The Prophet in Makkah

THE PROPHET IN MAKKAH of people believed in him during the first three years of his mission. The town of Makkah was as devoid of supporters who would help the Prophet as it was of shade-giving trees. Only four people remained close to him—‘Ali, Zayd, Abu Bakr and Khadijah—five if one includes the first person born a Muslim, ‘Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr. So the situation remained for three full years. When the Prophet left his house, he was greeted with derisive jeers in the street as if he were a madman. One day— at the instigation of Abu Jahl—a group of people were abusing the Prophet. A passer-by was unable to put up with the sight of a person from a noble Quraysh family being treated in this manner. He went straight to the Prophet’s uncle, Hamzah. “Have you lost all sense of honour?” he said. “You are sitting back while people are disgracing your nephew.” This was enough to ignite Hamzah’s sense of Arab pride. He had an iron bow, which he took with him and went to see Abu Jahl. Striking the Prophet’s oppressor, he said: “I have adopted Muhammad’s religion as my own. If you have it in you, do something about it.”124 Hamzah was famed as a fighter all over Arabia. After he took this action, people gained new courage, and the number of Muslims increased to thirty. At this time, there were two highly influential people in Makkah— ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab and Abu Jahl ibn Hisham. The Prophet prayed to God: “Lord, strengthen Islam through ‘Umar ibn al-