In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
A Concise Prophetic Biography (Seerah).
The intensification of the Quraysh’s persecution of the Prophet, peace be upon him, following the death of his uncle, Abu Talib.
Ibn Ishaq stated:
When Abu Talib passed away,
the Quraysh inflicted upon the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, such harm
as they had never dared to hope for during the lifetime of Abu Talib.
Al-Hakim stated in his *Mustadrak*:
It is reported through multiple chains that when the Messenger of Allah’s uncle, Abu Talib, died,
he and the Muslims encountered severe persecution from the polytheists following his death.
Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir said:
In my view, most of what has been narrated regarding their throwing the entrails of a slaughtered camel between his shoulders, peace be upon him, while he was praying,
as well as what was reported by ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn al-‘As, may Allah be pleased with both of them,
regarding their strangling the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, with extreme force,
until Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, intervened to protect him,
and likewise the resolve of Abu Jahl—may Allah curse him—
to trample upon his neck, peace be upon him, while he was praying,
and how he was prevented from doing so, and other similar incidents,
all occurred after the death of Abu Talib, and Allah knows best.
Al-Hakim narrated in his *Mustadrak* with a sound chain of transmission
from ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, who said:
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"The Quraysh did not dare to harm me until Abu Talib passed away."
Ibn Ishaq narrated in his *Seerah* with a sound, *mursal* chain of transmission
from ‘Urwah Ibn al-Zubayr, who said:
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"The Quraysh never inflicted anything upon me that I disliked
until Abu Talib died."
Imam Ahmad narrated in his *Musnad*,
and al-Hakim in his *Mustadrak* with a fair (*hasan*) chain of transmission,
from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them, who said:
Fatimah entered upon the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
while she was weeping.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, asked:
"My daughter, what makes you weep?"
She replied, "O my father, how can I not weep,
when these notables of the Quraysh are in the Hijr,
making covenants by al-Lat, al-‘Uzza, and the third one, Manat?
If they were to see you, they would rise against you and kill you,
and there is not a man among them who does not already know his share of your blood."
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"My daughter, bring me water for ablution."
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, performed ablution,
then went out to the Mosque.
When they saw him, they said, "There he is."
They lowered their heads,
and their chins dropped to their chests,
and they did not raise their eyes toward him.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, took
a handful of dust,
threw it at them, and said:
"May these faces be disfigured."
Not a single man among them was struck by one of his pebbles
but that he was killed as a disbeliever on the day of Badr.
Al-Hakim narrated in his *Mustadrak*,
and Imam Ahmad in *Fada’il al-Sahabah* with a sound chain of transmission,
from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
They struck the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
until he lost consciousness.
Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, stood up
and began to call out, saying:
"Woe to you!
“And a believing man of Pharaoh's family, who hid his faith, said: Would ye kill a man because he saith: My Lord is Allah, and hath brought you clear proofs from your Lord? If he is lying, then his lie is upon him; and if he is truthful, then some of that wherewith he threateneth you will strike you. Lo! Allah guideth not one who is a prodigal, a liar.” (40:28)
They asked, "Who is this?"
They said:
"This is the madman, the son of Abu Quhafah."
Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his *Sahih*
from ‘Urwah Ibn al-Zubayr, who said:
I asked ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn al-‘As:
"Tell me the most severe thing the polytheists did
to the Prophet, peace be upon him."
He said:
"While the Prophet, peace be upon him,
was praying in the Hijr of the Ka‘bah,
‘Uqbah Ibn Abi Mu‘ayt approached,
placed his garment around his neck,
and strangled him with extreme force.
Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, came forward,
took him by his shoulder, and pushed him
away from the Prophet, peace be upon him,
and said:
'Do you kill a man
“And a believing man of Pharaoh's family, who hid his faith, said: Would ye kill a man because he saith: My Lord is Allah, and hath brought you clear proofs from your Lord? If he is lying, then his lie is upon him; and if he is truthful, then some of that wherewith he threateneth you will strike you. Lo! Allah guideth not one who is a prodigal, a liar.” (40:28)
Ibn Hibban narrated in his *Sahih*,
and Abu Ya‘la in his *Musnad* with a fair chain of transmission,
from ‘Amr Ibn al-‘As, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
I never saw the Quraysh intend to kill the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
except for one day.
I saw them sitting in the shade of the Ka‘bah,
while the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
was praying at the Maqam.
‘Uqbah Ibn Abi Mu‘ayt stood up,
placed his cloak around his neck, and pulled it,
until the Prophet, peace be upon him, fell to his knees.
The people shouted,
thinking he had been killed.
He said:
Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, came rushing
and took the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, by his upper arm
from behind,
saying:
“And a believing man of Pharaoh's family, who hid his faith, said: Would ye kill a man because he saith: My Lord is Allah, and hath brought you clear proofs from your Lord? If he is lying, then his lie is upon him; and if he is truthful, then some of that wherewith he threateneth you will strike you. Lo! Allah guideth not one who is a prodigal, a liar.” (40:28)
Then they turned away from the Prophet, peace be upon him.
The two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) narrated in their *Sahih* collections,
with the wording belonging to Muslim,
from ‘Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
While the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was praying at the House,
and Abu Jahl and some companions of his were sitting nearby,
a camel had been slaughtered the day before.
Abu Jahl said:
"Which of you will go to the entrails of the camel of such-and-such tribe,
take them, and place them between the shoulders of Muhammad when he prostrates?"
The most wretched of the people went and took them.
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, prostrated,
he placed them between his shoulders.
He said:
They began to laugh, leaning against one another.
I was standing there watching;
if I had possessed any power,
I would have removed them from the back of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, remained in prostration, not raising his head,
until someone went and informed Fatimah.
She came, though she was but a young girl, and removed them from him.
Then she turned to them and cursed them.
When the Prophet, peace be upon him, finished his prayer,
he raised his voice and invoked Allah against them.
Whenever he made a supplication, he would repeat it three times,
and whenever he asked, he would ask three times.
Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"O Allah, deal with the Quraysh."
(He said this) three times.
When they heard his voice,
their laughter vanished,
and they feared his supplication.
Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"O Allah, deal with Abu Jahl Ibn Hisham,
‘Utbah Ibn Rabi‘ah,
Shaybah Ibn Rabi‘ah,
al-Walid Ibn ‘Uqbah,
Umayyah Ibn Khalaf,
and ‘Uqbah Ibn Abi Mu‘ayt."
‘Abdullah Ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
By the One who sent Muhammad, peace be upon him, with the truth,
I saw those whom he named lying dead on the day of Badr.
Imam Ahmad narrated in his *Musnad*,
and Ibn Majah with a sound chain of transmission,
from Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, who said:
Jibril came to the Prophet, peace be upon him, one day
while he was sitting, saddened,
stained with blood,
having been struck by some of the people of Makkah.
Jibril asked him, "What is the matter with you?"
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, replied:
"These people have done such-and-such to me."
Jibril, peace be upon him, said to him:
"Would you like me to show you a sign?"
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"Yes."
He looked at a tree behind the valley
and said:
"Call that tree."
He called it,
and it came walking until it stood before him.
He said:
"Command it to return."
He commanded it, and it returned to its place.
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
"That is sufficient for me."
Shaykh ‘Ali al-Tantawi said:
They set out to persecute him, peace be upon him, and threaten him,
hoping that intimidation might achieve what persuasion could not.
They threw thorns in his path as he walked,
they cast the entrails of a camel upon him while he was prostrating,
they pelted him with stones in al-Ta’if and drew his blood,
they mocked him, and they incited their fools against him.
Yet all of this did not stir his anger, peace be upon him,
but rather stirred his compassion—
the compassion of an elder for mischievous children,
and of a wise man for the insane.
His response, peace be upon him, was:
"O Allah, guide my people, for they do not know."
The Quraysh persisted in their disbelief, obstruction, and stubbornness,
but can the Quraysh extinguish the light of Allah?
A Concise Prophetic Biography (Seerah).
Authored by Shaykh Musa bin Rashid al-‘Azimi,
and presented by the Mawaddah Association in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The longing of the worlds for them has grown long,
for the longing toward you has no fathomable end.
May Allah send blessings upon you as long as the call to prayer is raised,
and as long as lips move in remembrance.