Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 65
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 65 happened to pass by, and, observing their pitiful condition, tried to comfort them with, ‘Continue steadfast, family of Yassar, as your final resort is paradise. ’ In the end Yassar succumbed to his torture. His aged wife was so mercilessly wounded by Abu J ahl with a spear that she died on the spot. Ammar was also repeatedly tortured but survived. The Holy Prophet himself, peace be on him, was to a large degree protected by the guarantee of Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib to which reference has already been made. This guarantee was to some degree weakened by the bitter hostility of Abu Lahab and Qurai sh were contemplating measures against Banu Hashim and Banu Muttalib, though they had not yet taken any practical steps in that direction. They confined themselves to taunts, derision and molestation. On the approach of the annual pilgrimage, they gathered together in the house of Waleed bin Mughirah and put their heads together to decide how they should answer any inquirers after Muhammad and his doctrine on the occasion of the pilgrimage. Should they say that he was a soothsayer, or that he was insane, or that he was a misguided poet who was influencing people through his verses, or that he was a magician who was misleading people through the exercise of his magic? Waleed pointed out that none of these descriptions fitted Muhammad and that, therefore, thei r designation of him as belonging to any of these categories would not carry conviction. In the end, however, they agreed to represent him as a sorcerer who, through the influence of his sorcery, was breaking up families, separating sons from their fathers , brothers from their brothers, wives from their husbands. They started this