.

2. The top four leaders of Quraish, namely Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl, Al-Akhnas and Ibn Wahb, came out individually and secretly for listening to the Holy Quran that the Holy Prophet recited during prayers in his home, at night. They spent the whole night in listening to Al-Quran. In the morning, each of them moved out till they all gathered together accidentally at a certain place. They accused one another and promised not to go there for listening to Al-Quran again.

The next night, they did the same thing. Each of them spent the whole night again, secretly and individually listening to the Holy Prophet, while he recited the Holy Quran. They again, by chance, assembled again and accused one another again, as before. They departed after making a promise again for not repeating it. But on the third night, they did the same thing. When they assembled again, in the morning, they made a solemn commitment with one another for not doing it again.

The next morning, Al-Akhnas moved out with a stick in his hand, and met Abu Sufyan and then Abu Jahl about the recitation. Abu Jahl replied:

“ We competed much against the descendants of Abd Muna’f (who

was the fore-father of our Holy Prophet) in giving meals,

conveyance, charity etc. to the people, and struggled hard not to lag

behind till we reached a state similar to two horses racing on bet.

But now they say: “ We have a Prophet amongst us, to whom the

revelation comes from the heaven”. When we are seeing such a state

of affairs, we, by Allah, will not believe in him …”

(It is quite clear that Abu Jahl was convinced that our Holy Prophet is a true Prophet, but he did not accept Islam because of jealousy and family rivalry.)

[Seerat-un-Nabi by Ibn Hashsham, Vol. I, pages 346 & 347, Sheikh Ghulam Ali & Sons. Lahore.]

3. Utba bin Rabia, on behalf of Quraish, offered very attractive terms to the Holy Prophet so as not to preach Islam. After he completed his talk, the Holy Prophet started reciting the first few Verses of Chapter No. 41 of the Holy Quran. Utba listened to it very attentively and was greatly impressed. The Holy Prophet continued to recite till he reached Verse No. 13 of the above chapter, which states:

“ If the pagans still turn away (i.e. do not accept Islam), then say

that I have warned you about the torment of thunder like the one

which destroyed the people of A’d and Samu’d.” (41:13)

Utba on hearing it, immediately put his hand on the Holy Prophet’s mouth and requested him not to recite further, since he feared that they might be punished like the people of A’d and Samu’d, as he never told a lie.

Utba then stood up and returned to Quraish as a totally changed person. He said:

“ I have heard such a thing which I never heard before. By Allah!

It is neither a poetry nor a magic, and nor the foretelling of a Jinn.

O’ people of Quraish! Listen to me carefully and set the matter,

according to my thinking…By Allah! He (i.e. the Holy Prophet)

will attain the highest popularity because of what I have heard

from him…If he happened to overpower the Arabs, his kingdom will

be your kingdom and his honor will be your honor …”

[See ‘Tafseer Zia-ul-Quran’ under 41:1-13 & Seerat-un-Nabi by Ibn Hashsham, Vol I, pages 314-316, Sheikh Ghulam Ali & Sons, Lahore.]

This completes the third Part of the Holy Quran by the

grace of Almighty Allah.

“Al-Hamdu Li-Allah-ay Rabb-il-Aalameen wa-Assalatu

wa-Assalamu ala Sayyid-il-Anbiya-ay wa-Al-Mursaleen”.

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Thursday

November 28, 2002

( Ramadan 22, 1423 A.H.)

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