In the name of Allah, Lord of all and to whom all praises are due. Allah Subḥanahu wa ta’āla sent Prophet Muhammad ibn Abdullah as a warner to the mankind. He was the guidance, inspiration and a man of great personality. He was born to the prestigious tribe of Quraysh. Prior to the advent of Islam Arabs regarded Muhammad as a man of truthfulness and honesty.
When Prophet ﷺ initiated his mission to call people to Islam by the command of Allah Subḥanahu wa ta’āla, most of the pagan Arabs rejected his call and message brought by him. To know the reason why the pagan Arabs refused his call and the reason for considering Islam as threatening, it is important to know the condition in which the Arabs lived prior to the advent of Islam.
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Pre Islamic condition of Arabs – Political, Social, Religious and Economical
Makkah was the religious centre for Arabs (Mubarakpuri, 2015, p. 94). Quraysh had considered the idol worship at Ka’ba as an economic gain to them and it was also a source of social prestige to the Quraysh. The religious beliefs of Arabs were absurd. They blindly followed the religion of their fore fathers. Though they believed in Allah, they associated partner with Him, as an intermediator. Every house, every tribe had an idol. They got comfort from their false gods. They worshiped idols mainly– to seek refuge, to perform pilgrimage, to seek help through various forms of sacrifices etc. They also used to offer food and drinks to the idols.
In terms of Political and Social conditions, the life of people in Makkah were easy going and they were enjoying the life with an abundance of richness. They lived a life of freedom. People lived mainly a nomadic life and were engaged in many tribal feuding. Promiscuity and indecency was prominent among Arabs. People used to bury their live female child due to the fear of poverty. They were in total ignorance and superstition beliefs.
The economic situation was very much similar to the social atmosphere (Mubarakpuri, 2015, p.60). People mainly depended on the trades and Quraysh were the most successful among them. The main economic characteristics of Arabia were hunger, poverty and inadequate clothing.
In addition to these, they consumed great quantity of alcohol, gambled frequently and shed blood for the most insignificant reasons. Stealing, usury and fornication was more common among pre Islamic Arabs (As Sallaabi & Shafeeq, p.56).
The message by Prophet and Resistance from Pagans of Makkah
Prophet ﷺ wanted to change the traditions in which he lived and abandon the pagan rituals, invalidate their falsehood, to eliminate idol practices. When prophet ﷺ started his mission, initially people paid no attention to him. But when his fame started to spread and more people started accept Islam, pagans’ fear started to grow. (Ghazali, 1999, p. 113) From the very start of his da’wah prophet waged war against polytheism and false gods (Ghazali, 1999, p. 42). He called people to worship Allah alone and recited the verse from the Qur’an, “O my people! Serve Allah, you have no other god than Him” (Surah Al A’raf ,7:59)
He then disproved their superstitious beliefs and the idolatry practices. This resulted in the more number of people accepting Islam. This caused the pagan Arabs to develop enmity with the Islam and with newly converted Muslims. Since polytheism was deeply rooted in the minds of the pagan Makkans, they were blind to the truth and rejected the message from prophet. They could not tolerate when prophet criticized their gods and idols.
In addition to this, there were other reasons which made them to reject the message of Islam and to feel Islam as threatening
- Prophet called people to believe in last day and after life. But the pagan Makkans mocked him. They had a strong false belief that they would not be resurrected after death. Hence they did not want to give up the ill practices they followed.
- Conversion of Hamzah bin Abdul Muttalib and Umar bin Al-Khattab was a significant strength to Muslims. They were of a great benefit to the Muslim army. Acceptance of these major leaders of Quraysh tribe made unbelievers to get angrier and frustrated (Ghazali, 1999, p.138).
- People of Makkah were very much proud of their nobility and they were not ready to mingle with the people of other races. Pride and arrogance was common among the people of higher ranking. Some tribe considered themselves as superior over the others. They felt that someone from their tribe must have become a prophet than Muhammad ﷺ. Islam brought an end to these ancestry ranking in the society. Allah Subḥanahu wa ta’āla says in the Qur’an, They say: “Why was this Qur'an not sent down upon some great man from the two (main) cities?” (Surah Az-Zukhruf, 43:31)
- Women were treated like a marketable product. They were oppressed and female child was buried alive. Islam explicitly forbade many ill treatments which were prevalent in the society and gave justice to the women. Their husbands were instructed to treat them well and to give women their rights. This annoyed many of the disbelievers to the great extent (As Sallaabi & Shafeeq, pp. 44 -51).
- Intertribal war was common among Arabs. Some tribe made war as a means to their living, by attacking other tribes, stealing their wealth and making their free men as slaves etc. They also captured women and kept them as prostitutes. Islam brought an end to such dreadful and fierce practices.
- When pagan Arabs saw Prophet’s companion migrated to Abyssinia, they sent two delegates to expel the migrants from Abyssinia. They feared of Islam being spread outside the Makkah (Harun & Farid, 2000, p.57).
To sum up, we can say that pagans in Makkah were weak in their thoughts and strong in their desires. Their desires made them to reject the truth. Their pride, arrogance, greed and envy blindfolded them from accepting the truth. They were not ready to give up the religion and traditions of their fore fathers and also their idols whom they visit day and night to worship.
They were totally absorbed in what they had inherited from their ancestors. They were blind to the truth and denied the message brought by the Prophet. They considered Islam as threat to their leadership and to their religion.
References
- As Sallaabi, A. M. (n.d.). The Noble Life of the Prophet . (F. Shafeeq, Trans.) (Vol. 1). Retrieved from https://www.kalamullah.com/noble-life-of-the-prophet.html
- Ghazali, M. A. (1999). Fiqh Us Seerah - Understanding the Life of Prophet Muhammad (second). Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: International Islamic Publishing House.
- Harun, A. S. M. (2000). Sirat Ibn Hisham – Biography of the Prophet. (I. A. Farid, Trans.) (Abridged). Cairo, Egypt: Al Falah Foundation for Translation, Publication and Distribution. doi Retrieved from www.kalamullah.com
- Mubarakpuri, S. R. A. (2015). The Sealed Nectar (Revised). Riyadh, KSA: Darussalam.
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