Argument and quibbling (4)

It might seem a little strange to us that the Quraysh would turn so viciously on one of their own. What was so unacceptable about what Muhammad preached? At the root of all the conflicts between Muhammad and the polytheists was the concept of monotheism (Tawheed), which the polytheists had corrupted into its antithesis, idolatry. At the same time they accepted the fact that Allah is One in His person self, attributes and actions. The polytheists also agreed with the Prophet on the following points: Allah is the sole Creator of the universe, He is the Lord and Provider of all living beings, He alone gives and takes life, and it is He Who makes independent decisions which no one can challenge.

However, hand in hand with their belief in Allah’s supremacy was their belief that certain individuals held special powers granted by Allah. These individuals, the polytheists claimed, could perform many miraculous feats, such as healing the sick and causing barren women to conceive. Some were believed to act as intermediaries – when people prayed to them, these beings supposedly relayed the prayers to Allah!

The polytheists, then, strove to please such people who supposedly held high-ranking stations close to Allah. By pleasing their demigods, they reasoned, one could please Allah. The people conceived many ways to please these “friends of Allah.” For example, it was a common practice to build shrines over the graves of “saints” and “holy men.” People would visit these monuments with the belief that rubbing the walls of the shrine, or by walking around it several times, they would earn the favour of the person in whose honour it had been built. Some even made offerings of produce, goods, gold and animal sacrifice. Their offerings would be given to the shrine attendants, who would then place the objects before the graves or idols. Generally, nothing could be offered directly without the aid of the attendants.

However, animals were presented as offerings in a number of ways. Sometimes worshippers would leave the animals free in the name of the “holy man” in order to seek his pleasure. There, animals would graze ad roam around at will, revered by the people. Sometimes they carried the animal to the home of the “holy man” and had it slaughtered there. This however, was done in the name of the “holy man.”