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He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would listen to what they had to say
Muhammad ibn Ka`b Al-Qurathi (a Companion) said:“I was told that `Utbah ibn Rabee`ah, a chief among his people, was sitting one day in the area that the Quraysh gathered in, while the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was sitting alone in the Mosque. He said: ‘O Quraysh, should I not go to Muhammad and speak to him, and present some things to him, perhaps he would accept them and we would give him those things, and perhaps because of that, he would leave us alone?’
This was after Hamzah (the Prophet’s uncle) accepted Islam, and they saw the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, increasing in number. So they said: ‘Yes, O Abu Al-Waleed, go and talk to him.’ `Utbah stood and sat beside the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and said: ‘O nephew, you have honor and a noble lineage among us, and you have brought something great to your people, through which you have split their ranks, made them look foolish, censured their idols and religion, and excluded their forefathers. Therefore, listen to me present some things to you that you can think about, perhaps you will accept some of them.’
The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Speak, O Abu Al-Waleed, and I will listen.’ He said: ‘O nephew, if you brought this matter because you want money, then we will gather money for you, so that you will be the richest. If you want honor through this, we will make you our chief, and obey none besides you. If you want kingship, we will make you our king. If this is some sort of vision or hallucination (or Jinn) that you see and cannot get rid of, then we will gather all sorts of doctors for you, and will spend our wealth to find a cure for you, for perhapsmaybe a Jinni will overcome a person until he needs to be cured from it.’
When `Utbah finished, and the Messenger of Allah was listening, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Are you finished, O Abu Al-Waleed?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Then listen to me.’ He said: ‘I am listening.’
Then the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘In the name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Ever Merciful,” and recited the verses (which mean): «Ha, Meem. [This is] a revelation from the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. A Book whose verses have been detailed, an Arabic Quran for a people who know, as a giver of good tidings and a warner; but most of them turn away, so they do not hear. And they say, “Our hearts are within coverings [i.e. screened] from that to which you invite us, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a partition, so work; indeed, we are working.” Say, [O Muhammad], “I am only a man like you to whom it has been revealed that your God is but one God; so take a straight course to Him and seek His forgiveness.” And woe to those who associate others with Allah.»
[Quran: 41:1-6]
Then Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, contin ued to read the rest of the verses to him. When `Utbah heard those
verses, he succumbed to silence in their wake, and placed his hands behind his back and reclined on them, just listening to what the
Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was saying.
When the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, reached the prostration in the Chapter, he prostrated, and `Utbah went back to his companions and they said to each other, ‘By Allah, Abu Al-Waleed has come back to us with a different face than the one he went with.’ When he sat by them, they said: ‘What is behind you, O Abu Al-Waleed?’ He said: ‘Behind me, I heard speech that by Allah I have never heard anything like it; by Allah, it is not poetry, magic, or soothsaying. O Quraysh, listen to me, obey me, and trust me when I tell you to leave this man alone with what he is doing; completely abandon him. By Allah, that speech I heard from him will have a great tale one day. If he is taken care of by other Arabs, then they have done your dirty work for you, and if he becomes the ruler over all the Arabs, then his kingdom is also yours, and his honor would also be yours, and in that case, you would be the happiest of people with him.’
They said:
‘By Allah, he has cast a spell on you with his tongue, O Abu Al-Waleed.’ He replied: ‘This is my opinion of him, so do whatever you want.’”
Anas ibn Maalik said: “When we were sitting with the Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, in the Mosque, a man entered riding a camel, then made it kneel down, then tied it and said: ‘Which of you is Muhammad?’ When he said that, the Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was reclining with everyone.
We said: ‘This white man who is reclining is Muhammad.’ The man said: ‘O son of `Abd Al-Muttalib,’ The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, replied: ‘Yes, I am answering you.’ The man said to the Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, ‘I will ask you some questions and will be harsh when asking, so do not be angry at me for asking.’
The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Ask whatever you want.’
The man said
‘I ask you by your Lord and by the Lord of those who have come before you, has Allah sent you to all people?’ The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘By Allah, yes.’ The man said: ‘I ask you by Allah, did Allah order you to pray five prayers in the day and night?’ The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, responded: ‘By Allah, yes.’ The man said: ‘By Allah, did Allah order you to fast this month of the year?’ The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘By Allah, yes.’ The man said: ‘By Allah, did Allah order you to take money from the rich and spread it to the poor?’ The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, responded: ‘By Allah, yes.’ The man said: ‘I believe in the religion you have brought, and I am a messenger to my people behind me, and my name is Dhimaam ibn Tha`labah, the relative of the children of Sa`b ibn Bakr.’”
