Where is Abu Bakr, Uthman, Abu Ubaidah
or Abd Al-Rahman Ibn Awf?
We only know of his followers those who belong to clans that protect them.
Hence, they were prepared to declare their faith.
Besides, these are wise and sensible men, or so we thought.
How can we protect our slaves, servants and those who are not so sensible?
Abu Al-Waleed.
Had Muhammad said what he said then took himself away,
like Waraqah Ibn Nawfal
and Zaid Ibn Amr Ibn Nafeel did, the matter would have been simple.
- We would have left him to himself. - Yes!
But he claims that he is a Prophet, a messenger of God,
assigned to deliver a message. Whoever obeys him is safe.
Whoever obeys him is safe, and whoever disobeys him ruins himself.
Anyone who joins him disobeys us.
By Al-Lat, this is not a word a man says and goes away,
or comes back to us obeying what we say.
When he disowns our idols he declares his rebellion against us.
When his followers increase, our numbers decrease,
until we lose our standing with them and have no control over them.
Are we to leave him alone until the matter gets out of hand?
You have taken your time, Bilal, before bringing us our drinks.
I could not have started with the young men of Quraysh before its elders.
We certainly need the drinks more than elders
whose bones have thinned and whose strength is gone.
Hush! Someone may hear you.
- Do you still fear your father? - Yes, until he is in his grave.
How did you allow Jubair Ibn Mut'im's slave to beat you the other day?
Wahshi?
He is stronger than me. Could things be achieved by mere wishes,
life order would have been turned upside down.
Very true. You could have been sitting with the elders,
explaining your views and stating what to do about Muhammad.
You could be obeyed by all.
Do you really wish that, Bilal?
Had it been possible for people to see what others wish and hope,
they would only meet with swords in hands.
What can my organs do when you have owned them?
My duty is that of a slave: to milk the sheep, tend the camels,
carry the water and attend you when you meet.
Had you been as excellent in spear fighting as you are in these matters,
you would have given us all we need.
It is not normal in life that things should be perfect.
Otherwise, people would have had no need for one another.
I never realized that he is so wise.
He would have been more valuable had he been better with the spear.
A slave with a mind is much more dangerous than a slave with a spear.
You have mentioned certain things and overlooked others.
You mentioned Quraysh but not the rest of the Arabs.
Yet you know that many of them envy you your position of wealth and strength.
They only accept your leadership because of the authority
of the religion we all follow,
and the sanctity of the Kaabah of which you are the custodians.
Muhammad claims that his message is to all mankind,
but he started with his own people and tribesmen.
It is only a matter of time before he addresses himself to other Arab tribes.
Some of them may find in this an opportunity to rebel against you,
follow Muhammad and fight you with some of your own numbers.
And that would be very bad indeed.
Besides, why would God choose Muhammad to be his Prophet and messenger
when there are among us people who are richer and higher in position?
- Yes! - Abu Al-Hakam!
If Muhammad is lying, he would not claim prophethood for anyone else.
If he is telling the truth, then God chooses whomever He will,
consulting no one.
You make it hard for us, Abu Al-Waleed. Do you want us to leave Muhammad alone?
You, the Quraysh elders, know very well
that the Hashimites will not give up Muhammad to you...
although they may continue to follow your faith
- without a bitter fight. - By God, we are ready.
Then we precipitate what we are trying to avoid:
severed relations with kindred, disunity and weakness.
Others will then be tempted to have a go at us.
Hasn't someone said that if it was merely a word he says
and we go back to our familiar way of life, it would have been easy?
Then, what we really fear in regard to Muhammad's message
is the consequences we have mentioned.
Are we then to precipitate these by resorting to the sword?
What s your view, then?
I think we better speak to his uncle Abu Talib.
No one loves his people and is kinder to them than Abu Talib.
He loves to see them united.
It is he who can stop Muhammad.
If he does, then you achieve what you want.
How could you disagree with me,
your maternal uncle, in front of the Abd Manaf elders?
Isn't the purpose of the meeting that everyone expresses his opinion
so that we may agree the best course of action to achieve the desired result?
All you did was to show that your view is better than your uncle's.
- Is that how you show dutifulness? - The question here is not one of dutifulness.
We are all pursuing the same goal, but with different means.
And you undermine my position in front of Utbah
and the Abd Manaf elders?
We didn't meet in a competition of views, so as to say.
Our meeting was to devise a way to set Quraysh on the right course.
I wouldn't conceal an opinion which I believe to do just that,
even though it might agree with the Abd Manaf people and disagree with my uncles.
I disagree with Muhammad; not because of anything personal.
All people know that whoever denounces him is a liar.
I don't disagree with him because of any envy I bear against the Hashimites.
Had he belonged to Adiy, I would still maintain the same attitude to him.
This may be your view, but it is not the view of Utbah,
or the others from Abd Shams and Abd Manaf.
Haven't you seen how he tries to paint the matter as not so serious?
He only does so because of his relations with the Hadhimites.
They all belong to Abd Manaf.
Yet it may be that the closest relatives compete for supremacy.
Everyone thinks himself equal to his cousin, and will not let him lead.
This has always been the case between the clans of Abd Shams and Hashim.
But should Makhzoom take the lead, its people will overlook past differences
and remember only that they all belong to Abd Manaf.
We have competed with the clan of Abd Manaf for honours:
they fed the poor, and we did the same;
they provided generous support to those who needed it and we did the same.
When we were together on the same level, like two racehorses running neck and neck,
they said that one of their numbers was a Prophet receiving revelations from on high!
When can we, the Makhzooms, attain such an honour?
By God, we shall never believe in him, even though he might produce every proof.
We will be hostile to him for life.
If his clan, the Hashimites, insist on protecting him,
we will fight them, come what may.
Umar, learn this from your uncle.
I saw you presenting a moderate stance, opposing Abu Al-Hakam's extreme view.
By Al-Lat, he is not as angry with Muhammad as we are,
but is envious of Abd Manaf,
with both its branches, Hashim and Abd Shams.
The man is sharp and stupid, yet strong and intelligent.
To me, the strap of Muhammad's shoes is more valuable than Abu Al-Hakam,
except for the fact that Muhammad has abandoned our faith
and criticized our elders.
Yet, what is he envious for? If this is evil as we all see it,
Muhammad has placed us with all people at the same level,
starting with his immediate kinsfolk.
Since Muhammad has equally included his own clan in the evil he has brought up,
it behoves us all to collaborate in stopping him.
On this we agree with Makhzoom and the rest of Quraysh.
Hind is right, Abu Al-Waleed.
A man's testimony for his wife!
It is not right that a man's testimony for his wife
should be better than that of a father for his daughter.
Had Hind been a man, she would have been the master of her people.
It would have been Abu Sufyan's loss: he loses a wife without winning position.
Abu Talib's orphan is a Prophet,
and I, his uncle, have to follow him and obey him!
You are better placed to be the Prophet.
Yes, I do deserve it more than him.
To me, this is the evidence that he is a liar.
Had it been true, it would not have missed me and been given to him.
Huh! It is not enough that he claims it for himself and boasts over me.
Worse still, he makes us targets for all Arabian tribes.
He wins the privilege and we shoulder the responsibility.
Haven't you disowned him and his action?
I did. I am indeed his fiercest enemy. Quraysh knows that.
- Then you are absolved of his evil. - Yes, I am.
But the Hashimites. They have obeyed Abu Talib, not me.
Would you have seen how they looked at me,
just like people look at a camel with scabies.
If the rest of Quraysh have absolved me of his evil,
the Hashimites have denounced me
for not toeing their line of protecting Muhammad.
Then there will be those Arabs who would say
that I have collaborated against my own nephew,
paying no heed for the ties of kinship.
This is a grave error in the view of all Arabs.
Umm Jameel, do you see my predicament? I am the loser, however I turn.
This is where Muhammad has landed me.
Isn't he dispraised? Yes, he is. Confound him.
By God, I will do my utmost to foil his efforts.
I shall castigate him and bring him low, until people say:
his uncle is testifying against him. Had he been telling the truth,
he would have been the first to support and defend him.
Do that, Abu Mu'attib. Al-Lat and Al-Uzza will be with you,
and I am with you. You will see what I will do to him.
Confound him! Confound him!
My brother Umar, how happy I am to see you.
- How are you, sister? - I am well as long as you are with us.
- And you, Saeed? - I am well, enjoying good blessings.
You are here? You prefer your sister's and cousin's company to mine.
No one replaces Umar.
- May I bring you some food or drink? - Just water
How did you find the people?
They have the same goal, but different means.
This does not bode well for Quraysh if it remains so.
Won't you explain?
All of them seek the same goal, which is to stop Muhammad and end his call,
but they cannot agree the cause. Some envy the Abd Manaf clan.
Some from Abd Manaf envy the Hashimites,
and some Hashimites envy the Abd Al-Muttalib branch,
and some in that branch envy Muhammad. Foul then is the cause.
What is the harm in having different causes if the aim is the same?
When the causes of hostility differ, the routes differ,
and this leads to missing the goal. Then they sat blaming each other.
They were in a situation where their own Differences
were greater than their conflict with Muhammad.
Results cannot be achieved in this way. No, they cannot.
Haven't you explained to them how they can be achieved?
Yes, indeed I did.
This angered my uncle Abu Al-Hakam.
Your uncle, Abu Al-Hakam! Quraysh will perish if they obey him.
- He is my uncle, anyway. - I don't envy you that,
but I would love to be the same as you in everything else.
Yet I am happy that we have the same father,
although we have different mothers.
By God, I love you more than anyone else.
I know that you are dutiful to your maternal uncles. Dutifulness is good,
but I also know that my brother, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab,
will only use his wisdom for a good purpose.
If he decides something and then finds a better alternative,
he would have no problem choosing what is better.
What we see of Umar is what he is like.
He does not sway to please anyone or for fear of anyone.
What he determines to be right is his religion,
no matter who is pleased with it and who is not,
even if it may be his uncle, Abu Al-Hakam Ibn Hisham.
Do not be disheartened by your lack of strength or small number,
or by the power enjoyed by the Quraysh masters and their arrogance.
By God other than whom there is no deity,
what God and His messenger have promised shall come true.
This faith shall reach the furthest points in the east and the west.
And God shall give us the kingdom of Persia and Byzantium.
Are you referring to the Persians and the Byzantines?
You think it to be too far away, don't you?
- Yes. - Yet, to God it is close at hand.
If you today suffer hardship on account of your faith,
remember the future God has promised.
You will then find your present hardship easier to bear.
We do believe what the Prophet says, Abu Bakr;
and we do believe that God's promise will certainly come true.
But Islam will not be triumphant unless the Arabs,
and these people of Quraysh who are hard against God and His messenger,
trying to turn us away of our faith, shall become Muslims.
Yes, indeed. They shall all embrace Islam,
except for those who will die before this faith will prevail.
You shall see many a person who is hostile to you today
will be your brother in faith tomorrow.
Therefore, I am telling you to take it easy.
Let not the present hostility of Quraysh towards you cause you to despair of them.
Kindness and gentle treatment always bring better results.
Indeed. Firmness in sticking to the truth in hard times
will bring different results to those which a hard attitude brings.
Falsehood cannot be countered by a similar falsehood.
It is refuted by the truth. Bad manners are countered by good manners.
A harsh opponent is best repelled by forbearance and wisdom.
Otherwise, our opponents will prevail as they force us to adopt their manners.
- You? - You don't seem pleased to see me.
I did not challenge you. It is your master whom you should blame.
What could I have done? It is either I win or you win.
Was it necessary that you should put all your strength in it,
- as though you were fighting an enemy. - We only do that to please our masters.
Would you kill me if your master orders you to do it?
- Only if it gains me my freedom. - What a cruel camel you are.
It is a quality of praise for a slave, but not for anyone else.
What is surprising? Would you not do it if you could gain your freedom?
- I won't. - This is because you are used to slavery.
Leave off. Who could get used to humiliation and slavery?
Do you have a drink that your master might have left?
Wahshi, you still drink too much.
Without it, I would either slay someone or be slain.
You will never change.
Only a person who is his own master can change.
How far we are from that.
Do you know, Bilal, we are so different, except in colour.
Yet it is enough for me to be friends with you.
No, it is not.
People get closer to each other through their minds, feelings and preferences.
Really?
Show me a man from Quraysh who is happy to say that you are close to him
in mind, feelings and preferences.
Huh! Why don't you answer, son of Hamamah?
- I am Rabah's son. - No, the son of Hamamah.
This is how they call you, after your mother
who was an Abyssinian slave woman. It does not matter who your father was.
Have you come to spoil my night?
Is there for the likes of us a night they fear to be spoilt?
Where do you go these days? You seem difficult to find.
On some errands for my master.
I don't think you are telling me the truth.
If it is something good, share it with me.
It is not right that you hide it from me.
- What do I have to hide from you? - This is what I am asking you.
I have nothing in answer.
Abu Talib, you are meeting this delegation once more.
We put our case to you last time, speaking gently to you.
You gave us some fine words, and we thought you will do as we asked.
However, we only find your nephew persisting with what he started,
and that more and more are joining him.
The less wise among us are accusing us of weakness and helplessness.
They have almost said to us: unless you deal with him we will,
even though it means that we don't listen to you.
Here we come to you again to say that
things have reached the limit with us. We will no longer tolerate this situation
in which our gods and forefathers are denounced and our elders are berated.
You must stop him or else we will fight him and you too,
until one party perishes.
What say you?
By God, they were unfair to him.
Should Abu Talib give up his nephew and hand him over to them,
he would lose my respect.
Where would be all moral values? Where would ties of kindred be?
Aren't such values a religion to the Arabs
How can they ask Abu Talib to disregard them?
He would lose all respect and would be denounced for ever.
But you were with them.
I advised against it, but they would not listen. They are the elders,
and I cannot split away from them when they have agreed something.
- I am just one of them. - You are getting us confused, Umar.
When Muhammad and his faith are mentioned, you are the most hostile.
We may think that you will go after him to kill him.
When your people think of clashing with the Hashimites over Muhammad,
you angrily criticize them. What do you want?
What good morality and integrity require.
I am only criticizing their view for the same reason I am hostile to Muhammad.
They say that Muhammad has criticized our religion, berated our elders,
and caused disunity among us. All this is true.
Hence, we should be against him.
Then they try to persuade Abu Talib to give up his nephew
when they know that this is against Arab tradition
and moral values which they extol in their poetry.
They neither accept Muhammad's message
nor stick to their forefathers' traditions.
The one who thinks that he can only win the war
by compromising his moral values will certainly come unstuck.
I am certainly unhappy with how matters have developed in this city of ours.
Would that I am back tending Al-Khattab's camels
in an open desert that sharpens vision and perception.
It remains untainted by creatures.
I have brought you some date paste from Yathrib.
Is it squeezed with butter? Wahshi does not accept anything less.
Great is your vanity.
- You have stolen it from your master. - Is that how you thank me, you ingrate?
You haven't bought it with your father's money.
If you don't want it, leave it. I know that you don't deserve it.
- Why did you bring it, then? - Perhaps I am a fool.
Indeed I am. Yet you have my sympathy.
I don't want anyone's sympathy. You are not my mother.
Hold it. I said nothing wrong.
I don't want to be your mother. I hope you will marry me.
Wahshi! Can't you smile at me for once?
So that you can see the whiteness of my teeth?
The whiteness of my teeth!
This is something we have in greater measure than the Arabs.
Huh! The whiteness of my teeth.
- You do know how to laugh. - The whiteness!
- Good morning, Abu Al-Waleed. - Good morning.
I am wondering about your brother, Abu Hudhayfah.
He has not been visiting us for some time.
If you like we can drop at his place.
Sit down.
Father, brother, how happy I am to see you. Welcome.
Won't you sit down, father?
Are you eating with your slave in one plate
Salim, do not leave until you have finished eating.
All right, sir. I have finished.
Have a good day, sir.
You shouldn't have broken his heart in this way.
Do you remonstrate with me in respect to your slave?
What will Quraysh say when they know that Utbah's son,
the chief of the Abd Shams clan, eats with his slave in one plate?
Why should I care for what people say when I have my own views?
You also possess Salim.
I own my love of him, just as I love my children.
What is the harm in my eating with him in one plate?
Wouldn't we be buried in the same soil when we die?
Yes, in the same soil, but not in the same grave.
Will there be masters and slaves in the graves, father?
The dead have no distinction in the graves, after having died.
It is only their ranks in life before death,
and the ranks of those they leave behind.
What use is that to the dead?
They take nothing with them except their good deeds.
What did you say?
Good deeds remain after a person dies.
You said they take their good deeds with them to their graves.
I understand it if you say that their good deeds continue to be remembered,
but that they take them with them...
Have you been meeting Muhammad and learning from him
about resurrection and reckoning?
Does he really say that?
I was not with you when he called the people at Al-Safa.
Won't you sit down now, father?
Shall I sit on a mat where your slave has been sitting?
Muhammad abuses me! Abuses me...
What are you doing?
Muhammad, or rather Muthammam, your nephew...
And yours.
He abuses me and my wife and threatens us with fire,
saying that it is Qur'an revealed to him.
No one has encouraged him to do so other than this one...
And this one...
And you. Yes, you.
- Is this what you do to your nephew? - I disown him and all he does.
If you don't refrain from this to maintain good manners, then out of shame. It is wicked.
And... I disown you, and this one, and this. I disown you all.
Abd Al-Muttalib would have been broken-hearted to see this.
People say: You may have a brother who was not born to your mother,
but no one ever said:' you may have an enemy born by your mother'.
Abu Lahab!
Haven't you forgotten something?
This!
Take it. Take it.
You shouldn't have done that. After all, he is your brother and older than you.
What a bad brother, and uncle.
What did he mean by being denounced in the Qur'an?
He continued to say 'Confound Muhammad', drumming up hostility to him
until Muhammad has recited this:
"Doomed are the hands of Abu Lahab; confounded is he.
His wealth and his gains shall avail him nothing.
He shall have to endure a flaming fire,
and his wife, the carrier of firewood, shall have a rope of palm fibre round her neck."
If there were a second life and a fire,
our brother Abu Lahab has deserved it by his action.
He is the most stupid of people,
or probably Muhammad is truly supported by revelations.
- What do you mean? - Had Abu Lahab willed,
he would have shown Muhammad's claims to be false in a moment.
How can he?
Hasn't he condemned him for the fire by this Qur'an?
It is a final judgement.
Yes, indeed.
All he has to do is to say in public that he believes in Muhammad
and he has adopted Islam to lead a life of piety.
He will thus render these verses false and show our nephew as a liar.
Thank God that he is such a fool.
We can now say this of him, if we don't say anything else.
Shall we now go in and speak to Muhammad about what those people are saying.
He may try to save himself and save us,
instead of giving us this too heavy burden.
Don't worry my nephew. By God, I do not mean to let you down
or refrain from supporting you.
I know now that you will not abandon your call
until God has given it victory or until you die advocating it.
If they would give you the sun in your right hand and the moon in your left hand,
you wouldn't desist, as you said. Go ahead, my nephew,
and say what you will. I will never, never let you down.
I knew it. He would never give in to these people,
even if they would place the earth's treasures before him,
or would raise great armies against him.
Should he have said anything other than what we heard,
he would have condemned himself as a liar.
What man would claim to be God's prophet and messenger,
and allow himself a choice...
to go ahead with his message or abandon it, to spare himself other people's designs?
Your delegation has gone twice to bu Talib, but to no avail.
Yes.
Muhammad continues with what he has started,
calling on people to believe in his religion and criticizing ours.
He plays on the weak-minded to spoil them.
Now we know for certain...
that Abu Talib will not surrender his nephew to us.
Abu al-Hakam,
Would you have surrendered him, had he been a son of yours?
I would stop him myself, if I would not surrender him to others.
If I don't, then no blame attaches to people
if they take him from me, even by force.
Muhammad's position is peculiar indeed.
He discards the bond of blood,
replacing it with the bond of religion among his followers,
regardless of their lineage, colours and ranks.
Yet when we try to take him, he is protected by his clan.
That's it. He takes from us for himself and for his religion,
but gives us nothing.
Now that we have despaired of Abu Talib doing anything, the time is right...
Yes, indeed. You have done what you could with Abu Talib and to no avail,
as my uncle, Abu al-Hakam said.
Yet it is wrong to confront the Hashim clan with hostility.
You will only make who disagree with Muhammad, flock to his support.
Abu Talib never said he was following Muhammad's faith.
Nor did Hamzah and al-Abbas. If they protect him,
it is because he is their kinsman.
Otherwise, they will be disgraced for giving up their son and disowning him.
Should they give him up, no one will ever hold them in respect.
Whoever does not support his son will not support his neighbour.
This is your own standard, people of Quraysh!
You have inherited these values and you continue to take pride in them.
I vouch that were the Hashimites to do your bidding concerning Muhammad,
you will be the first to treat them with contempt.
Indeed all of us will be viewed with contempt by the Arabs.
When the Hashim clan is disgraced for something,
you will all be disgraced for it. Among you, they are the ones in the lead.
Their chief, Abd al-Muttalib, was your undisputed master.
Everyone who wanted to do you good or evil turned to him...
We know all this. So, what do you suggest?
The upshot is that you must not hasten to confront the Hashimites
with hostility and severance of relations.
If you do, you drive them to embrace Muhammad's religion.
Once they do that, they will be joined by all those who consider them
the head clan of Quraysh.
People will think that since they are the custodians of the Kaabah
who also provide food and water for pilgrims.
May you live long, Umar. May we always benefit by your wisdom.
This is the right attitude to take.
All that we heard was what we should not do.
We heard nothing about what we should do.
While we have done whatever we can with Abu Talib,
we have not tried Muhammad himself.
Should we not talk to him? Should we not debate him?
Edited by: Ahmed Mersal. Proofread by: Doaa Ahmed Timecoded by: Sanaa Yousrey.