CHAPTER 16: THE STORY OF AL-IRASHI AND THE QURAISH’S ATTEMPT AT HARMING THE PROPHET
THE STORY OF AL-IRASHI AND THE QURAISH’S ATTEMPT AT HARMING THE PROPHET
Narrated Muhammad Ibn Ishaq that Abdul Malik Ibn Abi Sufyan Ath-Thaqafi narrated to us that a man from Irash arrived in Makkah with his camel. Abu Jahl Ibn Hisham bought the camel from him and refused to pay its price. The man went away until he came across an assembly of Quraish. Meanwhile, the Prophet, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, was sitting at a section of the Mosque. The man called out: “O, Quraish, is there any man who could aid me against Abul-Hakam Ibn Hisham for I am a stranger and a wayfarer and he has usurped my rights?”
The attendees of the assembly said to him: “Do you see that man?” hoping to make jest of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, since they knew the enmity existing between him and Abu Jahl. “Go to him, he will aid you against him.” They said. The man from Irash went toward the Messenger of Allah and narrated his ordeal to him. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, rose in his aid. When they saw the Prophet, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, stood, they sent one of them to follow him. They said: “Follow him so that we may see what he intends to do.” The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, then left for Abu Jahl’s residence. He knocked at his door. “Who is there?” Abu Jahl asked. “This is Muhammad, come out!” the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said.
Abu Jahl came out without any bloodshot face (of anger). The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “Give this man his right.” Astonishingly, Abu Jahl said, “Right away while you are still present I will give him what belongs to him.” So he went in and restored the man’s right. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, went back and said to the Irashi, “here is your right.” The Irashi went away and came upon the initial gathering of men and said: “May Allah reward him, I have received my right.”
Soon afterward, the man whom they had sent with him (and had witnessed the incident) arrived. “Woe betide you, what did you witness?” “One of the most astonishing things,” the man began. “He did nothing other than knock at his door and he came out and he said to him, ‘Give this man his right’ and he said, ‘Right away while you are still present, I will give him what belongs to him.’ He then went in and brought to him his right.”
Shortly thereafter, Abu Jahl himself came to the gathering and they asked him: “Woe be to you! Whatever happened to you?! We never saw anything like what you did (today).” Abu Jahl replied, “Woe betide you all! There was nothing other than that he knocked at my door and when I heard his voice I was filled with fright. Then I came out to see that above his head was a ferocious looking bull camel with fiery shoulders and canines the type of which I have never seen before. By Allah, if I had refused, it would have devoured me up.”
Al-Bukhari related: ‘Urwah Ibn Az-Zubair reported: “I asked Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Al-‘Aas, ‘Inform me of the worst thing which the pagans did to the Prophet.’ He said, ‘While the Prophet was praying in the Hijr of the Ka‘bah ‘Uqba Ibn Abi Mu’ait came and put his garment around the Prophet’s neck and throttled him violently. Abu Bakr came and
held him by his shoulder and pushed him away from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and said, “Would you kill a man because he says: My Lord is Allah, and he has come to you with clear signs (proofs) from your Lord?” (Surah Al-Ghafir 40:28)
Imam Ahmad also related from Anas who narrated that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “I was harmed for the sake of Allah in a manner never experienced by any man. And I was intimidated in an unprecedented manner. I witnessed thirty days and nights without any food except what can be contained in Bilal’s armpit (due to its meagerness).”
Muhammad Ibn Ishaq said that Abu Talib, the uncle of the Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was compassionate to him. He stood in his defense and staved off any harm from him. Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, proceeded upon the command of Allah elucidating His religion undaunted. When the Quraish saw that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, will not cease in the least from what they found loathsome in his division of their ranks and castigation of their gods; they also realized that his uncle, Abu Talib had become sympathetic to and protective of him and has tenaciously refused them all access to (harm) him, so a group of the noblemen of Quraish approached Abu Talib. (They were), ‘Utbah and Shaibah, the two sons of Rabee‘ah Ibn Abd Shams Ibn Abd Manaf Ibn Qusayy, Abu Sufyan Sakhra Ibn Harb Ibn Umayyah Ibn Abd Shams, Abul-Bakhtari whose actual name was Al-‘Aas Ibn Hisham Ibn Al-Harith Ibn Asad Ibn Abdul-Uzza Ibn Qusayy, Al-Aswad Ibn Al-Muttalib Ibn Asad Ibn Abdul- Uzza, Abu Jahl whose real name was Amr Ibn Hisham Ibn Al-Mugheerah Ibn ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar Ibn Makhzoom, Al-Waleed Ibn Al-Mugheerah Ibn ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar Ibn Makhzoom Ibn Yaqzah Ibn Murrah Ibn Ka‘b Ibn Luwayy, Nubaih and Munabbih, the two sons of Al-Hajjaj Ibn Amir Ibn Hudhaifah Ibn Su’aid Ibn Sahm Ibn Amr Ibn Husais Ibn Ka‘b Ibn Luwayy, ‘Al-Aas Ibn Wa’il Ibn Su’aid Ibn Sahm.
Ibn Ishaq narrated further: “All or many of them went to Abu Talib and said: ‘O Aba Talib, your nephew has blasphemed our gods and criticized our religion. He has belittled our ideals and accused our ancestors of having gone astray. Either you restrain him from us or let us deal with him. You are one of us, for you disagree with his views.’ Abu Talib spoke nicely to them and rejected their proposal in a gentle manner. So they went away.
Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, continued with his da‘wah elucidating the religion of Allah and inviting people to it. Soon, relations between him and the Quraish reached low ebb such that he became the theme of their talks and plots. Once again they went to Abu Talib and said: “O Abu Talib, we respect you because of your age and nobility among us. We had requested you to restrain your nephew but you declined. By Allah, we shall not be tolerant of this abuse of our ancestors, desecration of our customs and blasphemy of our gods. So either you restrain him from us or we shall fight you both over the matter until one side perishes in that course.” Thereafter, they left. Abu Talib became extremely worried by the thoughts of separation and enmity from his people yet he did not also feel comfortable at handing over Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, to them.
Ibn Ishaq continued: Ya‘qoob Ibn Al-Mugheerah Ibn Al-Akhnas narrated to me that he was informed that when the Quraish said these words to Abu Talib, he sent a message to Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, saying: “O my nephew! Your people have approached me saying such-and-such (narrating what they said to him). Look after yourself and me and do not burden me with what I am unable to bear.” Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, thought that his uncle had changed his mind, withdrawn his protection from him and was helpless to defend him. So he said: “O uncle, by Allah, if they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left so that I might give up this matter until Allah causes it to prevail or I die in the process, I shall not give it up.”
Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, wept and soon got up. However, when he turned to leave his uncle called him and said: “Go my nephew and say whatever you wish, I shall never hand you over for anything.”
By Ibn Katheer
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