The Quraysh make Abu Talib a strange proposal

The Quraysh saw that their threats and challenges had been ignored. Muhammad was still preaching a doctrine that defamed their gods and the customs of their ancestors. They also found out that Abu Talib was not about to abandon his nephew in the face of threats. Instead, he seemed to be prepared to fight the entire tribe in order to protect him.

The Quraysh considered the immense potential danger of the situation. Muhammad was popular among the people of Makkah, although he represented a threat to their way of life. They held more meetings to try to come up with ways to deal with him. At last, they decided to make Abu Talib a proposal.

The idea revolved around Ammarah bin Waleed, a handsome young boy from the Quraysh tribe. They took him to Abu Talib and said, “O, Abu Talib! Take this youth from us and treat him as your own son. Give him your complete support. In exchange for him, give us your nephew – a young man who has challenged the ways of your forefathers and caused disputes among the Makkans, denouncing them as ignorant men who have deviated from the straight path. We shall then put him to death. After all, we are giving you one man in exchange for another.”

Abu Talib could only respond to such a rediculous idea with sarcasm. “By God, you are offering me a bad bargain. You are giving me your son so that I can feed him lavishly, and asking for my son so that you may kill him! By God, it will never happen.”