EVENTS
613 CE / The End of Private Propagation. 4th Year of Prophethood
Important events and incidences that took place
Even though the call was conducted in a clandestine manner and on an individual basis, it leaked out and began to attract wide public interest. At first, the leaders of Makkah cared little for Muhammad’s call likening him to a religious philosophiser, but such indifference soon altered once they realised the ramifications of his call.
The elite became particularly disturbed by his call to end idolatry, as for them it was through the status of Makkah being the hub of idol worship that it brought with it great economic standing. Thus Quraysh, the Makkan tribe, began to closely observe Muhammad’s activities.
Proceeding three years of secret propagation, the Prophet had managed to cultivate a band of believers who emerged steadfast, imbued with the spirit of monotheism and activism. It was at this time that the angel Gabriel brought to the Prophet further revelation; the command of God for Muhammad to openly confront his people, negate their creed, abolish idolatrous practices, and establish monotheism in word and deed – the time had now come to preach Islam openly.
Quraysh would try to prevent the message spreading amongst the masses by scoffing, ridiculing, belying, and denouncing the Prophet as a man being insane, possessed by a spirit, or merely soothsayer or poet. However, such attempts only served to cause Muhammad to be even more steadfast in his call, so in a change of tactic, the Pagans invited him to compromise; whereby all would accept the religion of the other and worship all gods inclusively.
On realising the futility of all of their tactics, the pagans decided to implement an unrestrained campaign of resistance. They called for a general meeting and elected a committee of twenty five Quraishite nobles with Abu Lahab (the Prophet’s uncle) as a chairman. Following discussions, they decided to utilise all channels of resistance at their disposal, from maligning the Messenger of God to the use of torture for the weak amongst his followers.
The Prophet had the support and protection of his compassionate uncle Abu Talib and his clan, which held the idolaters at bay to some extent. For instance, Abu Lahab would throw stones at the Prophet, made his two sons divorce their wives Ruqaiya and Umm Kulthum, the Prophet’s daughters, gloat over the death of the Prophet’s second son calling him “the man cut off from offspring”, and belie him openly during the pilgrimage seasons. This campaign continued for two years; only increasing in intensity.
Other idolaters who were also related to the Prophet indulged in the campaign of tyranny. Once whilst the Prophet was prostrating by himself praying in the Ka’bah, Abu Jahl asked his companions to bring the dirty intestines of a she-camel and place it on his back at which ‘Uqbah hastened to the ignoble deed. Whilst the infidels expressed their amusement at this depraved act, the Prophet’s daughter, Fatimah, removed the filth from her father’s back and wept. The Prophet responded to her sorrow and said “Don’t worry, your Lord will take care of His Prophet”.
Every clan would target its own converts and would persecute them. Banu Makhzum took out ‘Ammar ibn Yasir and his mother and father, who were all Muslims, into the midday heat. They tortured them and ‘Ammar’s mother, Sumayyah was killed in the process. She became the first martyr in the history of Islam.
In light of such inhuman persecutions, the Prophet advised the believers to conceal their conversion. He decided to meet with them secretly and took several measures to maintain their safety. He further avoided confrontation with the polytheists as the call was in its initial stages and the Muslims were still vulnerable, and some not even fully fledged.
One day the Muslims were on their way to the hillocks of Makkah to hold a clandestine meeting with the Prophet, when a group of polytheists noted their suspicious movement and began to abuse them. In defence, Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas struck one of the polytheists with the jawbone of a camel and wounded him. This was the first bloodshed in Islam. But after that the Prophet advised his companions to refrain from violence, until God decided otherwise.
LESSONS & WISDOMS
613 CE / The End of Private Propagation
A closer look at the events; in search of deeper meanings and drawing lessons
No summons to Islam had yet been made public, but there was an ever increasing group of devout believers and intense worshippers. Then, after three years of private calling, the Prophet was instructed to proclaim the message openly. The negative reaction from his people grieved him deeply. The following lessons can be drawn:
1) The slow transition of people entering into Islam, despite being in direct contact with messenger, illustrates the powerful ideological hold traditions have over a community in keeping them from liberation.
2) Every caller to truth and justice will face rejection and persecution. This is a reoccurring truism illustrated through the biography of every Prophet and messenger.
3) The progression of the Prophet’s call from family to friends and then the people at large highlights the concentric circles of responsibility a Muslim has towards the people he lives amongst. They all have rights over him; the greatest being with family.
4) On one occasion the Prophet eloquently defined the entire message of Islam which he was now openly calling for. The definition given by him encapsulates the core reason of God sending the Prophet. He once said to the pagans, “I bring you the best of this world and the next”. Besides the fact that the statement illustrates the role of the Shari’ah in guiding mankind to the most wholesome way of living, it also shows us that one must always include the spiritual dimension of the hereafter when calling others to Islam.
EDICTS & RULINGS
613 CE / The End of Private Propagation
Revelation and rulings particular to this year
The Prophet was directly instructed to begin warning the people of Makkah openly through revelation, which can be found in the 26th chapter of the Quran, as-Shu’ara:
And warn your near relatives.
The Prophet heeded to the command of God, climbed the hill of Safa and called the people openly to accept Islam. He was met with rejection and ridicule. One of his uncles, Abu Lahab, openly showed utter disregard for his nephews message and in this regard God revealed the chapter al-Lahab:
“Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab, and perish him! His wealth and his children will not benefit him; he will be burnt in a Fire of blazing flames! His wife too, who carries wood. Around her neck is a twisted rope of palm fibre.”
The idolaters later tried to persuade Muhammad to compromise with them on theological grounds, they claimed that should Muhammad’s God prove to be better than theirs, then they would benefit, but if their gods proved to be better than Muhammad’s, then he would have benefited from it. God, the Exalted, then decisively revealed:
“Say “O disbelievers, I do not worship that which you worship, nor will you worship that which I worship. And I shall not worship that which you worship, nor will you worship that which I worship. To you be your religion, and to me mine (Islamic Monotheism).”
***
In the early part of the Makkan era, around the forth year of Prophethood, the Quranic chapter al-Qamar was revealed. The first few verses make reference to a miracle witnessed by many Quraysh in Makkan. As reported by numerous Companions who were also present, the Prophet was asked by the polytheists to show them a miraculous sign. By the permission of God, Muhammad miraculously caused the moon to split into two distinct parts and then brought them back together again. Though totally amazed by the divine sign, they obstinately refused to take heed and accept his Call; calling it magic, to which God revealed:
The Last Hour draws near and the moon is split asunder! And if they see a sign they turn away and say “this is magic, a delusion”
CONTENTIOUS NARRATIVES
613 CE / The End of Private Propagation
The Slander of Epilepsy
It is well-known that certain Orientalists such as Margoliouth, Muir and other Christian missionaries would have us believe that the Prophet suffered from epilepsy and as such was delusional at times.
For them the phenomena of Divine revelation was nothing more than a series of epileptic fits. This was recently propagated by a Dr. Herman H. Somers, who claims that the symptoms of the disease were all present in the Prophet because he used to lose consciousness, perspire, fall into convulsions and sputter. After recovering from such seizures, the claim continues, the Prophet would then recite to the believers what he then claimed to be a revelation from God, whereas that was only an after-effect of the epileptic fits which he suffered.
Such conclusions ignore the coherence, completeness and success of Islam in its 1400 years of history, which indicate that it could not have been the product of a madman’s mind, nor of that of an epileptic.
Moreover, they seem to be medically inconsistent as the fit of epilepsy leaves the patient without memory of what has taken place. In fact, in some cases, such as ‘Absence Seizures’, the patient is even unaware that they had just experienced a fit.
This was not the case at all with the Prophet at the moment of revelation, for his cognitive faculties used to be strengthened – rather than weakened -and do so to a superlative degree hitherto unknown by the people who knew him most. Muhammad used to remember with utmost precision what he received by way of revelation and recited it to his companions without a flaw. Moreover, revelation was not always accompanied by paroxysms of the body. Much of it took place while the Prophet was perfectly conscious, during his usual wakefulness. We have advanced sufficient evidence for this in our discussion of the revelation of the surah “al Fath” upon return of the Muslims from Makkah to Yathrib after signing the Pact of Hudaybiyah [see 627CE, Edicts & Rulings]. It is perhaps for this reason that very few Orientalists have upheld this claim.
In conclusion, the nature of revelation is certainly a strange psychic phenomenon, inexplicable in terms of contemporary science. It is the process through which God selected one of His servants to bestow upon him, through an intense and penetrating process, knowledge and guidance that enabled the prophet to report and convey his revelation to the rest of mankind.
This statement is neither objectionable nor strange. Science is still unable to explain many natural, cosmic phenomena. The nature of the sun, moon, stars, and even the physiology of the bran is still largely a matter for hypothesis. Even if such symptoms happen to indicate a psychological illness, taking these symptoms as the only criterion for judging the totality of the Qur’anic phenomenon is an academically flawed approach.