Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
10. The Prophet in Makkah
~ 269 ~
would have been an action without precedent.
Added to this, there were still people among the
idolators whose consciences pricked them, who in
their heart of hearts supported the Prophet. The first
time that Abu Jahl made a murderous attack upon
the Prophet, Abu’l Bakhtarl heard about it. He took
a whip and went to the Ka’bah, where Abu Jahl was
sitting triumphantly with his associates. Abu’l
Bakhtari first made sure that Abu Jahl had really
attacked the Prophet in this way, and, when it
turned out that he had, he took his whip and struck
Abu Jahl so hard on the head that the latter roared
with pain.
One can see from the history of various religions
how, even as a creed, polytheism has always been
super-sensitive to criticism. But in ancient times
polytheism was more than just a creed; it provided
the very foundation of the structure of social orders.
There were political reasons too, then, for the
people’s fanatical attachment to polytheism. This
was the situation in Makkah, and it was for this
reason that the Prophet’s time there was such a
supreme test of patience. Only a handful of people
believed in him during the first three years of his
