Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

134 The Life of Muhammad
spirit which had got possession of him (they used to call the familiar spirit
of the jinn ra'iy), then they would exhaust their means in finding medicine
to cure him. The apostle replied that he had no such intention. He sought
not money, nor honour, nor sovereignty, but God had sent him as an
apostle, and revealed a book to him, and commanded him to become an
announcer and a warner. He had brought them the messages of his Lord,
and given them good advice. Ifthey took it then they would have a portion
in this world and the next; ifthey rejected it, he could only patiently await
the issue until God decided between them, or words to that effect. 'Well,
Muhammad,' they said, 'if you won't accept any of our propositions, you
know that no people are more short of land and water, and live a harder life
than we, so ask your Lord, who has sent you, to remove for us these
mountains which shut us in, and to straighten out our country for us, and
to open up in it rivers like those of Syria and Iraq, and to resurrect for us
our forefathers, and let there be among those that are resurrected for us
QUl}ayy b. Kilab, for he was a true shaikh, so that we may ask them whether
what you say is true or false. If they say you are speaking the truth, and
you do what we have asked you, we will believe in you, and we shall know
what your position with God is, and that He has actually sent you as an
apostle as you say.' He replied that he had not been sent to them with such
an object. He had conveyed to them God's message, and they could either
189 accept it with advantage, or reject it and await God's judgement. They
said that if he would not do that for them, let him do something for himself.
Ask God to send an angel with him to confirm what he said and to contradict
them; to make him gardens and castles, and treasures of gold and
silver to satisfy his obvious wants. He stood in the streets as they did, and
he sought a livelihood as they did. Ifhe could do this, they would recognize
his merit and position with God, if he were an apostle as he claimed to be.
He replied that he would not do it, and would not ask for such things, for
he was not sent to do so, and he repeated what he had said before. They
said, 'Then let the heavens be dropped on us in pieces,' as you assert that
your Lord could do if He wished, for we will not believe you unless you
do so.' The apostle replied that this was a matter for God; if He wanted to
do it with them, He would do it. They said, 'Did not your Lord know that
we would sit with you, and ask you these questions, so that He might come
to you and instruct you how to answer us, and tell you what He wall going
to do with us, if we did not receive your message? Information has reached
us that you are taught by this fellow in al-Yamama, called al-Ral,1miin, and
by God we will never believe in the Ral,lmiin. Our conscience is clear. By
God, we will not leave you and our treatment of you, until either we
destroy you or you destroy us.' Some said, 'We worship the angels, who
are the daughters of Allah.' Others said, 'We will not believe in you until
you come to us with God and the angels as a surety."
When they said this the apostle got up and left them. 'Abdullah b. AbU
I cr. Sura 17. 94.
The Life of Muhammad 135
Umayya b. al-Mughira b. 'Abdullah b. 'Umar b. Makhzum (who was the
son of his aunt 'Atika d. of 'Abdu'I-Munalib) got up with him and said to
him, cO Muharrunad, your people have made you certain propositions
which you have rejected; first they asked you things for themselves tha~
they might know that your position with God is what you say it is so that
they might believe in you and follow you, and you did nothing; then they
asked you to take something for yourself, by which they might know your
superiority over them and your standing with God, and you would not do '90
it; then they asked you to hasten some of the punishment with which you
were frightening them, and you did not do it', or words to that effect, 'and
by God, I will never believe in you until you get a ladder to the sky, and
mount up it until you come to it, while I am looking on, and until four
angels shall come with you, testifying that you are speaking the truth, and
by God, even if you did that I do not think I should believe you.' Then he
went away, and the apostle went to his family, sad and grieving, because
his hope that they had called him to accept his preaching was vain, and
because of their estrangement from him. When the apostle had gone Abu
Jahl spoke, making the usual charges against him, and saying, 'I call God
to witness that I will wait for him tomorrow with a stone which I can
hardly lift,' or words to that effect, 'and when he prostrates himself in
prayer I will split his skull with it. Betray me or defend me, let the B.
'Abdu Maniif do what they like after that.' They said that they would
never betray him on any account, and he could carry on with his project.
When morning came Abu Jahl took a stone and sat in wait for the apostle,
who behaY-ed as usual that morning. While he was in Mecca he faced
Syria in prayer, and when he prayed, he .prayed between the southern
corner and the black stone, putting the Ka'ba between himself and Syria.
The apostle rose to pray while Quraysh sat in their meeting, waiting for
what Abu Jahl was to do. When the apostle prostrated himself, Abu Jahl
took up the, stone and went towards him, until when he got near him, he
turned back in flight, pale with terror, and his hand had withered upon the
stone, so that he cast the stone from ·his hand. The Quraysh asked him
what had happened, and he replied that when he got near him a camel's
stallion got in his way. 'By God', he said, 'I have never seen anything like 191
his head, shoulders, and teeth on any stallion before, and he made as
though he would eat m~.'
I was told that the apostle said, 'That was Gabriel. Ifhe had come near,
he would have seized him.' .
When Abu Jahl said that to them, aI-Na