Tolerating Insult

meaning condemned. So, when the Quraysh abused and condemned him, they did not use the word Muhammad, but heaped abuses on one called Mudhammam. Even Abu Lahab’s wife Umm Jamil herself came to the prophet and said: You are Mudhammam and we reject you (Sirah Ibn Hisham, Vol. 1, p. 356) This was undoubtedly an act of great provocation and calculated to cause humiliation. But the Prophet of Islam gave a simple, positive reply. He said that since they abused one they called Mudhammam, their abuses did not fall on him, as his name was Muhammad, not Mudhammam. When the Prophet of Islam came to Madinah after migration, Abdullah ibn Ubayy, a tribal chief, became a dire opponent of the Prophet. He had accepted Islam, but out of jealousy he became his enemy. Defaming, disparaging and slandering the Prophet became his pastime. He was also responsible for the false propaganda against him. It would not be wrong to say that he was his greatest abuser (shaatim). Umar Faruq asked for the Prophet’s permission to slay him, but the Prophet said; “Leave him alone, otherwise people will start saying that Muhammad kills his own people.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 4905) This incident tells us of an important example set by the Prophet, that is to bear humiliation, for if we failed to do so, greater evil would follow and that would result in discrediting God’s religion.