During the cultivation phase, the Quraysh were aware of the da’wah of the Prophet ﷺ, but paid little attention to it. The message posed no threat at that time to their religion, their position or their trade interests. After all, they were familiar with Christians and Jews who naturally had religious disagreements with the Makkans. The relationship that the Quraysh and other Arabs had with Jews and Christians, both within and outside the Arabian Peninsula, as we discussed in the Jahiliyyah articles, was characterised by coexistence. There was never persecution on the basis of religious conviction.
What then was the real problem? Why would the attitude of the Quraysh shift from indifference to open hostility?
The Prophet ﷺ Ascends Al-Safa
When the Prophet ﷺ received the command to proclaim his message publicly, he climbed the mountain of Al-Safa. From this hill, which overlooked the rooftops and alleys of Makkah, he called out in a loud voice the well-known distress call:
يَا صَبَاحَاهْ
"O, woe of the morning!"
The distress call of the Arabs in times of imminent danger
This was an alarm signal that was raised when an enemy attack or disaster was imminent. The people of Quraysh came streaming in. Those who could not come sent messengers to hear what was happening. When the tribes had gathered, the Prophet ﷺ called them by name, tribe by tribe.
The Prophet ﷺ: O Banu 'Abd al-Muttalib! O Banu 'Abd Manaf! O Banu Zuhra! O Banu Fihr!
The Prophet ﷺ: If I were to tell you that behind this mountain an army is about to attack you, would you believe me?
The Quraysh: Yes! We have never heard anything from you but the truth.
The Prophet ﷺ: Then I am a warner to you of a severe punishment that lies ahead of you.
The silence that fell was brief. Abu Lahab, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ, stood up and cried:
“Tabban laka! May you perish! Is this what you have gathered us here for?”
At that moment it was revealed:
تَبَّتۡ يَدَآ أَبِي لَهَبٖ وَتَبَّ مَآ أَغۡنَىٰ عَنۡهُ مَالُهُۥ وَمَا كَسَبَ سَيَصۡلَىٰ نَارٗا ذَاتَ لَهَبٖ
May the hands of Abu Lahab perish, and may he himself perish. His wealth and what he has earned will not benefit him. He will burn in a flaming fire.
Surah Al-Masad: 1-3
The reaction of Abu Lahab is telling. He did not reject the warning on substantive grounds, not with arguments, not with an alternative. He rejected the messenger. This pattern, attacking the person instead of the message, would repeat itself time and again in the confrontation between Islam and the Makkan elite.
Islam: More Than a Spiritual Disagreement
Why did the Quraysh react so fiercely? After all, they had lived alongside Jews and Christians for years without conflict. The answer lies in the nature of the message itself.
The message of Islam was not a purely spiritual matter. It was not simply a call to worship one God instead of many, although tawheed was at its core. It was a call for a complete transformation of society: its laws, its customs, its power structures. Islam presented itself as an alternative to the established order, not as an addition to it.
This is what we mean when we speak of the tawheed that was central in this phase. Tawheed is often reduced to individual, spiritual worship. But tawheed in its true meaning touches upon everything: who has the right to establish laws? Who determines what is permitted and forbidden? Who manages the affairs of the people? The answer of Islam to all these questions is unequivocal: Allah ﷻ alone.
This was precisely what the Quraysh understood. They saw that this message, if it were to take root, would undermine their entire position of power. The Ka’bah, which they controlled, was not only a religious centre but also the hub of their political and economic power. The idols they housed attracted pilgrims from all over Arabia, pilgrims who traded at their markets and concluded treaties on their terms.
The Prophet ﷺ as Warner
After the proclamation on Al-Safa, the Prophet ﷺ began inviting to Islam day and night. Everyone he encountered, free or slave, weak or strong, rich or poor, he ﷺ regarded everyone as equal with respect to receiving the message.
The responses varied. Some listened and embraced Islam. Others rejected the message but respected the messenger. And a third group, led by Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab, chose open hostility. Not because the Prophet ﷺ was speaking untruths, for they themselves had acknowledged his trustworthiness on the mountain, but because the implications of his message were too great to accept.
The Prophet ﷺ was not discouraged. He ﷺ continued to invite, continued to warn, continued to seek dialogue. The cultivation that had begun in secret now entered the public arena. The phase of interaction with society, of the intellectual struggle between Islam and the established order, had begun.