Chief of the Prophets

Chief of the Prophets — Page 48

Chapter Four 48 Later Muslims Abū Bakr ra was a person of great respect and influence among the Quraish and his circle of friends was extensive. Through his efforts, initially ‘Uthmān bin ‘Affān ra , ‘Abdur-Raḥmān bin ‘Auf ra , Sa‘d bin Abī Waqqāṣ ra , Zubair bin al-‘Awwām ra , Ṭalḥah bin ‘Abdullāh ra and various others accepted Islam. Later, Abū ‘Ubaidah bin Jarrāh ra , Abū Salamah bin ‘Abdul-Asad ra , ‘Uthmān bin Maẓ‘ūn ra , Sa‘īd bin Zaid ra , ‘Abdullāh bin Mas‘ūd ra , and various others also embraced Islam. These were the few people who joined Islam in the first three to four years. Among the women, besides Khadījah ra , the names of Asmā’ bint Abī Bakr ra and Fāṭimah bint al-Khaṭṭāb ra , the wife of Sa‘īd bin Zaid ra , are particularly noteworthy. Since most of these people did not enjoy any special influence in the society because they were poor and without means, it was generally thought that Muḥammad sa was accepted by ordinary and weak people. Many years later, Heraclius, the Roman emperor asked Abū Sufyān bin Ḥarb if Muḥammad sa was accepted by people of means or by weak people. Abū Sufyān replied that he was accepted by the weak and the poor. Heraclius said that all of the messengers of Allah are (initially) accepted by people without means. 1 The Beginning of Public Preaching After three years of secretly preaching, the Prophet received the following Divine commandments: (Al-Ḥijr 15:95) So declare openly that with which thou art commanded. He also received the following verse close to the same time: 1 A more detailed narrative of this dialogue that took place between Heraclius and Abū Sufyān is given in the chapter eight of this book.