Reaction to the Message of Islam

Seerah as a Movement who had no tribe to protect them. According to the Prophet’s close companion, Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, in the early days in Makkah only seven people publicly declared themselves to be Muslim: the Prophet himself, Abu Bakr, Ammar, Sa’id, Suhaib, Bilal and Miqdad. ‘As for the Prophet, God protected him through his uncle. As for Abu Bakr, his tribe looked after him. The rest would be seized by the idolaters who would put coats of armour on them, and lay them out in the boiling sun.’ (Ahmad) When the chief of the Banu Hashim, the Prophet’s uncle, Abu Talib, died, an uncouth member of the Quraysh threw dirt at the Prophet and it stuck to him. When the latter reached home, one of his daughters brushed the dirt off him. ‘The Quraysh did nothing nasty to me like this before,’ the Prophet commented. It was only after the death of Abu Talib that they are emboldened to commit mean, aggressive acts of this nature. As the Prophet’s companion, Abu Hurayra, has pointed out, “the Quraysh used to treat the Prophet very harshly after the death of his uncle.” ‘Uncle, how keenly I have felt your loss’ the Prophet once lamented. The Quraysh even started planning to do away with the Prophet. It was during this period that Abu Jahl threw the intestines of an animal on to the Prophet’s head, and ‘Uqba ibn Muait tied a sheet around his neck and pulled it tight in what fortunately proved an abortive attempt to strangulate him. Now that Abu Talib was dead, it seemed as if there was nothing to stop vicious attacks on the Prophet’s person. The only thing that held people back was that nothing of this nature had ever happened before in Arabia; for a member of the Banu Hashim to be attacked and killed by his own fellow Quraysh would have been an action without precedent. Moreover, there were still people among the idolaters whose consciences pricked them, who in their heart of hearts supported the Prophet. The first time that Abu Jahl made a murderous attack upon the Prophet, Abu’l Bukhtari heard about it. He took a whip and went to the Kabah, where Abu Jahl was sitting triumphantly with his associates. Abu’l Bukhtari first