LESSON 5
PHYSICAL & INTELLECTUAL DEFENCE

Three years elapsed after Muhammad's first prophetic experience before he began to preach publicly and met opposition:

This [peace] lasted until God [in the Qur'ân] spoke shamefully of the idols they worshipped other than himself and mentioned the perdition of their fathers who died in unbelief. At that they came to hate the Messenger of God and to be hostile to him.

The first opposition to Muhammad, however, seems to have had little to do with worship of traditional divinities. Ibn-Ishâq gives no Qur'ânic verses to illustrate condemnation of such worship at this time. Muhammad's opponents saw that if his movement was not nipped in the bud it might one day sweep all contenders away and leave Muhammad master of Mecca and of Arabia. Ibn-Ishâq relates the first skirmish:

A band of polytheists came upon them as they were doing salât and criticized them, attacking what they were doing, and even fought them. Sa`d ibn-abî-Waqqâs then struck one of the polytheists with a camel's jawbone and wounded him. That was the first blood shed in Islam.

The Meccans then complained to Abû-Tâlib:

Abû-Tâlib, your brother's son has insulted our gods, insulted our religion, called our way of life stupid, and said our ancestors were in error. Either you must stop him yourself or let us at him, since you are opposed to him just as we are, and we will rid you of him.

Abû-Tâlib gave them an evasive diplomatic answer, and they went away. Pressure mounted for him to surrender Muhammad, but he steadfastly refused, even though he himself never accepted Muhammad as a prophet. The Meccans increased their threats, and twice mobbed Muhammad at the Ka`ba. The persecution abated with the conversion of the Muhammad's paternal uncle, the strong man Hamza. He heard how Abû-Jahl abused Muhammad, and reacted:

Hamza was full of anger and went out to take an action for which God would honour him. He ran and did not stop to greet anyone, intending to punish Abû-Jahl when he met him. When he entered the mosque he saw him sitting among the people; so he went up to him and when he stood over his head he lifted up his bow and hit him with it, giving him a heavy bash, and said, "Will you insult him, while I follow his religion and say what he says? Hit me back if you can."

Since Muhammad could not be silenced by threats, the Meccans resorted to promises; so they sent `Utba to him with the offer:

If you want money from your enterprise, we will collect enough to make you richer than any of us. If you want honour, we will make you our chief, so that nothing will be decided without you. If you want sovereignty, we will make you our king. And if you cannot get rid of the spirit which comes to you, we will call a doctor and pay him anything to get you cured, for a spirit often takes possession of a man until he can be cured of it.

Muhammad at first refused, but was attracted by the chance of peace:

The Messenger of God was looking for a truce and a way to settle with his people... When he saw that his people had turned away from him and had nothing to do with what he brought them from God, he was pained and desired a message from God that would reconcile himself with his people. Because of his love and desire for them he would be glad if the bone of their contention could be softened a little. He thought much about it and desired it very much. Then God revealed, "By the star when it goes down, your companion has not gone astray nor erred; nor does he speak what he feels like saying" (Q 53:1-3), until the words, "Have you seen al-Lât, al-`Uzzâ and the third one, Manât?" (Q 53:19-20). At this point Satan put on his lips what he was thinking in himself and his people wanted to hear from him: "Those are the high flying ghurnûqs [Numidian cranes] whose intercession can be counted on".

When the Quraysh people heard that they were delighted and greatly pleased with the way he spoke of their gods and listened to him. The believers also accepted what their prophet brought them from their Lord and did not in the least suspect a mistake or slip. When he came to the prostration at the end of the sûra he prostrated. The Muslims joined him affirming their belief in what he said and obeying his command. The Quraysh and other polytheists who were in the mosque also prostrated because they heard their gods mentioned, so that everyone in the mosque, believer and unbeliever alike, prostrated.. Then everyone went out, and the Quraysh people were delighted at what they heard about their gods and said, "Muhammad has spoken excellently of our god, saying, 'They are the high flying ghurnûqs whose intercession is approved'".

Then Gabriel came to the Messenger of God and said, "Muhammad, what have you done? You have dictated to the people something I did not bring you from God and said what he did not say to you." This made the Messenger of God very sad and very afraid of God. So God in his mercy made another revelation, making light of the affair and told him that every prophet or messenger before him had similar desires and hopes and Satan interfered with their desires, just as he put words on Muhammad's tongue.. So God revealed: "Whenever any messenger or prophet whom we sent before you desired something, Satan interfered with his desire, But God abrogates what Satan put there. Then God establishes his verses, since he is knowing and wise".

So, to the disappointment of the Meccans, Muhammad retracted the Satanic verses (Q 17:73-75), and repudiated any compromise (Q 109).

The Meccan leaders then tried to discredit Muhammad by various accusations:

1. Besides the accusation that Muhammad was destroying the customs and traditional religion of his people,

2. another charge was that Muhammad was a diviner or poet (Q 21:3,5; 52:29-30). This charge is answered by the statement, "No, for we know poetry in all its forms and metres". But the point of Muhammad's critics was that poets, just like diviners and sorcerers, were possessed or even mad (Q 37:36). Since the Meccans did not agree that his inspiration was from God, they proposed that it came from the jinn (Q 7:184; 15:6; 69:42), and therefore the Qur'ân need not be taken seriously.

3. Another accusation was that the Qur'ân was borrowed: "This is just a forgery which he invented with the help of others, stories from olden times which he wrote down as they were dictated to him morning and evening" (Q 25:4-5; 68:15). "A human being teaches him" (16:103).
   Answering the criticism that Muhammad copied from others, the Qur'ân says in the story of Mary, "This is information about the unknown which we reveal to you. You were not there when they cast lots.." (3:44). The same assertion is made about the stories of Noah (11:49), Joseph (12:102) and Moses (28:44-46).
   Muhammad had plenty of opportunity to discuss religion with Jews and Christians. Some of these are named by his biographers. Muhammad did not read the Bible (Q 29:48), which was not even translated into Arabic. Most people learned about the Bible by listening to Bible stories, the way they learned Arabic poetry and traditional stories. The stories naturally changed and apocryphal ones were added, as we see in the Qur'ân. Muhammad's originality can only extend to the teachings these stories emphasize and their Arabic language and style.

4. To the charge that he invented the Qur'ânic narratives himself, Muhammad replied by challenging his critics "to produce a story like it" (Q 52:34). Later he challenged them to produce "ten sûras" (11:13) or even "one sûra" (10:38) like it, or "any better guided book" (28:49). The Qur'ân was presented as a literary miracle, the major or even only proof that Muhammad was a real prophet of God (Q 17:88).

When the Meccans saw they were gaining nothing by words, they resorted to open persecution. Slaves and unprotected people were tortured, some even to death. Others gave into the pressure and denied their faith. The Qur'ân (16:106) excuses Muslims who deny their faith outwardly under persecution while retaining their belief in their hearts:

QUESTIONS

1. Why did the Meccan leaders defend the traditional religion?
2. Evaluate in the light of the Qur'ân and of the Gospels the reaction of the early Muslims to provocations.
3. Discuss the psychological, political and theological implications of Muhammad's desire to compromise with the Meccans.
4. Evaluate the Meccan objections to Muhammad's claims.

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