The chiefs of the Quraysh, the tribe of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who opposed his message included some who were men of thought and intelligence. It is wrong to assume that they were all narrow-minded people who only considered their immediate interests. Like we see today, some people with sharp intelligence refuse to believe in God. What we need to realize is that faith requires a positive step which a person takes after looking at the evidence and considering all relevant issues. Such a positive action is the practical manifestation of what a person feels deep in his or her heart, motivating them to identify themselves as believers. Once they respond to this feeling, they establish a bond with God that becomes stronger as they begin to look at the world around them in the light of faith. It is always possible for a person to recognize the truth of the Qur’an and the message delivered by Muhammad, God’s final Messenger, without making such a conscious effort or taking this practical step. This is normally the result of an attitude that gives oneself a paramount position, looking only at one’s personal interests or preferences. This is what is termed in the Qur’an as personal desire which people follow as it leads them away from God’s guidance.
It is to counter such personal desire that we should address people, putting before them the truth of the Islamic message and inviting them to believe in God. The Prophet gave us the lead and the example to follow. He never tired of inviting people to believe in God, no matter how hardened they were in their opposition to his message. One of these was Al-Waleed ibn Al-Mugheerah, an elder chief of the Quraysh who enjoyed a position of high respectability. He was a wealthy person, and he had ten sons who always attended him.
Al-Waleed once met the Prophet who took the opportunity to explain his message to him and invite him to accept Islam. As always on such occasion, the Prophet read to his interlocutor some verses of the Qur’an. One report mentions that on this occasion he read the passage that included the following verse: “God enjoins justice, kindness (to all), and generosity to one’s kindred; and He forbids all that is shameful, reprehensible conduct and all transgression. He admonishes you so that you may take heed.” (16: 90) A man of intellect, Al-Waleed seemed touched by what he heard and softened his attitude.
The man who carefully watched the situation in Makkah trying always to prevent people from listening to the Prophet or responding to him was Abu Jahl. He heard of Al-Waleed’s encounter with the Prophet and how he softened to the Qur’anic discourse. Knowing Al-Waleed’s mentality, he sought to ensure that he would not accept Islam. Therefore, he went to see him. As they talked, Abu Jahl said to him: “Uncle, your people are thinking of raising some money for you.” Surprised, Al-Waleed asked the reason for such an idea. Abu Jahl said: “They want to give it to you, because you met Muhammad to find out what he could offer you.” Al-Waleed said: “The whole of the Quraysh know that I am one of the richest people here.” Abu Jahl suggested: “Then say something about him so that your people would know that your stand is against him.”
Al-Waleed retorted: “What will I say? There is none among you who has better knowledge of poetry than I. I know every type of it, including the poetry attributed to the jinn. Yet what Muhammad says is nothing like poetry. It is certainly beautiful and smoothly flowing. It is like a date tree with solid roots and rich fruit. It overpowers everything, while nothing can stand up to it. It demolishes anything that stands in opposition to it.”
Abu Jahl insisted that the rest of the Quraysh would not be happy with Al-Waleed unless he said something abusive about the Prophet and the Qur’an. The latter told him to give him time to think. When he had deliberated what to say, he came up with a mouthful. He said: “This is certainly sorcery learnt from others.”
The Qur’an strongly rebukes Al-Waleed for his deliberately false denunciation of the divine message. God says in the Qur’an: “Leave Me alone to deal with him whom I have created alone, and to whom I have granted vast resources, and children attending him, and to whose life I gave so wide a scope, and yet, he greedily desires that I give him yet more! Indeed, it is against Our revelations that he knowingly, stubbornly sets himself. I shall constrain him to endure a painful uphill climb! Behold, he reflects and meditates; and thus he destroys himself, the way he meditates. Yes, indeed he destroys himself, the way he meditates! Then he looks around, frowning and glaring, and then he turns his back, glories in his arrogance, and says: ‘All this is mere spell-binding eloquence learnt (from others). This is nothing but the word of mortal man.’” (74: 11-25)
We note here how Abu Jahl sought to arouse Al-Waleed’s anger when he told him that his people were raising money for him, when he was one of the richest people in the city. Thus he brings pressure to bear on him, using the element of pride and honor. Then knowing that Al-Waleed belonged to what we call today the intellectual type, he wanted him to think hard and come up with some denunciation of the Qur’an. The result was that he described the Qur’an as sorcery, or spell binding eloquence. This is the only way he could explain the hold the Qur’an had on the Arabs, including those of them who remained unbelievers.
We may find it exceedingly strange that Al-Waleed should say this about the Qur’an after he had acknowledged that it was totally unlike anything people say. He described the Qur’an well, recognizing it superior excellence. Such a person should have been the first to accept its message, but he rejected it because he submitted to his own desire, rather than to his logic.
Yet Al-Waleed was not alone among the Quraysh who opposed Islam, knowing the truth of the Qur’anic message. Mu’awiyah reports an incident that took place when he was young, and it involved the Prophet’s address to his parents. He says: “Abu Sufyan went out aiming to the desert, with Hind riding behind him on his camel. I was with them riding a donkey. We then heard God’s Messenger. My father told me: ‘Mu’awiyah! Dismount so that Muhammad could ride. I did so, and he rode alongside us for a while. He then said to my parents: ‘You, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, and Hind bint Utbah! By God, you will die and then you will be resurrected. The ones who do well in this life will be admitted into heaven, while those who do evil will go to hell. I am telling you the truth, and you have been the first to be warned.’ He then recited a passage of 11 verses from the beginning of Surah 41. When he stopped, Abu Sufyan said to him: ‘Have you finished what you wanted to tell us.’ The Prophet said that he did. He then dismounted and I rode the donkey. Then Hind (my mother) said to Abu Sufyan: ‘You ordered my son to dismount so that this sorcerer rides in his place!’ My father said: ‘By God, he is neither a sorcerer, nor a liar.’”
Abu Sufyan was the man who for many years led the Quraysh’s determined campaign against Islam. Here we see him in the early days of Islam, listening to the Prophet and recognizing that he told the truth, but this did not stop him from fighting him hard, hoping to suppress his message, until eventually he succumbed to the truth of Islam and accepted it.