Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 76
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 76 reliance whatsoever could be placed on them, and the surest means of the guidance of mankind provided by God, of His grace and mercy, would be rendered futile. Then, it may be asked, how did the story originate at all? Allamah Qastalani and Allamah Zarqani have offered an explanation that is supported by many research scholars. They have drawn attention to the fact that the disbelievers from among Quraish were in the habit of indulging in noisy interruptions of the recitation of the Holy Quran and tried to create confusion concerning its text, hoping thereby to frustrate and perplex the Muslims, as is said: ‘The disbelievers say: “Listen not to this Quran, and int errupt its recital with noise creating confusion, perchance you may thus have the upper hand”’ (41:27). On this occasion also they made a similar attempt, and when the Holy Prophet mentioned the names of their goddesses, someone of them called out, ‘These are exalted personages, whose intercession may be hoped for, so that some people may have been confused whether the Holy Prophet had himself uttered these words. This explanation is supported by the fact that Quraish, when performing a circuit of the Ka’ab a, used to repeat the very formula ‘These are exalted personages’. This explanation is supported by Mohyuddin ibn Arabi, Qazi Ayadh, Ibn Jarir, Imam Razi, and Hafiz ibn Hajar. When Quraish found that the Muslims had found safe asylum in Abyssinia, they were much perturbed and cast about for means to have them expelled from that country. In the end, they selected two of their prominent men, Amr bin Aas and Abdullah bin Rabiyyah, to go as a delegation to Abyssinia for the