The Quraysh had tried everything: they had slandered the Muslims, expelled them from their homes and even tortured them. Despite all this, two great heroes like Hamza and Umar ﵄ had become Muslim. The Quraysh therefore tried a different approach. According to Ibn Ishaq, the notables of Makkah were assembled near the Ka’bah. 'Utbah ibn Rabi’ah, one of the leaders of the Quraysh, came with the proposal to approach the Prophet ﷺ and make him an offer. 'Utbah ibn Rabi’ah would offer the Prophet ﷺ wealth and in return he would stop inviting people to Islam. The Quraysh agreed and assigned him this task.
The First Attempt with 'Utbah ibn Rabi’ah
'Utbah approached the Prophet ﷺ with the following words:
O nephew! You are a man who holds an important position among us with your noble lineage. Yet you approach your people with a great matter that has divided the people. You have offended their gods and religions and accused our forefathers and elders of godlessness and error, and have thereby caused conflict among us. Therefore listen to my proposals so that you may consider them and perhaps accept one of them.
The Prophet ﷺ agreed to listen to the proposal and listened. 'Utbah said:
O nephew! If you do all these things with the goal of amassing wealth, then we will collect money and give you greater wealth than any Qurayshi has ever obtained. If you are driven by ambition, then we will make you our leader. If you seek kingship, then we are prepared to offer you this. If you are under the influence of an evil spirit and cannot rid yourself of it, then we will engage capable healers to cure you.
Have you said everything? asked the Prophet ﷺ. After 'Utbah had finished, he began to recite Surah Fussilat:
Ha-Meem. This is a revelation from Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. A Book whose verses are explained in detail, as an Arabic Quran, for a people who know. As a bearer of good tidings and a warner, but most of them turn away, so they do not listen. And they say: Our hearts are veiled from that to which you invite us, in our ears is deafness and between us and you is a partition. So work (in your way); verily we work (in our way). Surah Fussilat 1-5
The Prophet ﷺ recited the entire surah while 'Utbah listened attentively. And when he had finished reciting, he ﷺ said to 'Utbah:
You have heard my response. You are free to do as you wish.
'Utbah went back to the other leaders to inform them of the Prophet’s ﷺ response. He told them about the details of the conversation between the two of them, and especially the response that the Prophet ﷺ gave. He said:
I have never heard words like what he recited. They are not poetry, nor sorcery, nor the words of a soothsayer. O people of Quraysh! I ask you to take my advice to heart and grant this man complete freedom in pursuing his goals, so that you may safely separate yourselves from him. I swear that his words carry an exalted message. Should the other Arabs dispose of him, then they would spare you from the problem. On the other hand, should he gain authority over the Arabs, then you will benefit from his kingship and share in his power.
Naturally, these words fell on deaf ears and they even began to mock 'Utbah, accusing him of having been bewitched by the Prophet ﷺ.
The Second Attempt with the Leaders of the Quraysh
Despite the failed attempt by 'Utbah, the Quraysh still had hope. The notables of the Quraysh gathered on another day near the Ka’bah, but decided to invite the Prophet ﷺ to join them this time. When the Prophet ﷺ appeared, they came with the same offer that 'Utbah had already made earlier. He made clear that he could not agree to this; he was merely a Messenger who proclaimed the Message from his Lord. If they would accept this, they would benefit from it in this life and the Hereafter. If they would reject it, then he would be patient with them until Allah judges between them and the Prophet ﷺ.
They then asked the Prophet ﷺ to show a sign. Could the Prophet ﷺ ask his Lord to move a mountain, or to crush the city, or to make the dawn appear, or to bring the dead back to life so that they could believe in him? The Prophet ﷺ responded in the same manner once again. Then they asked him whether he could ask his Lord to send an angel to them who could confirm what he said, who could bring gardens, treasures and palaces of gold and silver. Again, the Prophet ﷺ answered in the same manner. When they asked him to bring a punishment upon them, to cause a part of the sky to fall upon them, the Prophet ﷺ responded:
That is up to Allah. He does as He wills.
They began to sharply criticise and even threaten the Prophet ﷺ, and he left the gathering. After the Prophet ﷺ had left the gathering, Abu Jahl began to address the people. He said:
O people of Quraysh! It appears that Muhammad is determined to find fault with our religion, whereby he humiliates our forefathers, discredits our way of life and insults our gods. I testify before our god that, to be rid of him once and for all, I will drop a large stone on his head when he is in prostration. I do not fear the consequences from his tribe, Banu 'Abd Manaf.
The crowd approved of this idea and encouraged him to carry it out. The next day, when Abu Jahl was waiting for the Prophet ﷺ to perform the prayer, the Quraysh were waiting for news. When the Prophet ﷺ was in prostration, Abu Jahl carried the large stone to strike his blow. The moment he came close to the Prophet ﷺ, Abu Jahl froze with fear and dropped the stone. The people who witnessed it rushed towards him and asked him what was the matter. He told them that when he approached the Prophet ﷺ, an absurdly large male camel with terrifying tusks came between them and nearly devoured him. Ibn Hisham narrated regarding this incident that the Prophet ﷺ said:
This was Jibril ﵇. Had Abu Jahl come any closer, he would have killed him.
The Quraysh Try a Third Time
Despite having tried to kill the Prophet ﷺ, the Quraysh still hoped they could reach some kind of compromise. They were willing to give up part of their religion and their way of life if the Prophet ﷺ would do the same. They thought that if what the Prophet ﷺ brought was true, they would naturally arrive at the truth through this arrangement. It was, as it were, a ‘safe’ transition. In Ibn Ishaq we read that one day, when the Prophet ﷺ was performing tawaf, there was a group of people who were mocking him. These included Al-Aswad bin Al-Mutallib bin Asad bin Abdul Uzza, Al-Walid bin Al-Mugirah, Umaiyya bin Khalaf and Al-'As bin Wa’il As-Sahmi, and they were the ‘elders’ of the Quraysh.
They said: O Muhammad! Come and let us worship what you worship, and you worship what we worship. We will be partners with you in this matter. If the one you worship is better than what we worship, then we will get some benefit from it. While if what we worship is better than what you worship, then you will get benefit from it.
So Allah ﷻ revealed:
Say: O disbelievers! I do not worship what you worship. Nor do you worship what I worship. And I will not worship what you worship. Nor will you worship what I worship. For you is your religion and for me is my religion. Surah Al-Kafiroon 1-6
In Conclusion
Abu Talib feared for the safety of the Prophet ﷺ. There had been multiple attempts on the Prophet’s ﷺ life. He ﷺ rejected all their proposals, and he understood that Quraysh was growing more desperate by the day. He decided to gather his family, Banu Hashim and Banu Al-Muttalib, and appeal to their tribal code: that they would stand by their tribesman, the Prophet ﷺ, at all costs and protect him. Everyone agreed to this except his brother Abu Lahab, who sided with the polytheists.