Threat of Abū Jahl

This letter from the Quraish of Makkah was not due to temporary vehemence. Rather, they had firmly decided never to allow the Muslims a life of peace, and were bent upon eliminating Islām from the world. As such, the following historical account demonstrates the bloody intentions of the Quraish of Makkah.

There is a narration in Bukhārī that some time after the migration, Sa‘d bin Mu‘ādh(ra), who was head chieftain of the Aus tribe and had become Muslim, travelled to Makkah with the intention of performing ‘Umrah.1 He stayed with an old friend from the era of the Jāhiliyyah named Umayyah bin Khalf, a chieftain of Makkah. Since he knew that the Makkans would provoke him, in order to avoid altercation, he said to Umayyah, “I wish to perform Ṭawāf 2 of the Ka‘batullāh. Take me along at such a time when I can perform this duty alone in peace and return to my homeland.” Hence, Umayyah took Sa‘d(ra) to the Ka‘bah at midday, when people were generally in their homes. However, it so happened that exactly at this time, Abū Jahl also turned up and as soon as he saw Sa‘d(ra), his eyes gorged with blood in rage. Suppressing his anger however, he addressed Umayyah saying, “O Abū Ṣafwān, who accompanies you?” Umayyah responded, “This is Sa‘d(ra) bin Mu‘ādh, chieftain of the Aus.” Upon this Abū Jahl furiously addressed Sa‘d(ra) saying:

“Do you think that after granting protection to that renegade (i.e., Muḥammad(sa)), you shall be able to perform Ṭawāf of the Ka‘bah in peace? And do you believe that you have the strength to protect him and support him? By God, if you had not been accompanied by Abū Ṣafwān, you would not have been able to return home safely.”

Sa‘d bin Mu‘ādh(ra) would avoid altercation, but his veins also flowed of chieftain blood and his heart was replete of religious indignation. He retorted in a thunderous voice, “By Allāh! If you obstruct us from the Ka‘bah, then remember that you shall also not receive peace upon your Syrian trade route.” “Sa‘d!” interjected Umayyah, “Do not raise your voice before Abul-Ḥakam, chieftain of the People of the Valley.” “Keep out of this Umayyah!” responded Sa‘d(ra), “Do not interject. By Allāh, I cannot forget the prophecy of the Holy Prophet(sa), that one day you would be killed at the hands of a Muslim.” Upon hearing this news, Umayyah bin Khalf became severely distraught and came home to inform his wife of this statement of Sa‘d(ra). He said, “By God! Now I shall not leave Makkah to oppose the Muslims.”3 However, the writings of Divine Decree were to be fulfilled. At the occasion of Badr, Umayyah was forced to leave Makkah, and was killed there at the hands of the Muslims, receiving the recompense of his evil deeds. This was the same Umayyah who would ruthlessly persecute Ḥaḍrat Bilāl(ra), due to his acceptance of Islām.