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the sovereign power of God rather than that of men.”
The Quran itself provided an important basis of the Prophet’s
preaching work. Whenever the Prophet met anybody, he would
recite a passage of the Quran to him. Often phrases like, “He made
mention of Islam, and read some of the Quran to them,” or “He
presented the message of Islam before them, and recited to them
a passage of the Quran,” recurred in traditions concerning the
Prophet’s preaching mission. The Quran possessed extraordinary
magnetism for theArabs. Even some of the direst enemies of Islam
used to steal up to the Prophet’s house at night, put their ears to
the wall, and listen to him reciting the Quran, The sublime style of
the Quran used to have the most profound impact on the Prophet’s
people. Take the case of Waleed ibn Mughira, who once came to
the Prophet on behalf of the Quraysh.When the Prophet read him
a passage of the Quran,Waleed was so impressed that he went back
to the Quraysh and told them that the Quran was a literary work
of such unsurpassable excellence that it overshadowed everything
else.
Recitation of the Quran was, in those days, a common method
of preaching Islam.When Mus’ab ibn Zubair was sent to Madinah
as a preacher, he used to “talk to people, and recite a passage of the
Quran to them.” That was why people came to know him as “Al-
Muqri,” the reciter of the Quran.
During his time in Makkah the Prophet’s preaching was
always conducted on a purely rational level based on highly logical
standard set by the Quran. The Prophet’s opponents, on the other
hand, could offer only abuse and opprobrium in reply. Sensible
people in Makkah could not help but come to the conclusion that
Muhammad’s opponents had nothing concrete to offer in support
of their case. According to Ibn Jarir, it came to the point where
some of the nobles of the Quraysh even planned to call a meeting
to talk to the Prophet, their intention being “to excuse themselves
as far as he was concerned.” That is, to assure him that they had
nothing to do with the base tactics employed by the Prophet’s
direst enemies.
