Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
10. The Prophet in Makkah
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it that you were telling me yesterday?” He
asked. Bear witness that there is none worthy
of being served save God. He is One. He has
no partner. Forsake Lat and ‘Uzza, and disown
all those who are set up as equals with God.”
‘Ali did this and became a Muslim. Then, in
fear of Abu Talib, he used to come and see the
Prophet secretly. ‘Ali kept his Islam a secret; he
did not tell anyone about it.”
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Even later, when the first Muslims among the tribes
of Aws and Khazraj returned to Madinah, they
followed the same policy. According to the
historian Tabarani, “They returned to their people
and invited them, secretly, to embrace Islam.”
Throughout his entire public mission, the Prophet
was very careful not to take any initiative until he
was quite sure that he possessed the necessary
resources. ‘A’ishah, wife of the Prophet and
daughter of Abu Bakr, tells how, when the Prophet
had gathered 38 followers around him, Abu Bakr
urged him to publicize his mission. Abu Bakr was
of the opinion that the prophet and his companions
should go out into the open, and publicly preach
