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.”[1]
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.[2]
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!”[3]
