The polytheists demand a sign

The Makkan pagans had been shown many signs that confirmed the truthfulness of Muhammad’s claim to be a prophet, but they ignored them all. Although they were not prepared to accept any further signs, they demanded that Muhammad show them clear proof from Allah that he was indeed a messenger. Their intention of course was simply to humiliate him before the people.

One day, the pagans were assembled at the Ka’bah and sent for the Prophet . The Prophet hurried to meet them, thinking that they wished to discuss the possibility of entering Islam. He sat down with them to hear the same demands they had made before: “Muhammad, you tell us that the prophet’s had signs: Musa [Moses] had a miraculous staff, Saleh had a camel, and Isa [Jesus] resurrected the dead. The prophets of yore came with clear signs. We want you to also show us something to confirm that you are like them.” Prophets, the Quraysh thought, should have power to perform miracles at will. They did not understand that Allah performed these miracles through His prophets.

Deaf, dumb and blind, as Allah charaterises them in the Qur’an, the disbelievers refused to see the numerous signs of Allah manifest in His creation and in the Qur’an. Instead, they wanted to see flamboyant acts of sorcery. Accordingly, they asked the Prophet to do any of the following: turn Mount Safa into a mountain of gold, carry the mountains somewhere else and change the surrounding area into a wide valley, cause a spring to gush forth, or bring back to life their ancestors so that they could testify that Muhammad was truly a prophet.

Allah mentions in the Qur’an: “We shall not believe in you until you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth; or you have a garden of date trees and grapevines, and you cause the rivers to gush forth in their midst; or you cause the sky to fall in pieces as you have claimed will happen; or you bring Allah and the angels before us face to face; or you ascend into the heavens. No, we shall not even believe in your ascension until you bring us a book that we can read!” (17: 90-93).

The pagans claimed that if the Prophet performed any of these miracles, they would embrace Islam. This promise is also mentioned in the Qur’an: “They swear their strongest oaths by Allah that if they were given a sign, they would believe.” (6: 109).

Prophet prayed to Allah asking Him to show the pagans one of the signs they asked for. Jibreel then came to the Prophet with Allah’s answer: the Prophet could chose between two options. The first choice was that the pagans would be given one of the signs on one condition: if they remained unbelievers after seeing the sign, they would be punished more severely than anyone else in the world. The second choice was that they would not be shown the signs they requested, but the door of repentence and mercy would remain open for them. The Prophet wisely told Jibreel: “The door of repentance and mercy should remain open.”