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Al-' Awaam, Al-Aswad lbn Nawfal, Yaziid lbn Zam'ah ,and `Amr lbn Umaiyah. From the tribe of Bani
Zahrah there were `Abd Ar-Rahman lbn `Awf, `Aamir lbn Abi Waqqaas Maalik Ibn Ahyab, and Al-
Muttalib Ibn Azhar. There were these and others whose families would not be patient for long with their
persecution and infliction of harm upon them. Why, then, did the Messenger (PBUH) not let them stay
with him to support him and to be a sign of possible power in his hands?
Here the eminence of Muhammad (PBUH), the Messenger of Allah shines. He did not want
commotion or civil war, even if the probability of his success was there, or even if he was sure of his
success! Here the Messenger's humanity and compassion are illustrated, for he could not bear to see
people persecuted because of him, although he was well aware that sacrifice was the price paid in every
noble struggle and in every great mission. Sacrifice should be made whenever it was inevitable. But now,
when it is possible to avoid suffering, let the Muslims turn that way. Why, then, did he not join them?
He was not commanded to depart. His place was there where idols were. He would keep uttering the
name of Allah, the One. He would keep receiving pain and harm without anxiety or disquietude since it
was he who was harmed and not those weak people who believed in him and followed him and not even
those noble men who also believed in him and followed him! Whoever knows examples of such cases of
steadfastness and nobility of sacrifice, let him come up with them. It is a lofty matter capable only of
leading messengers and chosen ones.
The man and the Messenger came together in Muhammad (PBUH) in such a magnificent and well-
knit encounter. Those who had doubts in his message did not have any doubt in his eminence, the purity
of his quintessence, or the purity of his humanity. Allah, Who knew where to place His Message, had
chosen such a man who was the best humanity could achieve in elevation, loftiness, and honesty. People
heard him reprimanding them for any exaggeration in glorifying him or even when they merely stated his
eminence without any exaggeration. He prohibited them even from standing up in his presence when he
came upon them when they were seated. He said, "Do not stand as non-Arabs do when they glorify one
another."
When the sun eclipsed on the day of the death of his beloved son Ibraahiim, the Muslims mentioned
that it was an eclipse out of sadness for the loss of Ibraahiim. But the great and honest Messenger
(PBUH) hastened to refute and negate this assumption before it turned into a legend. He stood among the
Muslims, addressing them as follows: "The sun and the moon are two of the signs of Allah. They never
eclipse for the death or life of anybody." He was the one trusted with the minds of people and their
thinking, and so accomplishing what was entrusted to him was more worthy than the glory of all the
world. He was certain that he came to humanity to change their way of life and that he was not a
Messenger to the Quraish alone, or to the Arabs only, but was Allah's Messenger to all the people on
earth!
Almighty Allah directed his vision to how far his mission would reach and his banner flutter. He
perceived the truth of the faith he announced, the living immortality it would have until Allah inherits the
earth and those upon it. Nevertheless, he did not see in himself, or his religion or his unprecedented
success more than a brick in the construction! This great man stood to proclaim this idea in one of his
best statements, saying, "The relation between prophets who came before me and myself is like a man
who built a house and constructed it well and decorated it, except for a brick in one of its corners. This
made people go round it and express their astonishment, saying, Won't this brick be placed? I am such a
brick, and I am the last of the Prophets."
All that long life he lived, all his struggles and heroism, all his glory and purity, all the victory
achieved in his life for his religion and the victory he knew would be achieved after his death were
nothing but a brick, a mere brick in a lofty and deeply founded building. He was the one who proclaimed
this and reiterated it. In addition, he did not make up such a speech out of assumed modesty, to nourish a
hunger for glory. He emphasized the situation as a fact. Its delivery and transmission he considered part
of the quintessence of his message. Though modesty was one of the essential characteristics of
Muhammad (PBUH), it was not the only sign of his greatness, which reached an unrivaled level of
excellence and superiority to be a sign and a symbol itself.