Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
10. The Prophet in Makkah
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you are an ocean. Who can come forward and
accept such responsibility?”
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The Prophet’s own family were not ready to accept
responsibility for him. ‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib,
the Prophet’s uncle, was financially in a position to
look after his nephew. Yet even he remained silent, for
fear that this responsibility would devour his wealth.
God, however, helped His Prophet, first through the
Prophet’s wife, Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, and later on
through Abu Bakr, whose wealth saw the Prophet
through the years in Madinah.
The Prophet displayed boyish enthusiasm in his
efforts to communicate the faith to others. The
historian Ibn Jarir tells, on the authority of
‘Abdullah ibn al-’Abbas, how the nobles of the
Quraysh had gathered around the Ka’bah one day,
and called for the Prophet. He came quickly,
thinking that they might be feeling some leanings
towards Islam. He was always eager that his people
should accept the guidance of Islam. The thought of
their being doomed was a great distress to him. It
transpired, however, that they had just wanted to
pick a quarrel. Acceptance of Islam was the last
