Moral Pattern Par Excellence (Part 7)

                             A Rock of Faith in a Storm of Persecution

Every great man has to go through most difficult times. That is the price that he has to pay for a place in the Hall of History. Such happens to be the law of Nature. This is much more so in the realm of the spirit. The quality that is known as faith can only germinate in the soil of trials and tribulations. In that soil alone it comes to thrive and flourish. In other words, the crucible of hardships alone can purify the gold of faith from all dross and bring it out in all its true shine and lustre. That is why every Prophet who proclaimed faith in God had to face a storm of opposition and persecution.

The Prophet of Islam, as we saw in the last instalment, had this processing in an abundant measure. He had to face ridicule and hooliganism. He had to go through persecution. He had the most alluring temptations placed in his way. When all these failed to deflect him from his mission, and only served as a fillip to bring out the inner mettle of faith in him, the Quraish held out threats to his guardian Abu Talib and his Clan the Banu Hasham. The Prophet’s ﷺ firm reply to his uncle steeled the latter’s own determination to stand by his nephew in thick and thin. This made the opposition all the more bitter. The Quraish, hearing of Banu Hasham’s resolve to stand by the Prophet, resorted to wield a weapon which, they hoped, would wreck their back, and make them withdraw their support from the Prophet ﷺ. They declared a social boycott against the whole clan. To give it the force of sanctity, an agreement to this effect was signed between the various clans and suspended in the Kaaba. On this the Banu Hasham retreated to an isolated part of Makkah, known as Abu Talib’s Shi’b (valley of Abu Talib) where they remained in a state of excommunication for about three years. A strict blockade cut off all their supplies of food stuffs. They tapped all their own resources, but these were soon exhausted, and starvation stared them in the face. It was agonising to hear children cry for a morsel of food. Some of the Quraish were also so touched by their plight that they tried to smuggle foods supplies into the blockaded zone. But Abu Jahl kept a strict watch to thwart these attempts.

The Banu Hasham, it may be noted were no believers in the Prophet’s  ﷺ mission. Nevertheless, they suffered all these hardships on his account. Such was the charm his personality exercised on whoever came into contact with him. Their womenfolk kept wailing. Their children went on crying for a piece of bread. They faced all this rather than give up the Prophet ﷺ to the tender mercies of his opponents. As for the Prophet ﷺ, he carried on his mission with his usual zeal. His preaching was now confined in his own clan, the Banu Hasham.

The blockade made it impossible and unsafe for him to go out of the limited zone. During the sacred months, however, when all hostilities were suspended, and it was considered a sacrilege to lay hands on any live creature, he would go out to deliver his message.

In the meantime, there were murmurs among some of the Quraish against the inhumanity of the blockade. The tender-hearted among them openly protested against it. Some of their leading men vowed that they would be no party to this cruelty and would see to it that the document containing the blockade agreement was torn to pieces. Meanwhile there came about providential incident which shook the Quraish to the depths of their hearts. The agreement-document, on being inspected, was found to be moth-eaten. Its entire contents had got obliterated. The only word that survived this process was the Prophet’s name Muhammad ﷺ. This was taken as a Divine hint warning the Quraish that all their attempts to crush Islam would come to naught, and that in the long run the Prophet’s message would be established. The incident reinforced the anti-blockade feeling which had already started, with the result that the agreement was abrogated, and the blockade called off.

The Prophet ﷺ and his small following were now free to move about, but this was by no means the end of their persecutions. Shortly afterwards his uncle, Abu Talib, hitherto his main bulwark against the fury of the Quraish, passed away. His faithful wife, Khadija had already died, so that now he had nobody even to give him a word of cheer. His devotion to his mission, however, remained unabated, and his conviction in its final triumph unshaken. One day while walking down a street, some one threw dust over him. Reaching home, his daughter, beholding her father’s head full of dust, began to wash it, weeping at the same time at his sad plight. “Don’t you weep”, came the Prophet’s  ﷺ consoling words, “God will come to your father’s help”.

Finding opposition in Makkah knowing no relenting, the Prophet  ﷺ turned towards another quarter in the hope of meeting with better response. He went to the neighbouring town of Taif to deliver his message with Zaid, his servant for his sole companion. The fate, however, that awaited him here was no better. The same scorn, the same scoffing, the same ridicule dogged his steps. For miles the route was lined with the riffraff of the town, who even pelted him with stones as he walked along. When bleeding and unable to walk he would sit down to take a little rest, someone from the crowd would make him stand and bid him move on. Then risen to his feet, the usual pelting would start, till his shoes were smeared with blood. This went on for three long miles. At last, when these knaves left him alone and he was out of the town, he repaired to a nearby well to have a drink. The master of the well a Jew, seeing this bedraggled visitor, enquired who he was. The Prophet’s ﷺ name had by now become a household word in the neighbourhood all around. He told the Jew not only his name, but also delivered him his message. The Jew refused to give him any water. There was an orchard close-by. The Prophet ﷺ went there in the hope of finding some water to quench his thirst. The owner of the orchard, a tender-hearted man, offered him a bunch of grapes, which the Prophet ﷺ took hold of with the word: Bismillah i.e. In the name of Allah. While seated there, his invocation to God is the most touching that can come out of a human heart to his Maker. There is not a word of complaint at his own torture. He only pleads for God’s forgiveness for the inadequacy of his own efforts to make His message known to the people. With tearful eyes he besought God to condone his own weakness of effort, imploring protection against His displeasure. There is not a word against his persecutors, not a word about his own plight. In this darkest hour, God’s pleasure was his sole concern. All else simply did not matter.

M.Y. K.

(The Light – Jan.1 in 1959)