The Excellent Exemplar - Muhammad — Page 81
THE EXCELLENT EXEMPLAR — MUHAMMAD 81 occurred, and this led him and his tribe to accept Islam. The Prophet had been sent as a manifestation of God’s mercy to mankind (21 :108). His mercy was all - embracing, without limit, and without discrimination. He was not niggardly about it, as lesser men might have been (17:101). But that which inspired him first and last was his duty to God. His beneficence toward all human beings was only one aspect of the performance of the duty which he owed to his Maker. No consideration could stand in the way of the performance of that duty. When the Meccans gave his uncle, Abu Talib the choice between adhering to Muhammad or retaining the chieftainship of the tribe, Abu Talib put the matter before the Prophet. The Prophet told him that he could withdraw his protection, but that as for himself , he must continue till the end to do what God commanded him. He would not desist even if the Meccans placed the sun on his right and the moon on his left. That stand he maintained till the last. At Uhud, when the Meccan commander, Abu Sufyan, believed that the Prophet and his principal companions had been killed, he shouted: “Glory to Hubul,” naming the principal idol worshiped by the Meccans. The Prophet, out of prudence and considerations of sec urity, had told his companions who had gathered round him after he had been wounded and had been revived, not to answer Abu Sufyan’s calls when one by one he had challenged Muhammad, Abu Bakr, and Umar, to answer him. Following his instructions they kept q uiet and maintained silence even when Abu Sufyan proclaimed the glory of Hubul. But when the Prophet heard this last exclamation, he turned impatiently to his companions, prudence and all concern for security thrown to