Did the Holy Prophet seek Refuge

Did the Holy Prophet seek Refuge

It is said that the Holy Prophet, upon his return to Mecca, asked Mu§’im ibn `Ad¢ to give him refuge; he then entered Mecca under his protection. However, with regards to a series of evidence, this seems highly improbable:

(1) How could the Holy Prophet, after ten years of hard struggles and severe confrontations with the idolaters, have accepted the humiliation of asking an idol-worshipper for refuge and asylum while this humiliation he never accepted during his whole life?

(2) Despite the death of Ab£-±¡lib at that time, the rest of Ban£-H¡shim were still on the scene; among them, there were brave individuals like °amzah whom Quraysh feared very much as is shown in their attempts to unite several tribes to murder the Holy Prophet at the night of his emigration to Yathrib.

(3) According to some historical documents, Zayd and Imam `Al¢ accompanied him. So, they were a group of three persons who could depend on themselves and needed no assistance.

(4) The Holy Prophet was one of the bravest Arabs; weakness has never seen on him. Recalling the Holy Prophet's bravery in battles, Imam `Al¢ (a.s) remarks:

When the fire of war was severely kindled, we used to resort to the Holy Prophet; under those circumstances, there was nobody closer to the enemy than he was.[1]

(5) The Holy Prophet severely struggled against the system of tribalism which was the source of his calamity. How could he approve of the tradition of taking refuge which was an offshoot of tribalism? How could he confirm it?

(6) As is reported by Bul¡dhar¢ and Ibn Sa`d, the Holy Prophet's journey to ±¡’if took place at the end of month Shaww¡l. If we accept this report as valid, it means that his stay in ±¡’if and his return to Mecca could have occurred within the sacred month in which bloodshed and molestation are suspended. Thus, there was no danger against the Holy Prophet's life and consequently he did not need any protection.

With regards to these documents, we may infer that the Holy Prophet, on his return from ±¡’if, had entered W¡d¢ Nakhlah before he entered Mecca. On his return, he spent a night there[2] when a group of jinn[3] heard the verses of the Holy Qur'¡n.[4]

Attraction of the Holy Qur'¡n

Inviting people to his religion, the Holy Prophet rarely spoke of himself; rather, he made use of the best means available to him, i.e. the verses of the Holy Qur'¡n which had enchanting effects on the Arab's ears. The Holy Qur'¡n is the Holy Prophet's great miracle—a miracle of eloquence. The lexicon and the lexical items, the structure of the verses, and the melody of the Qur'¡nic verses are so attractive that nobody could ever be able to produce anything even similar to them. For this reason, the Holy Qur'¡n invites the unbelievers to produce anything like its chapters. (2:23)

The Arabs of °ij¡z who were mostly poets and experts in poetry were absorbed in and enchanted by the grace and eloquence of the sacred verses of the Holy Qur'¡n. The words of revelation appeared to them most graceful and elegant. At times, they would be mesmerized and motionless for a long time.

One night, some chiefs of Quraysh, such as Ab£-Sufy¡n and Ab£-Jahl hid behind the door of the Holy Prophet's house and listened to the verses that he was uttering. On their return in the morning, they saw one another and started blaming each other by saying, “Let us not do this again, because if people see us, they would think otherwise. They might think that we have become Muslims.” However, for the coming nights, they did it again, each time promising not to do it again. (2:23)

Accusation of Magic

The ceremony of °ajj was the best time for the Holy Prophet to carry out his propagation, because the different Arab tribes came to Mecca then. In those days, the Holy Prophet had a chance to let people hear the call for monotheism. For this reason, the chiefs of Quraysh feared the °ajj time the most.

At the time of °ajj ceremony, a group of noblemen of Quraysh went to visit Wal¢d ibn Mugh¢rah, an elderly man and the head of Ban£-Makhz£m, who said, “It is the °ajj time, people come to your city from everywhere; they have heard Mu¦ammad's story. Let us talk about him in a single fashion and not try to contradict one another.” They replied, “Whatever you say, we will follow you. We will say that he is a Jewish priest.” He said, “No, By God. He is not a Jewish priest; we have seen such priests before. He neither hums like such priests nor does he use rhymed speech.” One of them suggested, “Let us say that he is a lunatic.” Wal¢d answered, “No! He could not be a lunatic. We have seen lunatic people and we know how they behave. Neither do any of his limbs shake, nor is he tempted by some devil.” They said, “Let us say that he is a poet.” Wal¢d answered, “He cannot be a poet either. We know all kinds of poetry. What he says is not poems.” They further suggested, “We shall say that he is a magician.” Wal¢d answered, “This is not accurate either. We have seen the magician's incantations and charms. His work is not sorcery.” They asked, “Then, what shall we say?” He remarked, “By God, his speech is delicious; its roots are vigorous and branches are fruitful. Whatever of these categories you say about him will turn out to be wrong. The best thing for you is to say that he is a magician because through his words he is able to separate children from their parents, brothers from brothers, wives from husbands and tribe members from one another.”[5]

Having arrived at this decision, the Arab leaders spread. From then on, they would provoke the °ajj pilgrims not to be carried away by the indoctrinations of the Holy Prophet.[6]

What the higher council of Quraysh called magic and attributed to the Holy Prophet was in fact an attribute for the attractive verses of the Holy Qur'¡n which hypnotized everyone who listened to them. The sanctions against the listening to the Qur'¡nic verses reached such a point that the chiefs of Quraysh recommended that a great person such as As`ad ibn Zur¡rah should insert cotton in his ears in order to be safe against Mu¦ammad's magic!”[7]

Inviting the Arab Tribes to Islam

The Holy Prophet carried out his invitation to people in Mecca and elsewhere. For instance, he went to the following tribes: Kindah, Kalb, Ban£-°an¢fah and Ban£-Am¢r ibn ¯a`¥a`ah to invite them to the new religion. However, Ab£-Lahab used to follow him and discourage people from accepting his religion.[8]

In his dialogues with Ban£-`ªmir, the Holy Prophet was told by one of the elderly chiefs of that tribe, named Bay¦arah ibn Fir¡s, “If we swear allegiance to you and God makes you victorious over your opponents, will you promise your succession to us?” The Holy Prophet replied, “That is God's affair, not mine. God will nominate anybody He wishes.” Aggressively, the man replied, “You want us to stand against the Arabs for your sake and defend you; and upon your victory, somebody else gets the initiatives? We do not need your religion.”[9]

It is narrated that the same issue was brought up by the elders of the Kindah tribe to whom the Holy Prophet gave the same reaction.[10] This kind of reply and taking position on the part of the Holy Prophet is significant in two ways:

First: He emphasized that the issue of succession is God's affair. This confirms the issue that he has been appointed by God; i.e. his position is a Divine selection and this adoption takes place by God, not through people.

Second: The Holy Prophet, contrary to other statesmen who do everything in order to obtain their objectives, did not make use of unethical instruments. Although the adoption of Islam by the members of a large tribe was of utmost significance and value in those days, the Holy Prophet did not promise anything which he could not keep.

During the °ajj and `Umrah ceremonies in which security prevailed due to the sacredness of those months and during which a great number of people could come from different areas to Mecca and Min¡ or the markets outside Mecca, such as the seasonal markets of `Uk¡¨, al-Majannah and Dh¢’l-Maj¡z,[11] the Holy Prophet extended his invitation and visited the elderly chiefs of the tribes. Even if the pilgrims themselves did not accept Islam, they spread the news of the Holy Prophet's prophethood in their cities and towns; and this was a step ahead towards victory and success.