The Stage of
Passive Resistance in the
Revolutionary
Struggle of the Prophet(SAW)
I
had explained earlier that the Passive Resistance starts with the verbal
opposition and character assassination of the preacher so that his will-power
is crushed. For full three years the Prophet (SAW) alone was the target of this
humiliation and this was verbal. 'He has become mad. We had been advising him
not to go to cave Hira and not to stay there alone at night. Now some jinn has
possessed him.' Sometimes it was said: 'he had started composing poetry. He has
become a sorcerer or has been under the impact of magic'. All this was for his
character assassination and to crush his will-power. Please do not think that he
was not aggrieved by this. It is clearly and categorically mentioned in the
Holy Qur'an:
We
do indeed know how thy heart is distressed at what they say.
(Al-Hijr 15:97)
We
know that you feel aggrieved and you feel uneasy in your heart of hearts. "These
were the people who used to call me "The True', "The Honest' and
today they are calling me 'The Liar', "The Sorcerer', accusing me of lies
and cheating. After getting knowledge from someone he is claiming to be a
recipient of Divine revelations and contacts with Allah the Almighty." In spite
of all this slander and opposition the Prophet was ordered to have patience:
And
have patience with what they say, and leave them with noble dignity.
(Al-Muzzammil 73:10)
Turn
away from them but with love. May be the one who is not listening to you today,
will be attracted towards you tomorrow.
After
three years unsuccessful struggle to crush the new ideology the Makkan pagans
concluded that he (SAW) is acting just like a rock and two very hazardous
things have occurred. One our young generation has gathered around him. Young
men like Banu Umayah's Othman bin A'ffan, Musa'b bin Umair and Saa'd bin
Abi-Waqas have converted to Islam. Secondly even more dangerous than this is
that our slaves are also accepting Islam. This is an example of an incendiary
falling in the store full of gunpowder. If our slaves stood against us and
started fighting, only God knows what will happen.
So now they resorted to
physical persecution like beating, physical assaulting, lockups, chaining,
keeping hungry, dragging the slaves with ropes tied around the necks. Yasir and
his wife Sumayya (RAA) were severely tortured and murdered. Their young son
A'mmar (RAA) was tied to a pillar. His mother Sumayya (RAA) was made nude in
front of him and beaten severely. Abu Jihil, tired of beating Sumayya ordered
her to utter a word of praise about his god and he will let her go. She spat on
his face. He pierced her private parts with a spear and she died. Yasir's arms
and legs were tied to four camels which were driven to four different
directions thus cutting his body into pieces. Even in such conditions the
Prophet's order was 'Do not retaliate'.
I have already explained the philosophy
of this. The Muslims were few at that time and if they had put up retaliation
they would have been crushed straight away. Whereas they needed time to become
a sizeable power. Secondly they were getting sympathies and thereby favour of
the people. Bilal's master (Umayya bin Khalf) used to tie a rope around the
neck of Bilal (RAA) and hand over him to young boys who used to drag him in the
streets upon the conical stones and in humiliation hit him with stones. The
same was done in Abu Gharib Jail in Iraq recently by US soldiers. They drag the
nude prisoners and burn their bodies with cigarette buts and kick them with
ankle-boots. People used to see and think why Bilal is tortured like that? They
knew that he has not committed any theft or abused his master but only because
he believes in: "There is no God
but Allah and Muhammad (SAW) is His Messenger". The result was that
the Muslims were gradually getting favour and sympathies of the masses.
Kindly
note that nobody had physically assaulted or showed aggression to the Prophet (SAW)
until year 10 Nabawi. The reason behind this was that the Prophet (SAW) had the
backing and support of his influential tribe: the Banu Hashim. Even though all
the Hashmites had not accepted Islam, in fact there were virulent and vehement
enemies of Islam like Abu Lahab amongst them, but the tribal leader of the Banu
Hashim was Abu Talib who was providing security to the Prophet (SAW). Under the
tribal system, if the tribal leader provided security to someone the entire
tribe supported him. Hence, it was the entire tribe of Banu Hashim that was
beleaguered not just the Muslims in three-years long confinement of Sha'b-e-Bani
Hashim. The infidels of Makkah demanded of Abu Talib that he should stop
providing security to Muhammad (SAW) so that they could deal with him but he
refused to do so. In the year 10 Nabawi Abu Talib passed away and so did Hazrat
Khadija (RAA). When the Prophet (SAW) would come back home frustrated by the
world outside with a suffocating feeling inside his chest due to the people having
called him mad or a magician, he would at least have a loyal and dear wife to
console him; that support too had been taken away by Allah. Abu Talib had been
providing support due to family ties but even that support too had been taken
away. The Prophet (SAW) designated this year as "A'am-ul-Huzn" (i.e.
a year of mourning) — it was indeed a grievous year for him. Due to the passing
away of Abu Talib, the security that the Prophet (SAW) was getting had also
been terminated.
Hence,
it was decided in Darul Nadwa that Muhammad (SAW) would be murdered. It was
decided that one person should not murder him because in that case the entire
clan of the Banu Hashim would turn out against him. Rather young men should be
chosen from different tribes so that they could simultaneously attack him to
make it difficult to find out who killed him. When Makkah became too hostile,
the Prophet (SAW) undertook a journey to Taif in the hope and expectation that
some influential man or a leader might accept Islam thus making it possible to
shift his base there. But what he suffered in Taif in three days was something
that he had not been meted out in Makkah in ten years. The Prophet (SAW) was
stoned, was made the target of the worst possible torture and his hallowed body
was drenched in blood. At this occasion his lamentation from the profound
depths of his heart creates an ache and anguish in the heart of a Muslim who
reads these words even today:
O
God! Where do I go? Before whom do I lament? I present before You my petition of
my lack of power and my lack of resources and of my disgrace and dishonour
among people. O God! To whom have you handed me over? Have You handed over my
case to my enemies that they should do whatever they can with me?
O
Lord! If this be Your will and if You are not angry then I too am acquiescent;
I do not care about this torture. O God! I seek refuge in the radiance of Your
countenance with which the darknesses are illuminated.
Could
there be a more moving and passionate cry of the heart than this? But, the Prophet
(SAW) had two positions; one as the servant and bondsman of Allah and the other
as His Prophet. Here the position of the servant of Allah is prominent and
uppermost: 'O Lord! As long as You are not angry, I do not care about
anything'.
To be continued ....
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