The Prophetic Method

THE PROPHETIC METHOD he could continue the same work, only in a different place. According to ‘Aisha, the Prophet came to their house every day before the emigration. There he would hold consultations with her father, Abu Bakr. Preparations were made, in the utmost secrecy, over six months. Everything went according to plan, and finally, the Prophet set out for Madinah, taking a dependable guide with him. From the point of view of a zealous Muslim political leader of the modern age, the emigration would appear as a flight, for what he would advocate in a similar situation would be a fight to the death; he would be looking no further ahead than making a martyr of himself. But if one looks at the results of the emigration of the Prophet, one can see that it was the most significant watershed in Islamic history. Patience also enables us to refrain from taking action and permits things to take their natural course. Human nature is an unchangeable reality that always strongly influences human life. Deep down, people always have a soft spot for one who bears abuse quietly and refuses to be provoked, even in the face of the utmost provocation. The human conscience naturally tends to favour the oppressed rather than the oppressor. Great opportunities open out in the world of nature for those who are deprived of them in the world of men: when they stand firm in the face of persecution, they prove themselves to be in the right. The boycott imposed on the Prophet and his family in the seventh year of the prophetic mission was just such an example. As a result of this boycott, the Banu Hashim clan,