The Prophet in Makkah

THE PROPHET IN MAKKAH delighting the sowers. Through them, God seeks to enrage the unbelievers. God has promised forgiveness and a rich reward for those who will believe and do good work.88 The reference to the Torah in this verse is made concerning the individual qualities of the companions of the Prophet. However, the reference to the Bible shows their qualities when they came together as a group. Their individual qualities developed in Makkah, whereas their qualities as a community emerged in Madinah. Biographies of the Prophet usually treat their subject as if he were endowed with extraordinary magical powers, one who, by mysterious means, brought the whole of Arabia under his wing. These books read like fairy stories; even events with no miraculous content have been given a fanciful miraculous interpretation. Take the case of Suhayb ibn Sanan’s migration from Makkah to Madinah. When some Quraysh youths blocked his path, Suhayb pleaded with them: “If I let you have all my property, will you let me go?” They said that they would. Suhayb had a few ounces of silver with him. He gave it all to them and carried on to Madinah. According to a tradition in Bayhaqi, Suhayb said that when the Prophet saw him in Madinah, he told Suhayb that his trading of handing over of his property to the Quraysh, had been very profitable. Suhayb, according to the tradition, was astounded, for no one had arrived in Madinah before him who could have brought the