، فو الله لا أسلمك لشيء أبدا….
حادثة أخرى تتضمن تهديدًا وإغراء لأبي طالب، فقد ذهب عمارة بن الوليد بن المغيرة لأبي طالب نيابة عن كفار مكة قائلاً له: “يا أبا طالب إن هذا الفتى أنهد (أفضل) فتى في قريش وأجمله، فخذه فلك عقله ونصره، واتخذه ولدا فهو لك، وأسلم إلينا ابن أخيك هذا الذي خالف دينك ودين آبائك، وفرق جماعة قومك وسفه أحلامهم، فنقتله، فإنما هو رجل برجل، فقال:” والله لبئس ما تسومونني، أتعطوني ابنكم أغذوه لكم (أطعمه لكم)، وأعطيكم ابني تقتلونه. هذا والله ما لا يكون أبدا. فقال المطعم بن عدي بن نوفل بن عبد مناف: “والله يا أبا طالب لقد أنصفك قومك، وجهدوا على التخلص مما تكره، فما أراك تريد أن تقبل منهم شيئا” فقال أبو طالب: “والله ما أنصفتموني، ولكنك قد أجمعت خذلاني ومظاهرة القوم عليّ، فاصنع ما بدا لك
من أسلوب الترغيب: حين أسلم حمزة-رضي الله عنه-، ورأى كفار مكة أصحابَ رسول الله ﷺ، يكثرون ويزيدون، قال عتبة بن ربيعة-وكان سيدا في قومه-: يا معشر قريش ألا أقوم إلى محمد؟ فأكلمه، وأعرض عليه أمورا لعله يقبل بعضها، فنعطيه أيها شاء، ويكف عنا؟
فقالوا: بلى، يا أبا الوليد قم إليه، فكلمه، فقام إليه عتبة، حتى جلس إلى رسول الله ﷺ فقال: يا ابن أخي، إنك منا حيث قد علمت من السطة (وهي: المنزلة الرفيعة المهيبة) في العشيرة، والمكان في النسب، وإنك قد أتيت قومك بأمر عظيم فرقت به جماعتهم، وسفهت به أحلامهم، وعبت به آلهتهم ودينهم، وكفرت به من مضى من آبائهم، فاسمع مني أعرض عليك أمورا تنظر فيها، لعلك تقبل منها بعضها. قال: فقال رسول الله ﷺ: “قل يا أبا الوليد أسمع” قال: يا ابن أخي، إن كنت إنما تريد بما جئت به من هذا الأمر مالاً جمعنا لك من أموالنا حتى تكون أكثرنا مالاً، وإن كنت تريد به شرفا سودناك علينا، حتى لا نقطع أمرا دونك، وإن كنت تريد به ملكا ملكناك علينا، وإن كان هذا الذي يأتيك رئيا تراه لا تستطع رده عن نفسك طلبنا لك الطب، وبذلنا فيه أموالنا حتى نبرئك منه، فإنه ربما غلب التابع على الرجل حتى يداوي منه- أو كما قال له- حتى إذا فرغ عتبة ورسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يستمع منه، قال: أقد فرغت يا أبا الوليد؟ قال: نعم، قال: فاسمع مني، قال: أفعل، فقال: “بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ. “حم. تَنْزِيلٌ مِنَ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ. كِتابٌ فُصِّلَتْ آياتُهُ قُرْآناً عَرَبِيًّا لِقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ. بَشِيراً وَنَذِيراً، فَأَعْرَضَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ فَهُمْ لا يَسْمَعُونَ. وَقالُوا قُلُوبُنا فِي أَكِنَّةٍ مِمَّا تَدْعُونا إِلَيْه…” الآيات من سورة فصلت، ثم مضى رسول الله ﷺ فيها يقرؤها عليه، فلما سمعها منه عتبة أنصت لها، وألقى يديه خلف ظهره معتمدا عليهما، يسمع منه، ثم انتهى رسول الله ﷺ إلى السجدة منها فسجد، ثم قال: قد سمعت يا أبا الوليد ما سمعت، فأنت وذاك
فقام عتبة إلى أصحابه، فقال بعضهم لبعض: نحلف بالله لقد جاءكم أبو الوليد بغير الوجه الذي ذهب به. فلما جلس إليهم قالوا: ما وراءك يا أبا الوليد؟
قال: ورائي أني سمعت قولا والله ما سمعت مثله قط، والله ما هو بالشعر، ولا بالسحر، ولا بالكهانة، يا معشر قريش أطيعوني واجعلوها بي، وخلوا بين هذا الرجل وبين ما هو فيه فاعتزلوه، فو الله ليكونن لقوله الذي سمعت منه نبأ عظيم، فإن تصبه العرب فقد كفيتموه بغيركم، وإن يظهر على العرب فملكه ملككم، وعزه عزكم، وكنتم أسعد الناس به، قالوا: سحرك والله يا أبا الوليد بلسانه، قال: هذا رأيي فيه، فاصنعوا ما بدا لكم
وفي رواية أخرى أن عتبة استمع حتى جاء الرسول ﷺ إلى قوله تعالى: “فَإِنْ أَعْرَضُوا فَقُلْ: أَنْذَرْتُكُمْ صاعِقَةً مِثْلَ صاعِقَةِ عادٍ وَثَمُودَ“ فقام مذعورا، فوضع يده على فم رسول الله ﷺ يقول: أنشدك الله والرحم! وذلك مخافة أن يقع النذير، وقام إلى القوم فقال ما قال