46 In lIN FooIJltpr oj fhl Prophll
Rumors spread that Muhammad was actually a sorcc=rcr, that he broke
up families, separated parentS from their children and husbands from
[heir wives, and was a troublemaker. \Vhen the time for the annual mar-
ket period grew near, the clan chiefs, fearing that t-,'Iuhammad might
s pread his message among visitors. had men posted at the various
entmnces o f 1 1ccca: they were to warn arr iving \;51(o r 5 of the mischief
caused by Muhammad and his Companions. T he isolation strategy
worked fairly well, although some people did not allow themselves to be
influenced. such as the highway robber Abu Dharr, from Banu Ghifar.
I laving heard of this new message calling for faith in onc God, he came
to the Pro phet in sp ite of the Quraysh people's warn ings. lie found
l\ luhammad lying in the shade near the Kaba. He called the Prophet's
name and asked abo ut his message: he listened , then immediately pro-
nounced the profession of faith, surp rising the Prophet, who said, look-
ing at him: "God guides whom He wittJ" Abu D harr aJ-Ghifari was [Q
become one of the Prophet's most famous Companions; he was known
fo r his devotion, his rigor, and his c riticism of luxury and laziness.
The Prophet was facing humiliatlon and mocker)'. People asked him
for miracles and proofs, and he tirelessl)' answered by quoting the Quran
and saying, ''1 am but a messenger!" The pressure grew, and increasingly
violent manifestations of o pposition start ed to appear. Clan chiefs partic-
ularly attacked poor ,\ tustims and (bose who were not protected by any
clan. Thus the slave BilaJ had been tied up by his maSter in the desert, in
the sun. I-lis maste r placed a boulder on his stomach to force him [Q
abjure his faith, but Bilal ke pt repeating: " He is One, lie is One." Abu
Bakr later bought BilaJ (as he did fo r many other sla\'es) and set him free.
Bilal was later to become the muezzin of Medina, unanimously respected
fo r the sincerity of his faith, his devotion, and the beauty of his \'oice.23
A man from the l\lakhzum tri be , named Amr, was to express his o p po-
sition to Islam in the most cruel mannet. His kin called rum Abu aJ-
H akanl (father of wise judgmem), but the ft.'l uslims, confro nted with his
refusal to see and his coarseness, called him Abu Jahl (father of igno-
rance). He once went to meet the Prophet and insulted him with such
hatred that those who heard him, even lhough they were nm l\'Iuslims.
considered he had transgressed the honor code by humiliating Muham-
mad in dus way. Hearing this, Ilamzah, the Prophet's uncle, intcrvcned.
H e went up to Abu Jahl and threatened him WIth rcptlSals If he behaved