In truth...

In truth, I do not believe that any other Arab had brought you must of this something better than I have brought you. You must realize that I desire nothing for you but the best of this world and the next. Oh young men of Mecca! Do not listen to the words of these ignorant old men who pass their miserable lives in idolworship, magic, shirk (associating partners with Allah), tyranny and who strive to keep th people from knowing the Truth''.

It was at this point in the speech of the noble Prophet that the men of importance mongst the Quraysh, their pride deeply wounded by these words, began to laugh and make fun of him, uproar then broke out in the meeting and they got up from their places and left. After this, the noble Messenger (s a w a), carrying out the divine order, called the closest members of his tribe to the worship of the One, Sublime God.

He continued the task, sometimes openly, sometimes secretly, amongst both the common and the elite, taking advantage of every appropriate occasion until another more definitive message came from Allah via Jibril (Gabriel): فاصدع بما تؤمر وأعرض عن المشركين (So declare openly what you are bidden and turn aside from the polytheists; Qur'an 15: 94).

After hearing this divine order, he went up the Sa fa mountain near Mecca, gathering the nobles and leaders of the different tribes around him and with words full of beauty and meaning and declaring the ayat (the pl. ayah, verses of the Qur'an) which had been revealed to him by Allah, he began to advise them: ''O people, O leaders of the Quraysh! I demand nothing of you but that you say: لا إله الا الله -''there is no god, but Allah''.

Nobody from amongst the distinguished assenble dared to speak except for Abu Lahab, the uncle of the noble Prophet, who at the instigation of Abu Sufyan cried out: "O Muhammad! Woe to you. Have you invited us here to listen to those same words you were saying before? O Muhammad , cease talking like this; don't ruin our lives.

From the day you came to us and began to call all the people to your god, a god which is unfamiliar to us, our slaves and servants have been taken away from us or they have deserted themselves. O Muhammad , why don't you leave the people alone? Why don't you stop talking like this? Abu Sufyan laughed at himself, satisfied at how well his instigation of Abu Lahab had worked, and how Muhammad was powerless to do anything.