THE PROTECTION

THE PROTECTION 

Polytheists avoid openly abusing the Prophet Because the Prophet had enjoyed great prestige and belonged to a highly respected tribe, his opponents did not dare mistreat him the way they did the slave converts to Islam. In addition to being from a noble tribe, he also enjoyed the protection of his uncle, Abu Talib, who was venerated as a great chieftian. Abu Talib was a towering personality from Banu Abdu Munaf, a family that had gained the respect of not only the Quraysh, but also the whole of Arabia. The people of Makkah held him in high esteem and no one would even think of dishonouring him by harming his nephew.

 For these reasons, the pagans had to be quite careful in how they opposed the Prophet . They decided to hold talks with Abu Talib – talks in which they would hint at what might befall Muhammad if he continued opposing their religion.

Talks between Abu Talib and the Quraysh 

After considerable thought as to strategy, some nobles of the Quraysh came to Abu Talib and said to him, “Your nephew speaks ill of our gods, casts blame on our religion, calls us ignorant and frivolous, and denounces our fathers as depraved and misguided. Either you stop him, or cut him off so that we can deal with him.”

Abu Talib answered them mildly and let them leave without an altercation. Muhammad , however, continued to proclaim himself Allah’s Prophet, and continued to call on all to embrace Islam.

The Quraysh challenge Abu Talib 

Soon the Quraysh relised that Abu Talib was not going to ask his nephew to stop his rebellious preaching. They could no longer keep silent, and eventually they all came together to plan their response to the situation. Aterwards, they again met with Abu Talib, and this time their
words were not so honeyed. They warned him sternly,
“O Abu Talib, you are old and we hold you in high esteem. We asked you to restrain your nephew, but you did nothing. By God, we cannot tolerate this any longer – our fathers are denounced, we are called ignorant, and our gods are insulted. Either you stop him, or we will fight you both until one side perishes.”

Abu Talib felt the sting of these belligerent words. The polytheists of Makkah had challenged him, and he took the threats seriously. He sent for the Prophet and told him of what the men of the Quraysh had said. “Have mercy on me and yourself,” he told his nephew, “and do not impose on me a burden greater than I can bear.” When the Prophet heard what Abu Talib had to say, he replied, “O my uncle, I swear by Allah, if they were to place the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left and ask me to abandon this mission, I would not turn from it until Allah made me victorious or I perish therein.” Witnessing Muhammad’s resolve, Abu Talib unhesitatingly offered his nephew his full support. “Come back, my nephew! Go where you please and say what you will. By God, I will never turn away from you, come what may.”

The Quraysh make Abu Talib a strange proposal

The Quraysh saw that their threats and challenges had been ignored. Muhammad was still preaching a doctrine that defamed their gods and the customs of their ancestors. They also found out that Abu Talib was not about to abandon his nephew in the face of threats. Instead, he seemed to be prepared to fight the entire tribe in order to protect him.
The Quraysh considered the immense potential danger of the situation. Muhammad was popular among the people of Makkah, although he represented a threat to their way of life. They held more meetings to try to come up with ways to deal with him. At last, they decided to make Abu Talib a proposal.

The idea revolved around Ammarah bin Waleed,⁦ a handsome young boy from the Quraysh tribe. They took him to Abu Talib and said, “O, Abu Talib! Take this youth from us and treat him as your own son. Give him your complete support. In exchange for him, give us your nephew – a young man who has challenged the ways of your forefathers and caused disputes among the Makkans, denouncing them as ignorant men who have deviated from the straight path. We shall then put him to death. After all, we are giving you one man in exchange for another.” Abu Talib could only respond to such a rediculous idea with
sarcasm. “By God, you are offering me a bad bargain. You are giving me your son so that I can feed him lavishly, and asking for my son so that you may kill him! By God, it will never happen.”⁦⁩

WILL THIS PROTECTION CONTINUE FOREVER OR IT WILL BE ENDED SOON

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