Quriash’s Media Warfare against the Prophet (PBUH) (19)

Edited and Translated by Mohamed Salami

Quriash's Media Warfare against the Prophet (PBUH) (19)


The media warfare, including the Polemic arguments and the pervasion of false rumors, was one of the polytheists' weapons in fighting the Prophet and limiting the spread of His Call among the Arab tribes, especially those coming to Holy Mecca for religious and commercial purposes.

Though the policy of terror, threats and intimidation which was adopted by the polytheists against the Muslims in Mecca used to prevent some of the locals from embracing Islam for fear of persecution, it failed to ban thousands of those who visit the city for religious and commercial purposes from attending the Prophet's councils. Those coming from across the Arabian Peninsula used to be affected by the Prophet's saying to the extent of either embracing Islam or doubting the worship of idols and fetishes, and they also used to convey all the Prophet's teachings and Islamic values to their homelands. As a result, the name of Prophet Mohammad and the notions of His Call spread across the Arabian Peninsula.

As the Prophet succeeded in pervading His Call to the entire Arabian Peninsula after refuting the claims of the polytheism, the polytheists mulled organizing a propaganda that defame the Prophet's personality and Call.

Quriash Conspires against Prophet (PBUH) by Spreading Rumors

In the history, it is mentioned that a number of persons met at al-Walid bin Moghira's house to discuss what to tell the Arabs who are visiting Mecca and in order to prevent them from responding to the Prophet's Call. Some of them suggested to tell the people that the Prophet is a priest, yet al-Walid rejected that, saying the Prophet's speech is different from that of thee priests. Others suggested to accuse Him of insanity, but the suggestion was refused for the Prophet did not show any sign of craziness. Also, al-Walid rejected a suggestion to tell the newcomers that the Prophet is a magician because He does not break His promise and because His deeds are different from those of the magicians.

After a long discussion, al-Walid suggested that the polytheists tell the entrants that the Prophet's speech is magical and causes strives and schisms within the same family and tribe. The polytheists also agreed on citing the rivalries among the people of Mecca in order to prove what they would say to the newcomers.

So, the polytheists started spreading that false rumor and warned the entrants against meeting the Prophet and against listening to Him. However, the right's might, the grand character of the Prophet and the great Islamic values surpassed all what the polytheists pervaded. More and more Arabs also kept embracing Islam. Then, Tufail bin Omair al-Dousi, who was a wise poet and had a great influence in his community, came to Mecca. So, Quraish feared his contact with the Prophet and told him, "The Prophet's speech is magical and causes schisms within the same family. We are worried that this might happen in your society, so do not contact Him."

Tufail responded to what Quraish asked him to do, so when he went to al-Kaaba for circumambulation, he tried not to listen to the Prophet, but few nice words penetrated his ears. Tufail said, "I went to the mosque and found the Prophet praying; when He left home, I visited Him to tell him about what Quraish asked me to do. The Prophet read Quranic verses; it was the best and fairest of what I have ever listened to, so I embraced Islam and pronounced the Right's testimony."

That story and other pieces of evidence show that the Prophet (PBUH) used to directly meet the newcomers to Mecca in order to tell them clearly about His Call and about the Islamic values, rules and concepts and in order to refute all the rumors that the polytheists used to spread in order to defame His personality and Call.

Christian Jabra Rumor

There is another rumor that Quriash's promoted amid the Arab clans, claiming that "Jabr" taught the Prophet all what He came up with; consequently, God revealed a Quranic verse which asserts that His Majesty's Quran, not anyone else:

And We certainly know that they say, "It is only a human being who teaches the Prophet." The tongue of the one they refer to is foreign, and this Qur'an is [in] a clear Arabic language.

Holy Quran, in this verse, refutes Quraish's rumor, asserting that the eloquence  of the Prophet's Arabic rhetoric surpasses that of anyone.

Holy Quran even challenged the polytheists to come up with what resembles one of Its verses; however, they failed to do that.   

Thus, the Prophet (PBUH) could push away all the suspicions and the propaganda posed by the polytheists against Him through his powerful personality and unique Call. The Prophet could also deepen the people's faith, what drove the polytheists to mull other ways to fight Him. So, they decide to impose a socio-economic siege on the family of Hashem (Bani Hashem).

This will be the theme of the following article.