The Excellent Exemplar - Muhammad — Page 22
THE EXCELLENT EXEMPLAR — MUHAMMAD 22 not ask you to stand by me. You may disown me as they have suggested. As for me, the One and Only God is my witness when I say that if they were to place the sun on my right and the moon on my left I would not desist from preaching the truth that God comma nds. I must go on doing so until the end. ” Abu Talib plunged into deep thought. He had not himself declared his belief in the Prophet’s message, but he was very fond of his nephew and must have felt a surge of pride at Muhammad’s firm and noble resolve, which he had expressed, to carry out his miss ion as commanded by God. Finally he raised his head, saying: “Son of my brother, go thy way: do thy duty as thou seest it; my people may disown me but I shall stand by thee. ” As the tempo of bitter persecution continued to mount, the Prophet advised some of his followers to leave Mecca and migrate across the Red Sea to Ethiopia, where they would find conditions more bearable under the rule of the Christian Emperor. A small band under the leadership of a cousin of the Prophet departed for Ethiopia. A delegation of the Qureish followed them, demanding of the Emperor that the fugitives be delivered to them. The Emperor heard both sides and rejected the demand of the Meccans. The Qureish delegation then adopted a clever stratagem. Seeking out the bishops and other dignitaries of the Christian Church, they charged that the followers of the Prophet were adherents of a new creed which did not hold Jesus in honor. They hoped that t his would set the Emperor and his Court against the fugitives and that the Muslims would be expelled from the country in disgrace. When the Emperor summoned both sides to