Reaction to the Message of Islam

you would have wanted me to say,’ replied ‘Utba. They asked whether Muhammad had given any answer. ‘Utba 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?’ ‘Really, I didn’t understand anything,’ ‘Utba insisted. ‘All I gathered was that he mentioned a thunderbolt.’ (Baihaqi) To those who are familiar with religion in a particular, conventional form, to them, the message of the Prophet just appeared to be disparaging their elders. Dhamad once came to Makkah to perform ‘Umra (the lesser pilgrimage). He had occasion to sit in a gathering along with Abu Jahl, Utba ibn Rabi’ya and Umayya ibn Khalf, where the following exchanges took place: ‘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 doubt,’ Umayya added. (Al-Isaba, Vol. II, p. 210) When ‘Amr ibn Murra Juhni preached Islam among his own tribe, the Juhaina, 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 this Qurayshi from Tahama preaches has no affection, no graciousness to it.’ (Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, Vol. II) He then went on to recite three verses, the last of which went like this: ‘He seeks to prove that our forefathers were fools. One who acts thus can never prosper.’ A number of people were prevented by jealousy from accepting the message of Islam. The Prophet proclaimed the fact that he was sent by God. But people always find it very difficult to accept the fact that someone else has been given a knowledge of reality that they themselves have been denied. Baihaqi relates, on the authority of Mughirah ibn Shu’bah, that Abu Jahl one day took Mughira