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They were sadly ignorant and painfully at fault for they could not perceive that a teacher for
mankind is one who shares their nature, mingles intheir life, is acquainted with their doings, and
sympathises with their joys and sorrows.
The Noble Qur'an has vehemently refuted their charges and allegations and has explained that the
utterances of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) are the Revelations of the Lord and their nature and
contents provide a bold challenge to those who attribute his Prophetic expressions to some base
origin, at times to the mental throes of a dreaming reformer, at others to the effusion of a frenzied
poet or the incoherent drivelling of an insane man.
3. Contrasting the Qur'an with the mythology of the ancients in order to distract people's
interests from Allâh's Words. Once An-Nadr bin Harith addressed the Quraishites in the
following manner: O Quraish! You have experienced an unprecedented phenomenon before
which you have so far been desperately helpless. Muhammad (Peace be upon h im) grew up
here among you and always proved to be highly obliging, the most truthful and trustworthy
young man. However, later on when he reached manhood, he began to preach a new faith
alien to your society, and opposed to your liking so you began to denounce him at a time as
a sorcerer, at another as a soothsayer, a poet, or even an insane man. I swear by Allâh he
is not anyone of those. He is not interested in blowing on knots as magicians are, nor do his
words belong to the world of soothsaying; he is not a poet either, for his mentality is not
that of a rambler, nor is he insane because he has never been witnessed to develop any sort
of hallucinations or insinuations peculiar to madmen. O people of Quraish, it is really a
serious issue and I recommend that you reconsider your attitude.
It is narrated that An-Nadr, at a later stage, headed for Heerah where he got conversant
with the traditions of the kings of Persia and the accounts of people like Rustum and
Asphandiar, and then returned to Makkah. Here he would always shadow the Messenger's
steps in whatever audiences the later held to preach the new faith and to caution people
against Allâh's wrath. An-Nadr would directly follow the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and
narrate to the same audience long tales about those people of Persia. He would then always
append his talk with a question cunningly inquiring if he did not outdo Muhammad (Peace be
upon him) . Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) related that An-Nadr used to
purchase songstresses who would through their bodily charms and songs entice away from
Islam anyone developing the least attachment to the Prophet (Peace be upon him); in this
regard, Allâh says:
And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing, etc.) to mislead
(men) from the Path of Allâh. [31:6]
4. In a fresh attempt to dissuade Muhammad (Peace be upon him) from his principled stand,
Quraish invited him to compromise on his teachings and come to terms with their pre-
Islamic practices in such a way that he quits some of his religion and the polytheists do the
same. Allâh, the All-High says:
They wish that you should compromise (in religion out of courtesy) with them, so
they (too) would compromise with you. [68:9].
On the authority of Ibn Jareer and At-Tabarani, the idolaters offered that Muhammad (Peace
be upon him) worship their gods for a year, and they worship his Lord for a year. In another
version, they said: If you accept our gods, we would worship yours. Ibn Ishaq related that
Al-Aswad bin Al-Muttalib, Al-Waleed bin Al-Mugheerah, Omaiyah bin Khalaf and Al-As bin
Wa'il As-Sahmy, a constellation of influential polytheists, intercepted the Prophet (Peace be
upon him) while he was circumambulating in the Holy Sanctuary, and offered him to worship
that they worshipped, and they worship that he worshipped so that, according to them, both
parties would reach a common denominator. They added Should the Lord you worship prove
to be better than ours, then it will be so much better for us, but if our gods proved to be
better than yours, then you would have benefit from it. Allâh, the Exalted, was decisive on
the spot and revealed the following Chapter:
Say: O
Al-Kâfirûn
(disbelievers in Allâh, in His Oneness, in His Angels, in His Books,
in His Messengers, in the Day of Resurrection, in
Al-Qadar
, etc.)! I worship not that
which you worship, nor will you worship that which I worship. And I shall not
worship that which you are worshipping, nor will you worship that which I worship.
To you be your religion, and to me my religion (Islamic Monotheism). [109]
PERSECUTIONS:
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