Seerah

Attempts made to check the Onward March of Islam

•Defaming the messenger•Deforming the message

• Mockery• Insulting and harming the Messenger

(saw)• Accusations or character assassinations• Deforming or defaming the message• Bargaining or negotiating with Prophet

and his uncle • Temptations• Setting challenges• Putting him under pressure• Showing disgust and hatred• Persecution• Assassination attempts 

Scoffing, Degrading, Ridiculing

• They used to denounce the Prophet (pbuh) as a man possessed by a jinn, or an insane person:"And they say: O you (Muhammad (pbuh))

to whom the Dhikr(the Qur'an) has been sent down! Verily, you are a mad man." [Al-Qur'an 15:6]

Different ways of Mockery• The Pagans would inwardly laugh at the

believer’s Faith, because they felt themselves so superior.

• In public places, when the righteous passed, they used to insult and wink at them.

• In their own houses, the Pagans would run them down.

• Whenever and wherever the Pagans saw the believers, they reproached and called them fools who had lost their way.

Distorting the Message

• Distorting Muhammad’s teachings.• Evoking ambiguities. • Circulating false propaganda. • Forging groundless allegations concerning his

doctrines, person and character.

"Tales of the ancients, which he (Muhammad) has written down, and they

are dictated to him morning and afternoon."

[Al-Qur'an 25:5]

Contrasting the Qur'an with the mythology of the ancients

An-Nadr bin Harith, told stories to the people whom the Prophet used to preach– Traditions of the Kings of Persia.– Accounts of the people like Rustum and

Isphandiyar.– Purchase female singers to entice away from

Islam.

"And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing, etc.) to mislead (men)

from the Path of Allah." [Al-Qur'an 31:6]

Persecutions

•Hardest times on Muslims at the beginning of the fourth year of the Call.

• Realizing the futility of mere mocking and degradation, they decided to organize a full-scale opposition campaign.

• Decided to malign the prophet and put the new converts to different sorts of torture using all available resources.

Victims of the worst torture

• Uthman bin Affan• Mus’ab bin Umair• Bilal• Family of Yasir• Khabbab bin Al-Aratt• Abu Fakih, Aflah• Zanirah and her daughter

Atrocities against Prophet• Throwing stones at him until his ankles bled.• Abu Lahab forced his two sons to divorce their

wives, as they were the daughters of Prophet (pbuh).

• Showing delight on Prophet’s son death and calling him “Abtar”.

• Scattering thorns in his way.• Verbal abuse and slander• Throwing animal guts, wombs and grounded

old decomposed bones on him.• Spitting in his face.

The Quraish pressure Abu Talib

• They threatened Abu Talib of severe consequences.

• Abu Talib tried to stop his nephew.• Prophet replied “ O my uncle! By Allah if they

put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left on condition that I abandon this course, I would not abandon it until Allah has made me victorious or I perish therein.”

•The Quraish offered a young, smart boy to Abu Talib in exchange of taking the life of Prophet (pbuh).•Abu Talib turned down all their offers and challenged them to do whatever they pleased.

The House of Al-Arqam

In the fifth year of his mission, taking into consideration the strategic interest of Islam, the Prophet (pbuh) took Dar Al-Arqam, in As-Safa mountain, as a temporary centre to meet his followers secretly and instruct them in the Qur'an and the Islamic wisdom.

Dar ul Arqam

• To spare new converts from being the subject of harassment and torture.

• To avoid the open confrontation with infidels at this early stage.

• To keep secret of his goals and planning.• To teach the religion to the Muslims.

First Migration to Abyssinia

Middle of the fifth year of Prophet hood

• When the persecution became intolerable, ayahs revealed:

"Good is (the reward) for those who do good in this world, and Allah's earth is

spacious (so if you cannot worship Allah at a place, then go to another)! Only

those who are patient shall receive their rewards in full without reckoning."

[Al-Qur'an 39:10].

• Prophet permitted some of his followers to migrate to Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

• Ashamah Negus, (najjashi) king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), was a fair ruler.

• A group of twelve men and four women left for Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

Incidence of Surah An Najm• During Ramadan, Prophet recited Surah An

Najm in the vicinity of Ka’aba.• Many polytheists were there listening.• When he reached the ayah

"So fall you down in prostration to Allah and worship Him (Alone)." [Al-Qur'an 53:62]

• They all unconsciously prostrated themselves in absolute god-fearing and stainless devotion.

• News of this incident was misreported to the Muslim emigrants in Abyssinia (Ethiopia). They were informed that the whole of Quraish had embraced Islam, so they made their way back home. When they were only an hour’s travel from Makkah, the reality of the situation was discovered. Some of them returned to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), others sneaked secretly into the city.

Second Migration to Abyssinia

• Due to the news that transpired to the Makkans about the good hospitality and warm welcome that the Muslims were accorded in Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

The Second Migration to Abyssinia

• After the first migration, the polytheist became very angry and doubled the torture to the ones left behind.

• Muslims in great number migrated again to Abyssinia.

• The group of emigrants this time comprised eighty three men and nineteen or, in some versions, eighteen women.

Quraish’s Machination against the Emigrants

• Quraish sent two of their men to Abyssinia with valuable gifts for the king.

• They demanded Muslim extradition on the basis that they had abandoned the religion of their forefathers, and their leader was preaching a religion different from theirs and from that of the king.

• The king summoned the Muslims to the court and asked them to explain the teachings of their religion.

• Ja‘far bin Abi Talib stood up and addressed the king in the beautiful words.

• He told him the whole truth about Islam and the torture they had to go through.

• The king was very much impressed by his words and asked the Muslims to recite some of Allâh’s Revelation. Ja‘far recited the opening verses of Sûrah Maryam.

• Thereupon the king, along with the bishops of his realm, was moved to tears that rolled down his cheeks and even wet his beard.

• The Negus exclaimed: "It seems as if these words and those which

were revealed to Jesus are the rays of the light which have radiated from the same source." Turning to the crest-fallen envoys of Quraish, he said, "I am afraid, I cannot give you back these refugees. They are free to live and worship in my realm as they please."

.• Next day the two envoys again went to the

king and said that Muhammad and his followers blasphemed Jesus Christ.

• Again the Muslims were summoned and asked what they thought of Jesus. Ja‘far again stood up and replied: "We speak about Jesus as we have been taught by our Prophet that is, he is the servant of Allâh, His Messenger, His spirit and His Word breathed into Virgin Mary.

• The king at once remarked, "Even so do we believe. Blessed be you, and blessed be your master.…Jesus is nothing more than what Ja‘far has said about him."

• He then assured the Muslims of full protection.

• He returned to the envoys of Quraish, the gifts they had brought with them and sent them away.