Life-of-Muhammad

18Life of Muhammad sanew Message was gone. He began to feel that so far hehad been too casual about it. He made straight for theKa‘ba, where the chiefs of Mecca were wont to meet andconfer. He took his bow and struck Abu Jahl hard."Count me from today a follower of Muhammad sa ," hesaid. "You abused him this morning because he wouldsay nothing. If you are brave, come out and fight me."Abu Jahl was dumbfounded. His friends rose to helpbut, afraid of Hamza ra and his tribe, Abu Jahl stoppedthem, thinking an open fight would cost too dearly. Hewas really to blame, he said, about the morning incident(Hisham and Tabari).THE MESSAGE OF ISLAMOpposition continued to mount. At the same time theProphet sa and his followers were doing all they could tomake plain to the Meccans the Message of Islam. It wasa many-sided Message and of great ultimatesignificance, not only for Arabs but for the whole world.It was a Message from God. It said:The Creator of the world is One. None else is worthyof worship. The Prophets have ever believed Him to beOne, and taught their followers so. Meccans should giveup all images and idols. Did they not see that the idolscould not even remove the flies which dropped on theofferings laid at their feet? If they were attacked theycould not repel. If they had a question put to them, theycould not answer. If they were asked for help, they coulddo nothing. But the One God helped those who askedfor His help, answered those who addressed Him inprayer, subjugated His enemies, and raised those whoabased themselves before Him. When light came fromHim, it illumined His devotees. Why then did theMeccans neglect Him and turn to lifeless images andidols and waste their lives? Did they not see that theirwant of faith in the One True God had made themutterly superstitious and incompetent? They had no idea