The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
Prophetic Wisdom
~ 82 ~
TOLERATING INSULT
Ibn Ishaq, the Prophet’s earliest biographer, says
that the Quraysh had given the Prophet the
nomenclature of
Mudhammam
(the condemned one),
then they used to heap abuses on him using this
derogatory name. The Prophet said to his
companions, “Don’t you wonder how God has
saved me from the abuses of the Quraysh? They
abuse and condemn a person named
Mudhammam,
while I am Muhammad.
During the Makkan period when the Quraysh
developed enmity and hatred for the Prophet, they
did not like calling him by his actual name, which
was Muhammad, because it meant ‘praiseworthy.’
Therefore, to satisfy their inimical feelings, they
named him
Mudhammam,
meaning condemned. So
when the Quraysh abused and condemned him, they
did not use the word Muhammad, but heaped abuses
on one called
Mudhammam.
Even Abu Lahab’s wife
Umm
Jamil herself came to the prophet and said: You
are
Mudhammam
and we reject you (p. 379)
This was undoubtedly an act of great
provocation and calculated to cause humiliation.
