The impact that the Islamic call had on Quraysh was only natural, for the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) took up the struggle and presented his group to the Quraysh in a conspicuous and challenging manner. It left them with no room to doubt its implications upon them. In addition, the call itself included the struggle against Quraysh and the Makkan society, for it was calling to the Oneness of Allah, to worship Him alone, to abandon the worship of idols and to renounce the decadent system they were living by. Therefore the call was at loggerheads with the Quraysh, and this was inevitable since the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was to discredit their thinking, ridicule their gods, mock their way of life, and deplore their tyrannical practices.
Whenever a verse was revealed to him (pbuh), he would attack the Quraysh with it openly. He would recite Allah’s words,
“Certainly! You (disbelievers) and that which you are worshipping now besides Allah, are (but) fuel for Hell!” [Al-Anbiya, 21:98]
He (pbuh) strongly attacked the relationship in the society such as Riba,
“And that which you give in usury (to others), in order that it may increase, has no increase with Allah” [Ar-Rum, 30:39]
and attacking cheating in the scales,
“Woe to those that deal in fraud those who, when they have to receive by measure, from men, exact full measure. But when they have to measure a weight to men, give less than due.” [Al-Mutaffiffin 83: 1-3]
Quraysh, therefore, confronted him and began fighting him and his Sahabah, This they endeavoured to do by means of torture, sanctions and propaganda against him personally and against his Deen. In return he (pbuh) carried the offensive to them, pursuing his struggle against their erroneous notions and demolishing their corrupt beliefs in order to spread the Message of Islam according to the way decreed by Allah (swt). He (pbuh) invited people to Islam openly, without compromising and bargaining, despite all the various types of persecution of Quraysh upon him, and despite being a defenseless figure with no real help, no ally, no material means and no weapons. He (pbuh) came conspicuously and challengingly, inviting to the Deen of Allah with great resolve and faith, ignoring all the hardships, not allowing weakness to get the better of him, ready to endure the colossal burdens for the sake of the Message. This enabled him to surmount all the obstacles that Quraysh put in his way, which were designed to come between him and the people.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) succeeded in reaching the people and in conveying the Message to them; in turn they embraced Islam because the truth and the force of reason defeated the falsehood. The light of Islam began shining amongst the Arabs, many idol worshippers embraced Islam, so did many Christians, even the leaders of Quraysh began listening to the Qur’an with yearning hearts.
Al-Tufayl ibn ‘Amr al-Dausi came to Makkah when Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) was there. He was an important nobleman, very intelligent and a poet of some understanding. Quraysh approached him immediately and warned him that this fellow Muhammad (pbuh) had done them much harm, that he was a sorcerer and that his talk separated men from their families. They exclaimed that they feared he might have the same effect on him and advised him not to speak to Muhammad (pbuh) or listen to a word he said. Al-Tufayl went one day to the Ka’bah and it happened that Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) was there, he listened to some of his speech and found it beautiful, so he said to himself, “By Allah! Here I am, an intelligent man, a poet, knowing perfectly well the difference between good and evil, so what is to prevent me from listening to what this man is saying? If it is good I shall accept it and if it is bad I shall reject it.” He followed the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to his house and told him about himself and what was on his mind. So Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) invited him to Islam and recited to him the Qur’an. He became a Muslim and declared that it was the truth. Then he went back to his people and proceeded to call them to Islam.
While the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was in Makkah, some twenty Christians traveled to meet him after receiving news about him. They sat and listened to him and accepted and believed in him and declared his truth. This enraged the Quraysh and they later intercepted them as they were leaving Makkah and hurled insults at them saying, “May Allah bring you ruin! What a wretched band you are. Your people at home sent you to bring them information about this man, and as soon as you sat with him, you renounced your religion and believed in what he said.” This, however, did not affect them, nor did it affect their belief in Islam, rather it strengthened all the more their belief in Allah (swt). The impact of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) increased, as did people’s yearning to listen to the Qur’an. It reached a point whereby his harshest opponents from the Quraysh began wondering whether what he (pbuh) was calling for was really true. This led them to listen to the Qur’an in secret.
Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, Abu Jahl ‘Amr ibn Hisham and al-Akhnas ibn Shurayq, were each unaware that the other was going to listen to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) as he was praying in his house. Each one was disguised and each chose a place to sit where he could listen. None knew where the other was. Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) regularly stayed up most of the night reciting the Qur’an. They passed this particular night listening attentively to him, their minds were captured and their hearts affected, until dawn arose when they all quickly dispersed. On the way home they met accidentally, reproaching one another, each one saying to the other, “Don’t do it again, for if one of the lightminded fools sees you, it would compromise and weaken your standing, and it would tip the scales in Muhammad’s favor.” On the second night, each of them felt his legs taking him to the same spot where he had spent the previous night. The three listened once again to Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) reciting the Book of Allah and, as before, they met at dawn and reproached each other, yet this did not prevent them from attending for a third night. When they realized their weakness towards Muhammad’s Message, they took a solemn oath never to return. Nevertheless this incident resulted in an exchange of views concerning what they had heard over the three nights; they were agitated because their actions manifested signs of weakness which none of them, as leader of his tribe, could afford. This, they acknowledged, could be construed as playing into the hands of Muhammad (pbuh) and it might encourage the people to accept his Message.
Despite all the obstacles that the Quraysh laid down, the call succeeded in penetrating Makkah, and the Quraysh became panic stricken fearing the worst, i.e. the spreading of Islam among the Arab tribes. Quraysh, therefore, intensified their hostile campaign against Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) and his Sahabah. The situation eventually became almost unbearable and Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) went to the city of Ta’if seeking the Nussrah (support) and protection of Banu Thaqif in the hope that they might embrace Islam. He approached them on his own, but they spoke to him harshly and treated him very badly. They stirred up their louts and slaves who hurled insults and stones at him until the whole of his body including his feet bled. He (pbuh) managed to take refuge in an orchard belonging to Shabeeb and Shayba, sons of Rabi’ah. There he sat thinking about his situation and about the call. He knew that he could not enter Makkah without one of the leaders’ protection, neither could he go back to Ta’if after the way he had been treated there, and he could not stay in the orchard for it belonged to two disbelievers. He (pbuh) felt very distressed and lifted his arms to the sky lamenting and supplicating to Allah (swt). Painfully and with immense confidence in Allah (swt), he said, “O Allah! To You I complain of my weakness, little resource, and lowliness before man. O Most Merciful! You are the Lord of the weak, and You are my Lord. To whom would You confide in me? To one afar who will misuse me or to an enemy to whom You have given dominance over me? If You are not angry with me, I do not care about anything else. Your favor of well-being on me is sufficient for me. I take refuge in the light of Your countenance by which the darkness is illuminated, and the things of this world and the next are rightly ordered, lest Your anger descend upon me or Your wrath not light upon me but come down on me. It is for You to be satisfied until You are well pleased. There is no power and no might except in You.”
Whereupon he returned to Makkah under the protection of al-Mut’im ibn ‘Adiy. The Quraysh soon learned of what had happened to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) in Ta’if, and this only made them increase their ill treatment of the Messenger (pbuh) and they prohibited people from listening to him. The Makkans deserted him and refrained from listening to his preaching. However, he (pbuh) was never disheartened, and went on calling people to the Deen of Allah by offering himself to the tribes during the festive seasons, inviting them to Islam, telling them that he was a Prophet sent by Allah (swt) and asking them to believe in him. But Abu Lahab, his hateful uncle, never left his sight. He followed him everywhere telling people not to listen to him, so the people ignored him and paid him no attention.
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) then resorted to visiting the tribes in their dwellings, offering himself to them. He visited the tribes of Kinda, Kalb, Banu Hanifah and Banu ‘Aamir ibn Sa’sah. None of them actually responded to his call and they all bitterly opposed him, especially Banu Hanifah. As for Banu ‘Aamir, they wanted authority after him in return for giving him allegiance. He (pbuh) replied, “Authority is a matter which Allah places where He pleases.” Upon hearing this Banu ‘Aamir also declined to help.
Therefore, Makkah rejected Islam, as did the people of Ta’if, and the tribes too rejected the Messenger of Allah’s call. Those tribes who came to Makkah to conduct business learned of the situation of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) and his isolation, and this only drove them further away from him, thus worsening his isolation. The call for Islam became much more difficult while the hardened Makkan society showed signs of total rejection, disbelief and stubbornness. Expectations for the Da’wah in Makkah became very low.