The Prophet in Makkah

THE PROPHET IN MAKKAH wanted me to say,” replied ‘Utbah. They asked whether Muhammad had given any answer. ‘Utbah said that he had but that the proofs he offered were incomprehensible. All that he had gathered was that he was warning them of a thunderbolt like that which had overtaken Thamud and Ad. “What has become of you?” the Quraysh asked. “How is it that a person speaks to you in Arabic, and you do not understand what he says?” “I didn’t understand anything,” ‘Utbah insisted. “All I gathered was that he mentioned a thunderbolt.”116 Some people were only familiar with religion in a particular, conventional form. To them, the message of Islam just appeared to be an indictment of their elders. Damad once came to Makkah to perform ‘Umrah. He had occasion to sit in a gathering with Abu Jahl, ‘Utbah ibn Rabi’ah and Umayyah ibn Khalaf. “He (Muhammad) has caused a split in our community,” Abu Jahl declared. “He thinks we are all fools and considers our ancestors woefully astray. He insults our idols.” “He is insane, without a doubt,” Umayyah added.117 When ‘Amr ibn Murrah al-Juhani preached Islam among his tribe, the Juhaynah, one of them spoke up: “May God make you taste the bitterness of life, ‘Amr. Do you want us to forsake our idols, disunite our people, and contradict the religion of our righteous ancestors? The religion that