An Attempt on His Life

The Quraysh left after saying this, and Abu Talib became worried. He knew his people’s anger very well.

On the other hand, he could not bear to see anyone attempt to disgrace or humiliate the Noble Prophet ﷺ.

Therefore, he said to the Noble Prophet ﷺ:

“My nephew! The people of your tribe came to me and said such and such things. So have mercy upon yourself and upon me, and do not place upon me a burden that I cannot bear.”

From Abu Talib’s words, the Noble Prophet ﷺ thought that perhaps his uncle was now going to withdraw his support, that he no longer wished to help him and was giving up his protection.

Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ said:

“My dear uncle! By Allah, even if these people were to place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand and tell me to abandon this mission, I would never abandon it until Allah Almighty Himself makes it manifest.”

While saying this, his ﷺ voice became heavy with emotion and tears appeared in his eyes.

Then he ﷺ stood up and began to leave.

At that very moment, Abu Talib called out to him:

“My nephew! Come here.”

The Prophet ﷺ turned toward him, and Abu Talib said:

“Go, my nephew! Say whatever you wish. By Allah, I will never abandon you under any circumstances.”

When the Quraysh realized that Abu Talib was not prepared to withdraw his support from the Prophet ﷺ, they came to Abu Talib bringing ‘Umarah bin Walid with them.

They said:

“O Abu Talib! This is ‘Umarah bin Walid, the bravest, strongest, and most handsome young man among the Quraysh.

Take him and make him your son, and in exchange hand your nephew over to us.

He is going against the religion of you and your forefathers. He has created division among your people and corrupted their minds.

Hand him over to us so that we may kill him.

We are giving you one man in exchange for another.”

Hearing this absurd proposal from the Quraysh, Abu Talib said:

“By Allah, this can never happen.

Do you think that a she-camel could abandon her own young one and desire another young one instead?”

Hearing his answer, Mut‘im bin ‘Adi said:

“O Abu Talib! Your people have treated you fairly and have tried to help you get rid of something you dislike.

Now I do not think that you will accept any other offer from them after this.”

In response, Abu Talib said:

“By Allah, they have not treated me fairly.

Rather, all of you have joined together to disgrace me and conspire against me.

So now do whatever you wish.”

Later, this man, ‘Umarah bin Walid, died in Abyssinia while still in disbelief.

He had been afflicted by magic, after which he became terrified and wandered through forests and valleys.

Similarly, the other man, Mut‘im bin ‘Adi, also died in disbelief.

In short, when Abu Talib rejected this offer of the Quraysh as well, the situation became extremely serious.

On the other hand, Abu Talib sensed the dangerous intentions of the Quraysh.

He called Banu Hashim and Banu ‘Abd al-Muttalib and requested them all to join together in protecting the Prophet ﷺ and keeping him safe.

After hearing him, everyone agreed except Abu Lahab.

Abu Lahab did not support them.

This wretched man did not stop from being harsh toward the Prophet ﷺ and speaking against him.

Likewise, among those who opposed the people who had accepted Islam, Abu Lahab was at the forefront.

In causing hardship to the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions, he went even further than the other people of Quraysh.

He says:

“One day, I was in the Masjid al-Haram when Abu Jahl came there and said:

‘By God, I swear that if I ever see Muhammad prostrating, I will strike his neck.’”

Hazrat ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه says:

“When I heard this, I immediately went to the Noble Prophet ﷺ and told him what Abu Jahl had said.”

Hearing this, the Noble Prophet ﷺ came out in a state of anger and entered the Masjid al-Haram walking swiftly.

He walked so quickly that, while passing, his body brushed against the wall.

At that time, he ﷺ was reciting the first two verses of Surah al-‘Alaq:

“Read in the name of your Lord, Who created creation; Who created man from a clot.”

While reciting, he ﷺ reached the sixth verse of the Surah:

“Indeed, man surely transgresses all bounds.”

He continued until he reached the final part of the Surah, where the verse of prostration occurs, and immediately he ﷺ fell into prostration.

At that moment, someone said to Abu Jahl:

“O Abu al-Hakam! Muhammad is prostrating.”

As soon as he heard this, Abu Jahl immediately moved toward the Prophet ﷺ.

He came close to him, but then suddenly turned back.

The people were astonished and asked:

“O Abu al-Hakam! What happened?”

In an even more astonished state, he replied:

“Can you not see what I am seeing?”

Hearing this, the people became even more surprised and asked:

“What do you see, Abu al-Hakam?”

Abu Jahl said:

“I see a trench of fire between me and him.”

Similarly, one day Abu Jahl said:

“O gathering of Quraysh! As you can see, Muhammad is criticizing your religion, speaking ill of your gods, declaring that your minds have been corrupted, and insulting your forefathers.

Therefore, I swear before God that tomorrow I will sit with such a huge stone for Muhammad that he will not be able to bear its weight.

As soon as he goes into prostration, I will strike his head with that stone.

After that, you are free. If you wish, help me in this matter and give me protection; and if you wish, hand me over to his enemies.

Then let Banu ‘Abd Manaf do whatever they want with me.”

Hearing this, the Quraysh said:

“By Allah, we will never betray you under any circumstances. So do whatever you intend to do without worry.”

The next day, Abu Jahl brought a very heavy stone according to his plan and began waiting for the Noble Prophet ﷺ.

Meanwhile, as was his habit, the Noble Prophet ﷺ also came there after the morning prayer.

At that time, his ﷺ Qiblah was toward Bayt al-Maqdis.

For prayer, he ﷺ would stand between the Rukn Yamani and the Black Stone, placing the Kaaba between himself and Bayt al-Maqdis.

As soon as he ﷺ arrived, he began the prayer.

Meanwhile, the people of Quraysh were sitting in their homes, waiting to see what would happen that day:

Would Abu Jahl succeed in his plan or not?

Then, as soon as the Prophet ﷺ went into prostration, Abu Jahl picked up the stone and moved toward him.

As soon as he came close to the Prophet ﷺ, he was suddenly overcome by trembling.

The color drained from his face.

In a state of terror, he backed away.

At the same time, his hands had become fixed upon the stone in such a way that when he tried to remove them, he could not.

The people of Quraysh immediately gathered around him and asked:

“O Abu al-Hakam! What happened?”

He replied:

“Last night, I told you what I intended to do. To fulfill it, I moved toward Muhammad.

But as soon as I came close to him, a young camel suddenly appeared in my path.

I have never seen such a powerful camel in my life.

It suddenly moved toward me as though it were going to devour me.”

When this incident was mentioned to the Noble Prophet ﷺ, he said:

“That was Jibril عليه السلام. If he had come any closer to me, he would certainly have seized him.”