ten years after receiving his mission from his Lord, the Prophet
(Peace be upon him) set out towards At-Ta'if, about 60 kilometres from
Makkah, in the company of his freed slave Zaid bin Haritha inviting
people to Islam. But contrary to his expectations, the general
atmosphere was terribly hostile. He approached the family of 'Umair,
who were reckoned amongst the nobility of the town.But, to his
disappointment, all of them turned deaf ear to his message and used
abusive language as regards the noble cause he had been striving for.
Three brothers from the chieftains of Thaqeef —'Abd Yaleel, Mas'ud and
Habeeb — sons of 'Amr bin 'Umair Ath-Thaqafy met the Prophet (Peace be
upon him) , who invited them to embrace Islam and worship Allâh, but
they impudently jeered at him and refused his invitation. "He is
tearing the cloths of Al-Ka'bah; is it true that Allâh has sent you as
a Messenger?" said one of them. "Has not Allâh found someone else to
entrust him with His Message?" said the second. "I swear by Allâh that
I will never have any contact with you. If you are really the
Messenger of Allâh, then you are too serious to retortback; and if you
are belying Allâh,then I feel it is imperative not to speak to." said
the third. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) , finding that
they were hopeless cases, stood up and left them saying: "Should
youindulge in these practices of yours, never divulge them to me."
For ten days he stayed there delivering his message to several people,
one after another, but all to no purpose. Stirred up to hasten the
departure of the unwelcome visitor, the people hooted him through the
alley-ways, pelted him with stones andobliged him to flee from the
city pursued by a relentless rabble. Blood flowed down both his legs;
and Zaid, endeavouring to shield him, was wounded in the head. The mob
did not desist until they had chased him two orthree miles across the
sandy plains to the foot of the surrounding hills. There, weariedand
exhausted, he took refuge inone of the numerous orchards, and rested
against the wall of a vineyard. At a time when the whole world seemed
to have turned against him, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) turned to his
Lord and betook himself to prayer and the following touching words are
still preserved as those through which his oppressed soul gave vent to
its distress. He was wearyand wounded but confident of the help of his
Lord:
*. "O Allâh! To You alone I make complaint of my helplessness, the
paucity of my resources and my insignificance before mankind. You are
the most Merciful of the mercifuls. You are the Lord of the helpless
andthe weak, O Lord of mine! Into whose hands would You abandon me:
into the hands of an unsympathetic distant relative who would sullenly
frown at me, or to the enemy who has been given control over my
affairs? But if Your wrath does not fall on me, there is nothing for
me to worry about."
"I seek protection in the light ofYour Countenance, which illuminates
the heavens and dispels darkness, and which controls all affairs in
this world as well as in the Hereafter. May it never be that I should
incur Your wrath, or that You should be wrathful to me. And there is
no power nor resource, but Yours alone."
Seeing him in this helpless situation, Rabi'a's two sons, wealthy
Makkans, were moved on grounds of kinship and compassion, and sent to
him oneof their Christian servants with a tray of grapes. The Prophet
(Peace be upon him) accepted the fruit with pious invocation: "In the
Name of the Allâh." The Christian servant 'Addas was greatly impressed
by these words and said: "These are words which people in this land do
not generally use." The Prophet (Peace be upon him) inquired of him
whence he cameand what religion he professed. 'Addas replied: "I am a
Christian by faith and come from Nineveh."The Prophet (Peace be upon
him)then said: "You belong to the cityof the righteous Jonah, son of
Matta." 'Addas asked him anxiously if he knew anything about Jonah.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) significantly remarked: "He is my
brother. He was a Prophet and so am I." Thereupon 'Addas paid homage
to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and kissed his hands. His masters
admonished him at this act but he replied: "None on the earth is
better than he is. He has revealed to me a truth which onlya Prophet
can do." They again reprimanded him and said: "We forewarn you against
the consequences of abandoning thefaith of your forefathers. The
religion which you profess is far better than the one you feel
inclined to."
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