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Most non-Muslims in India are broadly aware of the
major events in the life of Prophet Muhammad (SWS).
For instance, the fact that he had to migrate to Yathrib,
now Madina, because of the persecution at Makkah,
is generally known; but the high drama associated
with the event may not perhaps be known that widely.
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- Ever
since the call to prophet hood came to him at the
age of 40, Muhammad preached against idol worship,
bringing out the absurdity of man praying to an object
made by another man.
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Ka'bah, which housed as many as 360 idols of all sorts
at that time, was a source of a great deal of prestige
and monetary benefits accruing from the pilgrims,
to the residents of Makkah. The principal male deity,
Hobbal, was larger than life-size statue of Red Carnelian;
fearsome and of course, fabulous in value. It held
seven arrows and the Arabs used to throw them on the
ground to know the Gods' approval or otherwise for
anything of importance. The pattern that the arrows
made was then interpreted as `God's will'.
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- Thus,
the residents of Makkah perceived Muhammad as a clear
threat to their way of life and all were agreed that
he had to be stopped; the question was how! They tried
in vain bribe, abuse, ridicule and social ostracism.
The only recourse left was to kill him; but then,
that would have started a blood feud with the Prophet's
clan, the Bani Hashim. (It is interesting to observe
that hardly 4 or 5 of the Bani Hashim were Muslims
at this point of time; but clan loyalties transcended
these considerations).
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