Verse 13 of Surah Al-Baqarah says that when they are told to believe as others have believed, they ask whether they should believe as the foolish have believed; indeed it is they who are foolish, but they do not know. Taking this verse as its starting point, Prothom Alo's religion desk writes that the call to monotheism in the Prophet's (pbuh) life in Mecca and Medina met opposition from three distinct groups.
The first were the noble and powerful leaders of Mecca. Their hostility was open, but it kept some reason and manners. When Hamza (ra) struck Abu Jahl after Abu Jahl had abused the Prophet (pbuh), Abu Jahl held back his own clan, saying he had been in the wrong first (Ibn Hisham, al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah). The Quraysh leader Utbah ibn Rabi'ah, who came with an offer of compromise, heard the Quran and told his people it was neither poetry nor magic.
The second group arose in Medina after the Hijrah: the hypocrites led by Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul. Lacking the courage for open hostility, they professed Islam and spread division and rumour from within. Verse 4 of Surah Al-Munafiqun warns believers to beware of them.
The writer calls the third group by the Arabic word 'safah': people of shallow thought whose actions have no seriousness. Verse 5 of Surah An-Nisa tells believers not to hand their wealth to the foolish. This group's opposition had no argument behind it; its methods were abuse, personal attacks and physical harm.
The article gives examples: while the Prophet (pbuh) was prostrating in the precinct of the Kaaba, Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt placed a camel's entrails on his back (Sahih al-Bukhari, hadith 240), and Abu Lahab and his wife strewed thorns in his path.
In the writer's view, people who follow the truth today still meet these three kinds of opposition, and opponents who can be reasoned with call for wisdom, patience and sound argument.
Written by the religion desk, Prothom Alo
Photo: Khalili Collections / Wikimedia Commons (public domain); an 11th-century Quran in Kufic script
Source: Prothom Alo
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