Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 82
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 82 whom might have offered violence to him, but just at that time, Aas bin Wail, one of the great chiefs of Mecca, arrived on the scene and inquired what had happened. He was told that Umar had become a Muslim, upon which he observed, ‘Even so, it is not nece ssary to raise a tumult over it. I extend my protection to Umar. ’ The crowd then dispersed. On account of the guarantee of Aas bin Wail, Umar was left in peace, but he did not feel happy in this situation. So, after a few days, he went to Aas bin Wail and told him that he did not need his protection any longer. Thereafter he was often beaten and maltreated. About the same time, Abdullah, son of Umar, who was quite young, also became a Muslim. He grew up to be a great divine. Quraish were alarmed at the adherence of Hamzah and Umar to Islam. They took counsel together and sent Utba bin Rabi’a to talk to the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, and to try to persuade him to stop the propagation of Islam. Utba returned from his mission and reported his failure, and Quraish felt that far from persuading the Holy Prophet, he himself had been affected and influenced in his favour. Shortly after, they met in the precincts of the Ka’aba and resolved that some of their chiefs should speak to the Holy Prophet. Accordingly, Waleed bin Mughirah, Aas bin Wail, Abu Jahl, Umayya bin Khalf, Utba, Shaiba, Abu Sufyan, Aswad bin Muttalib, Nadhar bin Harith, Abul Bakhtari and some others met together in the courtyard of the Ka’aba and sent a message to t he Holy Prophet that they were anxious to speak to him and he might come and hear what they had to say. He arrived immediately, and the substance of what they said to him was: ‘Muhammad, you have been the cause of creating serious