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THE THIRD PHASE CALLING UNTO ISLAM BEYOND MAKKAH
In Shawwal (in the last of May or in the beginning of June 619 A.D.), ten years after receiving his
mission from his Lord, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) set out towards At-Ta’if, about 60
kilometres from Makkah, in the company of his freed slave Zaid bin Haritha inviting people to Islam.
But contrary to his expectations, the general atmosphere was terribly hostile. He approached the
family of ‘Umair, who were reckoned amongst the nobility of the town. But, to his disappointment,
all of them turned deaf ear to his message and used abusive language as regards the noble cause
he had been striving for. Three brothers from the chieftains of Thaqeef —‘Abd Yaleel, Mas‘ud and
Habeeb — sons of ‘Amr bin ‘Umair Ath-Thaqafy met the Prophet (Peace be upon him) , who invited
them to embrace Islam and worship Allâh, but they impudently jeered at him and refused his
invitation. “He is tearing the cloths of Al-Ka‘bah; is it true that Allâh has sent you as a Messenger?”
said one of them. “Has not Allâh found someone else to entrust him with His Message?” said the
second. “I swear by Allâh that I will never have any contact with you. If you are really the
Messenger o f Allâh, then you are too serious to retort back; and if you are belying Allâh, then I feel
it is imperative not to speak to.” said the third. The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) ,
finding that they were hopeless cases, stood up and left them saying: “Should you indulge in these
practices of yours, never divulge them to me.”
For ten days he stayed there delivering his message to several people, one after another, but all to
no purpose. Stirred up to hasten the departure of the unwelcome visitor, the people hooted him
through the alley-ways, pelted him with stones and obliged him to flee from the city pursued by a
relentless rabble. Blood flowed down both his legs; and Zaid, endeavouring to shield him, was
wounded in the head. The mob did not desist until they had chased him two or three miles across
the sandy plains to the foot of the surrounding hills. There, wearied and exhausted, he took refuge
in one of the numerous orchards, and rested against the wall of a vineyard. At a time when the
whole world seemed to have turned against him, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) turned to his
Lord and betook himself to prayer and the following touching words are still preserved as those
through which his oppressed soul gave vent to its distress. He was weary and wounded but
confident of the help of his Lord:
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“O Allâh! To You alone I make complaint of my helplessness, the paucity of my resources
and my insignificance before mankind. You are the most Merciful of the mercifuls. You are
the Lord of the helpless and the weak, O Lord of mine! Into whose hands would You
abandon me: into the hands of an unsympathetic distant relative who would sullenly frown
at me, or to the enemy who has been given control over my affairs? But if Your wrath does
not fall on me, there is nothing for me to worry about.”
“I seek protection in the light of Your Countenance, which illuminates the heavens and
dispels darkness, and which controls all affairs in this world as well as in the Hereafter. May
it never be that I should incur Your wrath, or that You should be wrathful to me. And there
is no power nor resource, but Yours alone.”
Seeing him in this helpless situation, Rabi‘a’s two sons, wealthy Makkans, were moved on grounds
of kinship and compassion, and sent to him one of their Christian servants with a tray of grapes.
The Prophet (Peace be upon him) accepted the fruit with pious invocation: “In the Name of the
Allâh.” The Christian servant ‘Addas was greatly impressed by these words and said: “These are
words which people in this land do not generally use.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) inquired of
him whence he came and what religion he professed. ‘Addas replied: “I am a Christian by faith and
come from Nineveh.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) then said: “You belong to the city of the
righteous Jonah, son of Matta.” ‘Addas asked him anxiously if he knew anything about Jonah. The
Prophet (Peace be upon him) significantly remarked: “He is my brother. He was a Prophet and so
am I.” Thereupon ‘Addas paid homage to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and kissed his hands. His
masters admonished him at this act but he replied: “None on the earth is better than he is. He has
revealed to me a truth which only a Prophet can do.” They again reprimanded him and said: “We
forewarn you against the consequences of abandoning the faith of your forefathers. The religion
which you profess is far better than the one you feel inclined to.”
Heart-broken and depressed, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) set out on the way back to Makkah.
When he reached Qarn Al-Manazil, Allâh, the Almighty sent him Gabriel together with the angel of
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