ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Khadija-tul-kubra the Wife of the Holy Prophet Chapter 7 : the Persecution of the Muslims By the Pagans Though Abu Lahab frequently succeeded in dispersing the crowds that gathered to hear the message of Islam, word nevertheless spread in Makka about it. People talked about the message of Islam.

The thoughtful ones among them posed the question: "What is this religion to which Muhammed is inviting us?" This question showed curiosity on their part and a few of them wanted to know more about Islam. In the days that followed, Muhammed, the Messenger of Allah, made many attempts to preach to the Makkans. Abu Lahab and his confederate, Abu Jahl, did what they could to sabotage his work but they could not deflect him from his aim.

It was a strange message that Muhammed brought to the Arabs, and it was unique. No one had ever heard anything like it before. Muhammed as messenger of Allah, told the Arabs not to worship the inanimate objects which they themselves had fashioned, and which had no power either to give anything to them or to take anything away from them, and to whom they had given the status of gods and goddesses.

Instead, he told them, they ought to give their love and obedience to Allah, the One Lord of the whole universe. He also told them that in His sight - in the sight of their Creator - they were all equal, and if they became Muslims, they would all become brothers of each other. But idolatry was an old "fLxation" for the Arabs, and they were not quite ready to dump their idols. They resented Muhammed's diatribes against idolatry, and they were not very finicky about showing him their resentment.

Muhammed also called upon the rich Arabs to share their wealth with the poor and the under-privileged. The poor, he said, had a right to receive their share out of the wealth of the rich. Such sharing, he further said, would guarantee the equitable distribution of wealth in the community. Most of the rich Arabs in Makka were money-lenders; or rather, they were "loan sharks." They had grown rich by lending money to the poor classes at exorbitant rates of interest.

The poor could never repay their debts, and were thus held in economic servitude in perpetuity. The money-lenders throve on usury as vampires thrive on blood.