The Quraysh Leaders Speak with the Messenger

Ibn Ishaq related from Ibn ‘Abbas that a group of Quraysh leaders gathered near the Ka‘bah after sunset, including ‘Utbah and Shaybah ibn Rabi‘ah, Abu Sufyan, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Abu al-Bakhtari, al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib, Zam‘ah, al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, Abu Jahl, ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah, al-‘As ibn Wa’il, and others. They invited Muhammad, hoping to negotiate. They accused him of insulting their forefathers, criticizing their religion and gods, and dividing their community. They offered to make him the wealthiest among them, their leader, or their king. If an apparition troubled him, they would pay for treatment.

The report’s transmitters and several names differ among manuscripts. The word used for an apparition refers to a being thought to follow a person from among the jinn. The notes explain that the leaders said they wanted to establish their case before taking action.

The Messenger replied that he had not come seeking their wealth, status, or kingship. Allah had sent him as a Messenger and revealed a Book to him; he had conveyed his Lord’s message and counselled them. If they accepted it, it would benefit them in this life and the next; if they rejected him, he would patiently await Allah’s judgment. Quraysh then asked him to pray that the mountains be moved away, their land widened, rivers like those of Syria and Iraq be made to flow, and their forefathers, including Qusayy ibn Kilab, be raised so they could ask them whether Muhammad spoke truth.

The leaders next asked the Messenger to obtain a companion angel who would confirm his words, gardens and palaces of gold and silver, and freedom from the need to work in the markets. The Messenger said he would not ask his Lord for these things and had not been sent with them; he was sent as a bearer of good news and a warner. They demanded that the sky fall upon them in pieces. He replied that this was for Allah to decide. They accused a man in al-Yamamah, whom they called al-Rahman, of teaching him, and threatened not to leave him alone until they overcame or destroyed him. Some said they worshipped angels as Allah’s daughters and would not believe until they saw Allah and the angels.