The Prophet in Makkah

was the legacy of the religion of Abraham, which made many inclined to seek out the truth and turn away from idol worship. Such people were commonly known as hanif or upright. Quss ibn Sa’idah and Waraqah ibn Nawfal were among these hunafa’. So was Jandub ibn ‘Amr al-Dawsi. During the period of ignorance that preceded Islam, he was known to have said: I know that there must be a Creator of all this creation, but I do not know whom He is.110 When he heard about the Prophet, he came with 75 of his fellow tribespeople and accepted Islam. Abu Dharr al Ghifari was another such person. As soon as he heard about the prophet, he sent his brother to Makkah to learn more about him. One sentence of the account that Abu Dharr’s brother later gave him ran as follows: I saw a man whom people call irreligious. I have never seen anyone who resembles you more than him.111 People like these had no trouble understanding the truth of the Prophet’s message. The preacher of God’s word is like a planter who goes out to sow seeds. If sometimes his seeds fall on barren rounds, other times they fall in places that produce a good yield without the planter even knowing it. Certain people took a considerable time to accept Islam. This does not mean that the truth of Islam finally dawned on them all of a sudden. The Prophet lived a life of the