— At this point in time, there are 40-some odd Believers, & they congregate in Arqam bin Abil-Arqam’s house. Muslims have a presence in the community now. A majority of these Muslims were young & from the elite families in Quraysh

1. The presence of Islam was troubling to the Quraysh. The Quraysh decided that torture & persecution was the best course of action to take against the Muslims. They hoped that this would deter people from following the Prophet (saw)

— Abu Jahl (birth name: Amr ibn Hisham) belonged to tribe of Makhzum from the clan Banu Abem

• He was mainly known by the title Abul Hakam• He was a strategic political leader of Quraysh• Because of his opposition to the Prophet & denial of the Prophet’s

message, he became known by the Muslims as Abu Jahl, the Father of Ignorance

The plan of persecuting & torturing Muslims was the brainchild of Abu Jahl

— One of the first subjects of Abu Jahl’s torture was Bilal (ra)

• Bilal was a Habesha slave who was born into slavery (his father was a slave) His mother’s name was Hamama.

• Bilal was owned by Umayyah bin Khalaf, who was Abu Jahl’s best friend. They grew up together

• After the Hijra, Umayyah bin Khalaf considered for time to accept Islam. When he confided his thoughts about Islam to Abu Jahl, the latter said, “No, you can’t. You’re a leader of Quraysh. If you accept his message, you’re gonna open the floodgates for everyone else.”

• “And the Day, the wrongdoer will bite on his hand [in regret] he will say, Oh, I wish I had taken with the path of the Messenger. Oh, woe to me! I wish I had not taken that one [Abu Jahl) as a friend. [Abu Jahl] led me away from the remembrance after it had come to me. And ever is Satan to man, a deserter.” [Surat Al-Furqan, 25:27-29]

— When Bilal accepted Islam & Umayyah bin Khalaf came to know of this, he told Abu Jahl

• Abu Jahl said, “Since you own this slave, why don’t you let me try out this new theory I have?”

• Umayyah replied, “Yeah, go ahead. Do whatever you want.”— Bilal went through severe torture under the hands of Abu Jahl

• Abu Jahl would whip Bilal all night long until he became exhausted

• During the day, when the heat would reach its peak & it was the hottest part of the day, Abu Jahl would lay down Bilal on the scorching sand without his clothes on, so that Bilal’s back would get badly burned. Then he’d place a big rock on Bilal’s chest so he couldn’t move

• Abu Jahl would tie Bilal to horses & make Bilal run, dragged by horses

• In these situations, Bilal would scream at the top of his lungs, “Ahadun Ahad!” (Allah, the One, One). His faith & devotion to Allah was never shaken

— Abu Bakr was a fairly successful businessman, honest man. He never earned dishonest money

• Abu Bakr asked Umayyah bin Khalaf if he will sell his slave to him (Abu Bakr)

• Umayyah initially refuses. Abu Bakr increased his offer until Umayyah eventually agrees to sell Bilal

• Abu Bakr then secures the sale of Bilal, and immediately sets him free

Bilal became known as Bilal mawlan Abu Bakr – they were very good friends

Umar bin Al-Khattab would say about Bilal & Abu Bakr, “There is our master (Bilal) who was freed by our other master (Abu Bakr).”

• Bilal was later given the honor of being the first muezzin— There were many female slaves & other young people who were persecuted & tortured mercilessly for being Muslims

• Abu Bakr took it upon himself to help those who were persecuted for being Muslims

• The following people are some of the early Muslims, the downtrodden & low-status people of Makkah, that Abu Bakr helped free:

— Amir bin Fuhairah (ra) was one of the early Believers who was also a slave of Tufail bin Abdullah Asdi

• Amir was also a relative of Abu Bakr’s wife, Umr Uman• He was also tortured. Abu Bakr bought him & Amir continued to

work as a shepherd• One of his best skills was that he was good at tracking. Amir bin

Fuhairah played a vital role in migration of the Prophet & Abu Bakr from Makkah to Medina

— A slave woman named Zannirah or Zunairah belonged to someone of Banu Makhzum (same family as Abu Jahl)

• Abu Jahl asked her owner to hand her over to him; he deprived Zannirah of sleep, food, & water. He also tortured her mercilessly, to the point that she lost her eyesight

• Once she went blind, Abu Jahl taunted Zunairah, “Woman, do you know why you can’t see anymore? You lost your eyesight because Al-lat and Al-Uzza (the idols that Quraysh worshiped) have taken them, because you have disbelieved in them and abandoned the religion of our forefathers.”

• Zannirah, devastated that she didn’t have the ability to counter him, simply said, “This is what my Lord has decided for me, this is why I have lost my eyesight. My Raab can return my eyesight to me. Who do you think you are?”

• The following day, when Abu Jahl came back to torture her some more, Zannirah was looking directly at him – her eyesight was restored to her

• Abu Bark spoke to her owner, purchased Zannirah & set her free— An-Nahdiyah & her daughter were of tribe of Abd-dar. They were owned by woman who tortured & abused the mother/daughter pair for accepting Islam

• One day, mistress came by with a lot of flour.  She told them, “Knead all this flour together & bake it into bread.” She used her slaves for her bakery business. This owner would use her slaves for work, & during their off-hours, she would torture them. She swore by the idols, “I will never free the both of you.”

Abu Bakr came by & told her, “Free them, let them go.”The owner said, “You ask me to free them? You’re the one who

ruined them. You turned them into these Believers. You want them to be free, you free them.”

Abu Bakr asked, “How much do they cost?”She set a high price. Abu Bakr said, “Fine, I’ll buy them both.”

He didn’t even negotiate the price• After Abu Bakr bought & freed the slaves, they were surrounded by

bags & bags of flour that they had to bake into bread. Abu Bakr told them, “Go and return this flour to the former owner.”

Instead of returning the flour, the mother & daughter asked Abu Bakr, “Is it okay if we finish the job that we had taken? We appreciate that you purchased us our freedom, but we were in the middle of a task. We want to finish the job we had started & then we’ll go on our way.”

Abu Bakr said, “You’re free now, you can do whatever you like. You don’t need my permission.”

Both An-Nahdiyah & her daughter stayed there until they finished baking the bread & gave it their former owner

— Ummu Ubais was a slave woman who belonged to al Aswad bin

Abdi Yahud of tribe of Zuhra

• Abu Bakr one day witnessed her being tortured, so he bought her & set her free

— A slave woman from the tribe of Adi used to be tortured by Umar ibn al-Khattab (this was before he became Muslim)

• One day, Umar ibn al-Khattab was torturing this woman & he stopped after getting very tired. He was a young strong man, but he got extremely fatigued. He said, “I’m only stopping because I’m tired, not because I’m done torturing you.”

• The woman smiled & said, “This is Allah who makes you exhausted. That’s why you can’t find the strength to continue.”

• Abu Bakr came in & purchased her freedom— Abu Bakr kept freeing people left & right, so much so that Abu Kufaha (father of Abu Bakr) became frustrated & approached his son

• Abu Kuhafa, who accepted Islam years later, said, “I see that you keep purchasing these very weak & feeble slaves & setting them free. That’s fine, but they’re weak people. I guess I can kind of understand what you’re doing here. You feel obligated to do a good deed. But have you thought about – if you’re going to invest all this money to setting them free, why don’t you purchase physically strong slaves & set them free? That way you can have a crew, a bunch of bouncers to surround you & protect you. But you only purchase women & scrawny slaves.”

• Abu Bakr replied, “I know what I want & I’m doing exactly what I need to do. I’m not looking for a posse or a crew. I’m looking to invest in my akhira. I’m not looking for security detail. I’m looking for ajar with Allah. I’m looking to purchase & free people who are held in high esteem in the sight of Allah.”

• The following ayat from Surat Al-Layl were revealed in praise of Abu Bakr:

• “As for he who gives and fears Allah and believes in the best [reward], We will ease him toward ease.” [92:5-7]

• “Those who spend their wealth for increase in self-purification and have in their minds no favor from any one, for which a reward is expected in return, but only the desire to seek the countenance of their Lord, Most High and soon will they attain complete satisfaction” [92:18-21]

• Abu Bakr bankrupted himself twice by purchasing the freedom of hundreds of slaves

— Khabbab bin al-Aratt (ra) was kidnapped & sold into slavery when he was a young boy. He was sold to a man from the tribe of Khuza’a

• He accepted Islam & was subsequently also tortured. He was put on his back on heated stones to the point where his back was burned

• He eventually gained freedom.• He was an Inspiration to the Sahaba, especially to Umar bin al-

Khattab, when he was a khalifah— Abu Fuqaiha was slave of Umayyah bin Khalaf. When Bilal was freed, Safwan tortured Abu Fuqaiha nearly to his death

• There was an incident where they were torturing Abu Fuqaiha & beating him, when a bug walked by his body

The son points at the bug & said to Abu Fuqaihah, “That’s your lord isn’t it?”

Abu Fuqaiha replied, “No, my Raab is your Raab, and the Raab of everything else.”

• His torturer was so infuriated that this slave would dare to talk back to him like this, that he fell upon Abu Fuqaiha & started to strangle him until Abu Fuqaiha fell unconscious

When Abu Fuqaiha became unconscious, Safwan & Umayyah got up & walked away, because they thought that Abu Fuqaiha was dead

• Abu Bakr later came in & purchased Abu Fuqaiha’s freedom— Ammar bin Yasir (ra) was very close to his parents, Yasir & Sumayyah

• He was the only child & he was one of the early people who accepted Islam

• His father Yasir was from Yemen; he came to Makkah to establish a new life because Yemen was in a very bad economic situation while Makkah was thriving. When Yasir arrives in Makkah, the only way to gain citizenship in Makkah was to broker a deal with a citizen of Makkah. He brokered a deal with someone from the Makhzum tribe, & part of that deal was that he was now an ally of the Makhzum tribe

Yasir worked mostly menial jobs, but he was happy to have an income & he got married to a slave woman named Sumayyah. They lived very humbly with their son

• When he accepted Islam, Ammar bin Yasir would sneak out at night to sit with the Prophet & worship with the Prophet at Darul Arqam

• His parents start to notice his sneaking habits, & they asked Ammar what’s going on. When Ammar comes clean, his parents become devastated because they are worried about the repercussions from the opposition

Ammar used this opportunity to give his parents dawah. He gives them the Prophet’s message & the Qur’an. Yasir &

Sumayyah become so deeply affected that they both say that they want to meet the Prophet & accept Islam

— When Abu Jahl finds out that this little family of 3, who his tribe had given protection to, had the audacity to accept this new religion, that he sets out to torture them

• He tied up the family to poles, & left them standing there for days. He would also torture the family members in front of each other. This went on for a very long time

• The Prophet would walk by with tears in his eyes, & he would say, “Patience, O family of Yasir! Congratulations, O family of Yasir, you will all be reunited in Jannah.”

• Abu Bakr also sees the family in their situation, & he goes to Abu Jahl, offering to purchase their freedom

• Abu Jahl refuses. “No, not this time. Go away.”• One day, the mother, Sumayyah tells off Abu Jahl, “No matter what

you do Abu Jahl, you can’t deter us from our faith. We will not disbelieve. You can’t do anything to us.”

• Abu Jahl became so infuriated from this display of courage from Sumayyah, that he throws her down & kills her with his spear right in front of her husband & son

• The first martyr from our Ummah was a woman, Sumayyah• Some narration says that Yasir eventually died from prolonged

torture, while other narrations say that he was so beside himself at the sight of his wife being murdered in front of him, that he started to scream, fight, & squirm to free himself. Abu Jahl was fed up with that, so he threw Yasir to the ground & began to kick him; Abu Jahl literally kicked Yasir to death

— Ammar just saw both of his parents murdered in front of him. He’s tied to a pole, he can’t do anything

• Abu Jahl then intensified his torture upon Ammar. He & others kept torturing Ammar until they realized that the sight of his parents dying in front of him was the worst part of all the torture

• Ammar’s torturers finally said to him, “Say that you believe in the idols Al-lat and Al-Uzza, & say that you don’t believe in Muhammad. Say it. SAY IT. SAY IT!”

They just murdered Ammar’s parents in front his eyes, then beat & kicked him intensely, then screamed at him to abandon his faith

Ammar finally says, “Fine, fine! I don’t believe in Muhammad.”• Finally, Ammar’s torturers cut the ropes off him & walked off,

feeling that they had achieved some sort of victory— Ammar bin Yasir (ra) literally crawls to the Prophet, bloodied & an emotional & spiritual wreck, feeling immensely guilty because of what he just said about the Prophet to his torturers. He cries to the

Prophet, “Oh Rasulullah, I messed up. This is what I said.”

• The Prophet asked Ammar, “Ya Ammar, what was in your heart?”• Ammar replies, “I swear by Allah, I have never believed in Allah or

you anymore. My iman was stronger than it has ever been before. I just felt overwhelmed.”

— In that situation, Allah revealed an ayat validating the iman of Ammar (ra)

• When you are overwhelmed or tortured or torn to shreds, and at that time, if something comes out of your tongue that is not in your heart, then Allah understands. He understands & He forgives you. Your iman is not invalidated

“Whoever disbelieves in Allah after his belief…except for one who is forced [to renounce his religion] while his heart is secure in faith. But those who [willingly] open their breast to disbelief, upon them is wrath from Allah, and for them is a great punishment” [Surat An-Nahl; 16:106]

• Following the revelation of that ayah, the Prophet told his Sahaba, “If anyone of you end up in this situation, say what these wild dogs want to hear so that you’ll be able to escape their grip & torture.”

• Later on, Ammar migrated with about a dozen other Muslims to Abyssinia (Habesha). He would then meet the Prophet in Medina years later

— Eventually, the persecution of Muslims wasn’t just limited to the women & slaves (the 2 groups of the lowest status), but it grew to include the men & the elite

• Uthman bin Affan (ra) was tied up by his own uncle Al-Hakam bin Abdil A’as, who said to his nephew, “We will not let you go until you renounce your new religion.”

• Uthman refused until he was finally able to escape• Musa’ab bin Umair (ra) was a celebrity of his time. He was young,

handsome, wealthy, well-dressed, GQ. If he was at a party, you knew it was the place to be

• When he accepted Islam, his mother tied him up & tortured him until he renounced Islam. Mus’ab wouldn’t relent, so his mother stripped him off his clothing & threw him out in the street. Mus’ab went to the Prophet in his humble condition & the Prophet took care of him

• Musa’ab later on went to become the first ambassador of Islam, when he went to represent Islam to the city of Yathrib. He was the TA of the Prophet, teaching & preaching Islam to the citizens of Yathrib. Over the course of a year, Mus’ab converted half the city to Islam

• Sa’ad bin Mu’adh (ra), the chief of Banu Aus tribe in Yathrib, went to Musa’ab bin Umair & talked with him. Mus’ab gave dawah to Sa’ad, & Sa’ad accepted Islam.

• Sa’ad later stands in front of his entire tribe, & asks them, “What do you think of me?”

• Sa’ad’s tribe responds, “You’re noble. We love you. We’re loyal to you.”

• Sa’ad tells his tribe, “I’ve taken an oath that I will not speak to any of you until you accept this religion of Islam.”

• By evening time, the whole tribe of Banu Aus had converted to Islam

• Abu Bakr (ra) was beaten nearly to death by Utbah bin Rabi’ah— During all of these persecutions of Muslims, Abu Talib (the Prophet’s uncle), became very concerned. First the slaves, then the women, then prominent members of elite families are being tortured through the strategy of Abu Jahl – and not a single one of these people left Islam no matter how severely they were tortured

• Abu Talib is concerned, because he wondered just how long it will be until the torturers & enemies of Islam feel that it’s okay to lay their hands on the grandson of Abdul Mutallib, Muhammad. Abu Talib was extremely worried that his nephew, whom he raised since Muhammad was 8 years old, will come to physical harm from the likes of Abu Jahl

• Abu Talib gathered together the elders of the family of the Prophet, & he said to them, “I need a promise from all of you that you will protect Muhammad.”

• Abu Talib recited a poem before them, “When Quraysh gathers together to protect their dignity & their honor, then Abdu Munaf (one of the families of Quraysh, who were the descendants of Munaf) protect their core & their outer arms (meaning that they protect both the people that are the core part of their family & also the people that are remotely connected to the family). If we are willing to protect the family of Munaf, then we need to think of one thing. Within the family of Munaf is Banu Hashim, & the most honorable & dignified men belong to Banu Hashim (the Prophet’s grandfather, Abdul Mutallib, was an extremely respected member of Banu Hashim). Whether you like what Muhammad has to say or not, if you are proud of who you are & if you are proud of your tribe, then you that Muhammad is a proud member of our proud family (because he’s the grandson of Abdul Mutallib). Quraysh is being called to action, to protect their dignity & honor. We have never tolerated disrespect & dishonor to our forefathers & our tribe. How will we

tolerate it now? We will be strong & fierce in defending our honor, no matter how difficult the situation becomes. We will attack anyone who dares to lay a finger on our honor.”

• Abu Talib was a smart man. His primary goal was to protect his nephew Muhammad, so he made his case to his family & tribe that “If someone hurts one of us, he hurts us all. If they spit on one of us, they spit on us all.”

• He emphasized the legacy & honor of Abdul Mutallib. “Look, Muhammad is the grandson of Abdul Mutallib. Are you really going to let the honor & legacy of your forefather get attacked? What if someone harms Muhammad? What are you going to do? Think of Abdul Mutallib. Think of Hashim. Think of Munaf.”

• That strategy worked. All the leaders of Quraysh & Banu Hashim stood united & claimed that they will not tolerate anyone disrespecting/attacking one of their own. At that moment, they all gave their oath to Abu Talib, that even though they don’t care for Muhammad’s preaching, they will protect & defend Muhammad in the name of their family’s honor

• Only one person at that gathering did not agree, & he stormed out very angrily. Abu Lahab was that person. He was very upset & angry, & he continued to torture Muslims & harass his nephew Muhammad

— Now that Abu Talib had taken this oath of his nephew’s protection from his family, the Quraysh put together a convoy. They gathered every respectable leader they could find in & around Makkah

• The Quraysh bring to Abu Talib a young man named Imarah bin al-Walid, whose father was a well-respected man in Makkah. Imarah was very intelligent & had a lot of potential

The Quraysh tell Abu Talib, “Look, we understand. Muhammad is your boy. He always showed a lot of potential, & he showed a lot of character. Here’s what we got to offer to you. Let’s make a trade. You see Imarah right here? He’s smart, loyal, got a lot of potential. Why don’t you take Imarah as your successor, your follower? You can groom & train him, whatever it is that you have planned for Muhammad. Then you can move out of the way very quietly, so we can take care of Muhammad & do what we gotta do.”

• Even though the Quraysh made an oath to protect Muhammad, they’re now having second thoughts & are basically trying to convince Abu Talib that Muhammad is best “taken care of”. They had the audacity to not even take seriously the amount of pure love Abu Talib had for Muhammad. It was insane that

Quraysh had stooped so low. They had lost complete rationality & logic to even make such an offer to Abu Talib

• Understandably, Abu Talib was beside himself. He said to the Quraysh, “You people have completely lost it. This is the worst thing that anyone has ever said to me in my entire life. You people are insulting me. This is the worst way to insult someone. Muhammad is like my child. He’s my son. You think I’m going to give up my son like this?! This is the worst way anyone has ever cursed me in my life. You give me someone else’s son in exchange for me giving you my son? Are you insane?”

Abu Talib tells the Quraysh to beat it. “I don’t accept this deal.”

• Muta’im bin Adi, who was a good friend of Abu Talib & later on one of the Prophet’s supporters, was there with the Quraysh

Abu Talib looked at him & said, “Muta’im, I’m disappointed in you. I thought you would have more sense than this.”

• Abu Talib rejected that offer from the Quraysh & told the Prophet, “You keep doing whatever it is that you have to do.”

— 2 things to take away from today’s episode

• In the face of all the torture & sacrifices, the early Muslims stuck to their imaan & convictions. They could not be shaken. It’s important for us to realize this & internalize it, & then reflect on it

• How easily do we complain? How much do we cry about our situation (Shaykh Abdul is not belittling anyone else’s suffering, he’s talking about HIM). When I complain how difficult practicing Islam may be, I need to read these stories

• Whenever Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) felt overwhelmed with his duties as a khalifah, he would talk with Khabbab (ra) & look at his scarred back. Then Umar would remember that people went through a lot in the early days of Islam, so I need to keep it together

• So, we, the modern-day Muslims, should not only learn about the Prophet, but also about the Sahabah, & understand the difficulties that they went through to put us into perspective

• The same Sahaba who were sacrificing a lot for their faith went to the Prophet & said, “O Rasulullah, this is too much to bear. When will the help of Allah come?”

• The Prophet replied to them, “You people are hasty. You people are rushing things. There were people before you who went through much sacrifice & torture. A ditch would be dug. A person would be put in that ditch & an axe would be taken, & that person would literally be chopped

into half. A person would be strapped, & an iron comb would be taken, & the person would be skinned alive. They did not leave their faith. They stayed strong.”

• The Prophet motivated his Sahaba like this. “Hang in there. Keep working. The help of Allah will come when the time is right.”

— In the 3rd/4th year of Prophethood, Islam went public, which resulted in a lot of persecution of Muslims

2. The culprit behind a lot of the oppression, violence, & aggression against the early Believers was Abu Jahl

— One day the Prophet was praying in front of the Ka’bah, with the other leaders of Quraysh sitting nearby him. Those men started to egg on Abu Jahl, because they knew he had a bad temper (just like his nephew Umar bin al-Khattab)

• The leaders tell Abu Jahl, “Look at Muhammad. He comes here & prays, rubbing it in our faces. You can’t even do anything about it. Look at this. In broad daylight, he just rubs it in your face.”

Abu Jahl jumped up. He pulled the scarf off his neck & went up to the Prophet, who was still praying. Then Abu Jahl started to strangle the Prophet with his scarf

• Abu Bakr, who was at the Haram, saw this & immediately ran up to them & body-checked Abu Jahl

Abu Bakr pushed Abu Jahl aside & quoted the same words that Rajul Mu’minun ali Firaun said. He was an undercover Believer in the court of Firaun. When Firaun’s council was plotting to kill Musa (as), the Believer said, “Are you seriously sitting here talking about killing a man, when all he does is say that ‘My Lord is Allah?’ and on top of that he has come with clear evidence of Allah? You want to kill this man just because he prefers one Lord over all the other idols that you worship?”

Abu Bakr spoke similar words to Abu Jahl, “You want to kill this man simply because he prefers one Lord over all these idols you worship?”

• Based on this event, it became public knowledge that Abul Hakam (Abu Jahl) & Muhammad don’t see eye-to-eye

— In the height of all the persecution of Muslims that was going on, a man (whose name is unknown) from the tribe of Iraash brought his goods to Makkah to do some business

• He was a humble villager from a humble town who hoped to make some profit in Makkah. He ran into none other than Abu Jahl & decided to do some business with him

• Abu Jahl took the Iraashi man’s merchandise & said to him, “I’ll take this & pay for this tomorrow. Trust me, you’ll collect from me. Don’t worry about it. I’ll pay in a couple of days.”

— After a few days, the Iraashi man shows up to Abu Jahl to collect his payment

• Abu Jahl goes, “Who are you? What merchandise? What money? Anybody knows what he’s talking about?”

• Of course, with Abu Jahl being a ringleader of the troublemakers, everyone else goes, “Yeah, we don’t know what you’re talking about. Get outta here. Dismissed.”

• Abu Jahl didn’t care about taking advantage of this Iraashi man, since he’s here in a big city by himself, with no tribe to back him up. No one’s gonna listen to a silly little villager over big dog Abu Jahl. Abu Jahl just shooed the man away

— Understandably, Iraashi man is upset. He brought his life savings to Makkah, hoping to earn more money for his family. He left his family & had traveled far only to be ripped off. He didn’t even have food to eat

• The Iraashi man goes to the Haram near the Ka’bah & he calls out to the people, “Who amongst you, O people of Quraysh, Ahlul-Haram, will help me against Abul Hakam (aka Abu Jahl)? I’m a traveler. I have nothing to eat & nowhere to stay, and he has taken my right from me.”

• Some of the leaders sitting there at the Haram point at the Iraashi man & mock him, “Look at him. Check this guy out. Silly little guy.”

• The Makkans mock this man after he just got ripped off in broad daylight. He’s broke, with no food or place to stay, & when he calls for justice, he gets mocked by the Makkans

— The Prophet was also there at the Haram at that time

• Even before the Prophet heard the Iraashi man, some of the

Qurayshi men who were making fun of the Iraashi man went up to Prophet because they knew that Abu Jahl & Prophet didn’t get along

• They tell the Prophet, “Listen to who the Iraashi is complaining about. Why don’t you go join up forces with him, you have a common enemy (Abu Jahl).” They were doing this as a way to mock Prophet

This got the attention of the Prophet toward the Iraashi man. The Prophet listened to the Iraashi man & felt that man’s pain

• The Prophet went to the man & said, “Why don’t you come with me? I’ll help you out with this.”

— The Prophet took the Iraashi man & went to the house of Abu Jahl & knocked on his door

• Abu Jahl from behind the door said, “Who’s there?• The Prophet said curtly, “Muhammad. Come outside.”• The Prophet’s character is unmatched with anyone else’s. He

was superb in every way & always had good character, but part of that character was not being a doormat. The Prophet knew how Abu Jahl was going to react in his presence, so the Prophet went, “Not today. Come on out.”

• When Abu Jahl hears the name of the Prophet through the door, he says with disdain in his voice, “What do you want?”

• When Abu Jahl opened the door & sees the Prophet, he went extremely pale. Abu Jahl looked terrified

• The Prophet said, “Give this man what he deserves from you.”• Abu Jahl said, “Don’t worry. Stay right here. Let me just grab

quickly what belongs to him.”• He ran inside, grabbed the money, & handed it to the Iraashi

man— The Iraashi man went back to Haram, & he wanted to show his appreciation for getting his money. He started to tell people around him, “May Allah reward Muhammad. I received that which belongs to me.”

• The people in Makkah were confused, because it didn’t sound like Abu Jahl to just hand over the money just because the Prophet told him to. They went to Abu Jahl & asked him, “You okay? You got pushed around, man. First of all, this dude’s a villager, & Muhammad was with him. You messed with Muhammad all this time. You tried to strangle him. You kick around his people. Now all of a sudden you just hand his goods over? What’s going on with you?”

• Abu Jahl tells the people, “You people need to shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about. As soon as Muhammad came &

knocked on my door & told me to come out, I became furious. Like this dude comes to my house? I came out ready to give him a piece of my mind. I opened the door & looked at Muhammad, & towering over him was the largest wild desert camel that I had ever seen in my life. His head was humungous. All I could think about is my head (keeping it intact to my body). I saw how crazy it looked. I swear to God that I felt that if I had said no, the camel will just grab my head & break my neck. That’s why I ran inside & gave Muhammad the money so he could leave with the demon he came with.”

• This camel was a fahal, wild desert camels that were untamed & were known to be mentally unstable. These camels were known for killing people

• There is poetry that talks about these crazy camels. They were huge & had large mouths. They would grab a person’s head like a suction cup & fling him around & throw him – that’s how they killed

• This camel may have been jinn-possessed— There is another similar story

• The Prophet was making tawaaf around the Ka’bah, with Abu Jahl & his cronies sitting nearby. Every time Prophet walked by, Abu Jahl & his crew says extremely crude & foul things

•  After Abu Jahl & his crew did this several times, the Prophet walked over to them. They get kind of quiet, but are still chuckling about the things they said.

• The Prophet said, “Wallahi, Allah has sent me to you with sacrifice (meaning: to cut the throat).”

• This could have meant a number of things. Because the Prophet was known to never lose his cool & always speak the truth, everyone was taken aback. “What are you talking about, Muhammad? This is unbecoming of you. You’re a dignified man. You’re from the family of Abdul Mutallib.”

The Prophet quietly went back to doing tawaaf, & everyone just got quiet after that

— Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (ra)

3. He was from tribe of Ghifar. He was a successful businessman & respected in his community

4. When he heard of the Prophet’s (saw) messages & preaching in Makkah, & the various people converting to Islam, Abu Dharr sent his brother to Makkah. “Go to that valley (Makkah) & find out everything you can about this man who claims that he is a

Prophet. Go listen to him & come back to me.”— Abu Dharr’s brother goes to Makkah & listens to the Prophet’s messages. He didn’t stay very long, & returned to Abu Dharr

• The brother said, “I saw the Prophet, & he was instructing people to have good character. He was emphasizing to people to have good conduct, good character. What he was saying was not poetry, but it was definitely something powerful.”

Consider these words in the context of time, when the new Muslims (who numbered about 40 or so) were constantly being attacked. Yet, the Prophet asked the Muslims to still have good akhlakh, not to fight back just yet. Having good manners & character had heavy emphasis on the Prophet’s dawah throughout his lifetime

• Abu Dharr responded, “You haven’t satisfied what I was looking for.”

He appreciated his brother’s effort, but he wanted to know more

— Abu Dharr packed up & set out toward Makkah. When he reaches Makkah, he searches for Prophet. He doesn’t know what Prophet looked like, but he doesn’t ask anyone about him because he’s aware of the ongoing persecutions of Muslims

• He couldn’t walk around Makkah & ask people, “Hey, where’s Muhammad?” Then people will say, “Why? Are you one of them too?” He would get in trouble then

• Nighttime came. Abu Dharr sat around the Haram all day looking for some indication of the Prophet. He was in such a hurry when he was leaving for Makkah that he forgot to take any provisions & merchandise. When nightfall came, he laid down in the corner of the Haram & slept

— Ali bin Abi Talib, who was around 13-14 years old, sees Abu Dharr sleeping

• Ali is very observant, & he knows Makkah inside & out. He knows that the sleeping & well-dressed man is an out-of-towner. Ali went up to Abu Dharr & asked, “Do you need a place to stay?” Abu Dharr replied, “Yes.”

• Ali took Abu Dharr to a guest quarters of the tribe. He brought some food for Abu Dharr & then went on his way

— In the morning, Abu Dharr is at the Haram again, watching the scenery around him like a hawk. He stays there the whole day, keeping an eye on everything. The whole day passes without anything happening

• When nighttime came, Abu Dharr lied down at the corner of the

Haram to sleep. Again, Ali passed by Abu Dharr & offered him the guest quarters

— In the morning, Abu Dharr goes back to the Haram again & the whole day goes by without any sign of the Prophet. At night, Ali offers Abu Dharr the guest quarters again

• This time, on the way to the guest quarters, Ali asked Abu Dharr, “May I ask why you’re here in Makkah? You seem stuck in a loop.”

• Abu Dharr said, “If you can promise me that you’ll help me, then I’ll tell you.”

• Ali replied, “I swear you have nothing to worry about.”• Abu Dharr said, “I heard about a man who claims that he’s a

Prophet who receives divine revelations from the sky. I sent my brother to find out more, & he told me, but I wanted to know more, so now I’m here, looking for this Prophet.”

• Ali said, “That is the truth. He is the Rasulillah. Go ahead & stay in the guest quarters. When it’s very early in the morning, I’m going to come by & get you. When you see me passing by, I want you to start following me. If I see anything that worries me, because you’re an out-of-towner, I don’t want you to get harmed/killed, I’m going to pretend like I’m stopping, looking for something like water. You just keep walking by. Don’t worry, I’ll find you & meet with you later. That’s the game plan. Otherwise, you keep on following me until I enter a compound, & then you enter after me.”

— The next day, Ali led Abu Dharr to the Prophet. Abu Dharr sat down & listened to Prophet. He accepted Islam right there

• Abu Dharr stayed with the Prophet for a few days, until Prophet told him, “Go back to your people & tell them of my message. Stay there until I send word for you. I won’t forget about you.”

— Shaykh Abdul: “Abu Dharr was one of these people who the young’uns would say had swag.”

• He was confident, not arrogant. He is the type of person who takes a course of action very confidently, like when he just left for Makkah without adequately packing because he wanted to know more about Islam

• Abu Dharr told the Prophet, “I swear by the One who sent you the Truth that I will not go back until I proclaim my faith in the middle of all these people.”

• He then went to the middle of the Haram & yelled the Shahadah in front of all the Makkans

• People go up to Abu Dharr & start to beat him to the ground— Abbas, one of Prophet’s uncles, didn’t agree with Islam initially (he

accepted Islam later on). He was a soft-hearted man

• When he saw the scene before him, Abbas ran to Abu Dharr and covered Abu Dharr like a tent

• Abbas was a very, very tall man (“freakishly tall”). There are narrations that state that when Abbas would sit on a mule, his feet would reach the ground. In the battlefield, he would poke out of the crowd like a flag.

• Shaykh Abdul: “If Abbas were on a basketball team, he’d be a center. That’s how tall he was.”

• Abbas also had a voice like a boombox. Whenever the Prophet would make an announcement to a large crowd, Abbas would repeat it so everyone in the crowd can hear him

• Abbas tore through the crowd that was beating Abu Dharr & laid on top of him, covering him from the kicks & punches

• Because it’s Abbas, the son of Abdul Mutallib, everyone immediately backed away

• Abbas was a smart man, so he said to his people, “What’s wrong with you all? Don’t you know he’s from tribe of Ghifar? Your business route to Bilad as-Sham goes through the tribe of Ghifar. If you kill him, you kill your business, because his tribe will come for us.”

• People then disperse. Business is business— The next day, Abu Dharr goes back to the Haram again & loudly proclaims Shahadah. Bold guy, this guy

• The Makkans go, “Look at this guy. He didn’t get enough yesterday.” Everyone starts beating up Abu Dharr

Abbas again covers Abu Dharr & he reprimands the people. He reminds them the implications of their actions, & again the people disperse

• Abbas takes Abu Dharr to Prophet to talk some sense to him. “I’m not going to be there every day to save him.”

The Prophet talked with Abu Dharr & calmed his enthusiasm down a little bit

— Abu Dharr was wealthy & educated well before accepting Islam. After accepting Islam, he was very proud of his new faith. He had a lot of strong convictions about what he believed in. He was very knowledgeable about the deen. Other Sahaba would take counsel from Abu Dharr

• Abu Dharr narrated from the Prophet that the dunya & money will never quench the desires of Banu Adam. The son of Adam always says, “My this, my that, everything is mine, mine.” The only things that legitimately belong to someone is the food that he eats, the few clothes that he wears to the point they get

tattered, & the money that he gives to sadaqah. These are all the things that he used up completely. Everything else that the person owns is left behind.

• That particular hadith impacted Abu Dharr so much that he became very strict with this philosophy & implemented in his life. Outside of the food that he consumes that day, the clothes that he wears to the point it tears, & the basic humble roof & transportation that he owns, everything else is excess. Abu Dharr considered everything out of those bare basic minimum to be a spiritual liability, things that he’ll be questioned for on the Day of Judgment

— A Tabi’i went to Abu Dharr & told him, “You’re one of the longest standing, tenured, & veteran Sahaba of the Prophet. You’re old school. I want to learn from you.”

• Abu Dharr replied, “Listen young’un. I really don’t think you’re cut out for this.”

• Tabi’i insisted, “No, I want to learn from you. I want to live with you & gain knowledge from you. I’ll earn my keep.”

• Abu Dharr agreed— Abu Dharr told his student that sometimes people would come to him for financial assistance. “If I have something to offer them, you must give them the best of what I own. That is your responsibility.”

• Some families went to Abu Dharr’s house to receive a donation. Abu Dharr had 2 camels – one big stronger camel & one small weaker camel. The families were starving & wanted some food

• Abu Dharr’s student Tabi’i saw that since all the families wanted was to slaughter a camel to use for food, he thought it would be better to give them the smaller weaker animal

• The bigger stronger camel would continue to be used for transportation by Abu Dharr & his family

• Tabi’i gave the families the smaller camel. Toward the end of the day, Abu Dharr was taking an assessment of the day’s activities, & Tabi’i told him about giving the small camel to a group of hungry families

• When Abu Dharr hears this, he asks his student, “What did I tell you?”

• Tabi’i responds, “To give the best of what you own as donation.”

• Abu Dharr points to his big strong camel & says, “That was this one right here.”

• Tabi’i said, “But I was thinking that you would prefer to keep the big camel for your transportation needs.”

• Abu Dharr said, “No, no, I asked you to do something. I don’t care about your logic. Will you stand on the Day of

Judgment on my behalf about why I gave the smaller, weaker, & older camel to a group of hungry families to eat instead of the young, stronger, bigger camel? Can you defend me before Allah? No, you can’t. So you don’t get to make the call.”

— In his old age, Abu Dharr lived to see the khilafah of Uthman (ra) & Islam spreading. In the time of Uthman, there were more lesser first-generation Sahaba & more students who learned at the hands of the early Sahaba

• Islam was spreading, so there were more resources & wealth pouring into Medina from different parts of the world. The residents of Medina was now more well-to-do, had more to eat, & fancier clothes & possessions

• Abu Dharr couldn’t take it. The new luxuries that people lived with were against Abu Dharr’s philosophy of living simply & humbly with the bare minimum

He would reprimand people. If he saw someone wearing baller clothes, Abu Dharr would tell that person, “What’s wrong with you? What are you wearing over there? Your shoes match your shirt? How’s that going to help you?”

If he saw someone riding a horse with another horse tied to it, he’d say, “Are you kidding me? Are you riding both horses at the same time? No? So why do you have 2 horses?!”

If Abu Dharr saw someone hungry or poor, he’d lose it. “How is it that there is a poor person in Medina, when we got all these well-to-do people in Medina?!”

— Uthman (ra) was a first-generation Sahabi like Abu Dharr, so he went to sit with Abu Dharr to talk with him. Uthman asked, “What’s going on with you, man?”

• Abu Dharr said, “Nothing, what’s going on with you? I miss the days of the Prophet (saw).”

• Uthman said, “I know you do. We all do, but I know that you certainly do. Everyone knows that you do. Listen, it is what it is. Look, what these people are doing is not haraam. It’s my job as the leader of the community to manage the whole community – different people, different backgrounds, different levels of taqwah, & different levels of practicing. Nobody is doing anything haraam. I understand that you’re frustrated, & I respect your right to be frustrated, but you’re causing a little bit of disruption in the community, so I’m going to need you to tone it down.”

Uthman continued, “But the problem is that I’ve known you for 20 years, so I know that you can’t tone it down. You’re Abu Dharr, that’s how you roll. So here’s the best

scenario. Why don’t you take up a residence outside of Medina, like a retirement? You live out there & you can come visit me & I’ll come visit you regularly. But live there so that you can have a bit of peace of mind. It’ll make running the community a bit easier for me. Everyone respects you, & they don’t want to be difficult for you. But you have to understand that you’re putting me in a tight spot here, & it’s also not healthy for you to be upset all the time.”

• Abu Dharr then moved & lived out the rest of his life outside Medina— Dhimad Azdi was from the Azd Shanwah tribe of Yemen. He was a well-known jinn-buster (exorcist)

• He traveled to Makkah for some business. When he was walking around night, he overheard some kids talking about the Prophet, calling him “Muhammad majnoon” (Crazy Muhammad)

• Dhimad asks the kids where he can find the Prophet, because Dhimad assumed that Muhammad was afflicted by some evil & that maybe he can help him

• Dhimad meets with the Prophet & offers his help with his “jinn problem”. “Tell me what’s going on with you. Let me diagnose you.”

The Prophet said, “The ultimate praise is always for Allah alone. We praise him & seek his assistance. Whosoever Allah guides, there’s no force that cannot misguide him. Whoever Allah leads astray, cannot be guided. I bear witness & I testify that Allah alone is worthy of worship. He is absolutely unique in this regard, & He has no partners.”

Dhimad was so impressed by the Prophet’s speech that he asked the Prophet to repeat it 3 times

• Dhimad finally felt like he got something. His mind was blown. “I have heard the words of soothsayers. I have heard the words of magicians. I have heard the words of poets. I have never heard words like yours. Give me your hand, so I can give you the pledge of Islam.”

The Prophet extended his hand & had Dhimad say the Shahadah, then asked Dhimad, “Will you take this message to your people, & make sure that your people accept Islam the same way you did?”

Dhimad said, “Yes, I promise you. I’ll take this to my people & I’m confident that they will listen to me. I will not rest until they have all accepted Islam.”

— Many years later, in the Medinan period, the Prophet sent out a group of Sahaba to preach & spread the message of Islam. They were sent out in the direction in which Dhimad’s tribe lived in

• Along their journey, they passed by Dhimad’s tribe & the Sahaba camped among them. Before the Sahaba left & started on their journey again, the leader of that group of Sahaba asked the rest of the Sahaba, “Did any of you take anything from these people (the Yemini tribe)?”

• One man said, “Yes, I took something. I took a mithara/lota (a small container that can be filled with water to clean oneself in the restroom, or even used for wudu). We went into town & I saw a little water container in the public area. I took it because we needed it.”

• The leader of the Sahaba said, “Go & return it back to them. Return it back to them especially because they are the people of Dhimad. That man came to the Prophet & accepted Islam at the hand of the Prophet, & swore allegiance to the Prophet, & swore that he will preach Islam to all of his people until they all accepted it & pledged their loyalty to the Prophet. Go back & return this water container back to the people of Dhimad.”

— The brain trust of Quraysh got together & discussed about who amongst them would be the best at identifying magic, jinn possession, mental instability & insanity

5. They were talking about the Prophet (saw), whom they saw as someone who divided their community, belittled their way of life, & exposed the faults within their religion

6. They decided that Utbah bin Rabi’ah would be the most qualified person to determine the issues of magic/mental illness

— Utbah bin Rabi’ah (ra)

• He was a leader of Quraysh. He was very well-read, politically influential, wealthy, & very well-traveled. Utbah was also one of the few people who has stood in the court of kings of that time (Emperor of Rome & King of Abyssinia)

• He approached the Prophet & tried to emotionally blackmail him. “Are you better than your own forefathers?”

The Prophet stayed quiet.• Utbah continued, “Your forefathers used to worship these idols that

you talk badly about all the time. If you think you’re better than them, let’s see what you have to say. We’ve never seen anyone be more of a troublemaker for his people than you. You’ve divided our community. You’ve humiliated us in front of other Arabs. You’ve mocked our way of living. We’re not going to wait for anything. We’re done with you. You stop what you’re doing. People are saying that there’s a possessed man among the Quraysh. We’re done dealing with you. We’ll raise our swords against you. But we don’t want to get that point, so we have another offer for you. We’ve gathered up enough wealth from all the wealthy people from Quraysh; we’ve created a fund to make you the wealthiest man in Makkah. All we need is for you to quit this foolishness. We’ll even marry you to 10 of the most beautiful women in Makkah.”

Utbah kept making offers.— The Prophet had been quiet this entire time. He asked, “Are you done?”

• Utbah said, “Yeah, that’s all.”• The Prophet next said, “Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. I begin by

seeking the help of Allah”• The Prophet continues with the first 13 verses of Surat Fussilat:

“This is a book that has been laid out in great detail. This is a Qur’an that’s meant to be read in Arabic & for people who are meant to learn. This Qur’an inspires & lifts people up. It warns people. Most of the people turn away from it, but that’s because they don’t bother to listen to it. And they say our hearts are covered up in a seal (kidna – peel of a fruit; it’s delicate). Our ears seem to be blocked. And there’s something that stands between us and you. So you go do what you have to do, and let us do what we have to do. Qul. Listen, I’m one of you. I’m just like the rest of you. But there’s one primary difference. I receive direct messages from Allah. The object of your worship needs to be One alone, Allah. So stand up & serve Him, & seek repentance from Him. How unfortunate are those people who associate partners to Allah. Those same people are not socially aware. They don’t serve their own communities. Those people deny belief in the Hereafter. But for those who believe in Allah

and do good deeds and turn to Allah, good things await them for eternity. Say to them, that do you people really deny in the One who created this earth in only 2 days?”

• Iqramim – For Allah to put 2 whole days into creating the earth/world shows care in creating

• E.g. someone spending 2 whole days cooking for their guests vs. ordering takeout & picking it up 45 minutes later

• The Prophet continued, “And after all of that you create partners for Him? He alone is the sustainer of everything that’s in existence. After creating the earth in 2 days, Allah set down mountains into the earth, & then He blessed this earth. Then He fixed, determined, & planned all the sustenance for His creations for 4 days. This is information for anyone who wants to know. For 4 days He just adorned this earth. Then He raised Himself above the Heavens. Heavens at the time was smoke. Then He commanded the earth & heavens to submit to Him & worship Him, & both the heavens & the earth bowed down willingly. He completed the Heavens in 7 different levels. Then He gave each of the levels its objective & its role. Then Allah says He took the lowest of the skies of the heavens & adorned it with stars, like lanterns. He put them there as protection (they’re for guidance & direction). All of this was determined by One who is All-Knowing. After all of this, if people continue to neglect & ignore this truth, then you tell them, I’ve warned you. I’ve warned you about Sa’iqatan (punishment – ball of fire, thunderbolt, basically a very destructive force). Just like the destructive force that destroyed & obliterated the people of A’ad (the Arabs are familiar with the ruins of A’ad & Thamud)”

• The Prophet quotes this ayah to Utbah: “But if they turn away, then say, ‘I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt that struck ‘Aad and Thamud’” [Surat Fussilat; 41:13]

— One narration of Utbah’s reaction

• Utbah screamed, “Hasbuk, hasbuk (please stop, please stop). Isn’t there anything else you can say to me besides this?” He’s panicking.

• The Prophet replied “No, that’s my message to you.”• Then Utbah reached out & grabbed Muhammad’s mouth, & said,

“Uskut. Quiet.”• When Utbah was recalling the Prophet’s words to the Quraysh, he

said, “I was afraid that if Muhammad kept going, the sky would have come right down on me. It was going to fall on me.”

• The Quraysh replied, “What’s wrong with you? We sent you to Muhammad to get him to be quiet, & you come back with your tail between your legs, talking about how sacred you

are?”• Utbah replied, “Muhammad has never lied. I’ve traveled across the

world. I’ve met the greatest soothsayers, the most eloquent speakers, the greatest poets, and I’ve talked with these people. What I heard from Muhammad was not of this earth.”

— When Utbah was first going back to his people & the Quraysh looked at his face, they were thinking, “He looks different. This is not the same man who went to talk with Muhammad.”

• Utbah said to them, “I said everything you wanted me to say to him.”

• The people asked, “Did he understand?”• Utbah replied, “I don’t remember what he said. All I remember is

that he’s warning you of a punishment that awaits you like the people of Aad & Thamud.”

• The people were disheartened & turned away— Another narration of Utbah’s reaction:

• Utbah said to the Quryash, “I put my hand on his mouth & told him to stop for the sake of his family. You people know that when Muhammad speaks, he doesn’t lie.”

— When Utbah came back from talking with the Prophet, he was stricken & terrified that he seemed just dazed. Everyone was confounded, & word was going around Makkah that Utbah now believes what Muhammad believes

• Abu Jahl hears about this whole situation & goes to Utbah for some damage control. Utbah is older than Abu Jahl, & is someone Abu Jahl respects

• Abu Jahl said to Utbah, “Your own people believe that you’ve forsaken the religion of your forefathers. The people would like to gather money & give you a gift (bribe). We want to make sure you’re okay. It seems as though you’re not the same as before you spoke to Muhammad.”

• Utbah replied “I don’t need their money. I got more money than all of them put together.”

• Abu Jahl said, “Then what’s wrong with you? If you won’t accept their gift, you have to say something that can be put out as an official press release that Utbah rejects Muhammad.”

• Utbah said, “What am I supposed to say? Because there’s not a single person among you who knows poetry like I do. No one amongst you knows poetry & eloquence better than I do. Nobody knows the poetry (black magic) of the jinns better than I do. What this man Muhammad said to me was nothing like magic or soothsaying. What he said had a certain sweetness to

it, unlike anything I’ve ever tasted in my life. It was soothing. It’s as though the top of the tree bears fruits, & its roots are very deep & strong. It overcomes & does not become overcome or defeated by anything, & it crushes anything that it steps on.”

• Abu Jahl said, “If you don’t have anything other than what you said to me, your people will reject you. All the wealth & respect of your people will be gone.”

• Utbah said, “Leave me. I have to think about this.”— Utbah didn’t feel any differently about Prophet, Qur’an, & the Message. He realized what he’ll have to give up, what was at stake

• Utbah had seen Abu Bakr beaten into unconsciousness at the Haram. He had seen Uthman bin Affan chained up & tortured. He saw Ammar & his parents Yasir & Sumayyah tied up & tortured, with both of his parents killed by Abu Jahl

• Not willing to make sacrifices for the truth, Utbah makes a public announcement: “I was recovering from Muhammad’s powerful magic. This is magic that really messes with you. That’s why I was absent & dazed for 2 days. You know that I’m the strongest & most educated amongst you. I was able to overcome Muhammad’s magic, unlike his followers. That’s because I’m genetically & intellectually superior. But the rest of his followers, they’re sheep.”

— When the Prophet heard this, he was hurt. “These people don’t get it.” When the Prophet was giving his speech to Utbah, he saw the Message penetrate Utbah’s heart. He saw the look in Utbah’s eyes when Utbah put his hand on Muhammad’s mouth & begged him to stop

• Allah revealed this ayat to the Prophet to console him:• “Leave Me with the one I created alone. And to whom I

granted extensive wealth and children present with him and spread everything before him, easing his life. Then he desires that I should add more. No! Indeed, he has been toward Our verses obstinate. I will cover him with arduous torment. Indeed, he thought and deliberated. So may he be destroyed for how he deliberated. Then may he be destroyed for how he deliberated. Then he considered again; then he frowned and scowled, then he turned back and was arrogant and said, ‘This is not but magic imitated from others. This is not but the word of a human being.’ I will drive him into Saqar. And what can make you know what is Saqar? It lets nothing remain and leaves nothing unburned, blackening the skins.” [Surat Al-Muddaththir; 74:11-29]

• It’s like when someone messes with you & somebody else

steps in to get your back. “Why don’t you go ahead, carry on, & I’ll take care of this.” [Shaykh Abdul cracks his knuckles]

— The entire city of Makkah hadn’t resorted to violence against the Muslims yet – just Abu Jahl & Abu Lahab. They were the kind of people who just look for an excuse to harm someone

• However, the rest of Quraysh were looking for an alternative solution to get rid of the Prophet’s preaching, so they went to Utbah to speak on their behalf to speak some sense to Prophet

• But after Utbah’s “hocus pocus” incident, the Quraysh decide that they have exhausted their other resources & they need to deal with the Muslims the harsh way

• At the same time, the Prophet realized that there’s something more important than the Truth for the Quraysh. The Quraysh cared more for their power, wealth, & honor than the Truth. They know it’s the Truth; the Prophet looked at the Truth reach Utbah’s eyes, Utbah all but says & acknowledged the Truth, but he still rejected

• From here on out, things in Makkah took a turn for the worse for the Muslims. The violence & aggression of Muslims increased & now became the publically accepted procedure & policy of all of Quraysh & all of Makkah  

This led to the Muslims migrating to Habesha (Abyssinia) to escape the persecutions

— One of the verses that the Prophet recited to Utbah that left Utbah dumbfounded was this ayah:

• “Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and He forbids all shameful deeds, and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.” [Surat An-Nahl; 16:90]

This ayah was so powerful that it left Utbah speechless