An offer by the infidel's of Makkah to the Holy Prophet ﷺ
The infidels of Quraysh, who are the direct addressees of this Surah, tried very hard to suppress the propagation of Islam in early days after the revelation of the Qur'an, through the use of physical force, and tried equally hard to intimidate the Messenger of Allah and those who believed in him by causing to them all sorts of pains and agonies. But despite their opposition, Islam kept on widening the circle of its adherents, and increasing in strength. At first powerful and valiant persons like Sayyidna ` Umar Ibn Khattab ؓ entered Islam, then Sayyidna Hamzah ؓ ، one of the accepted leaders of Quraysh, embraced Islam. Now the Quraysh of Makkah started thinking that, instead of intimidation, persuasion and temptation may be more effective in blocking the way for Islam. An incident of this nature has been reproduced by Hafiz Ibn Kathir from the reports of Musnad of Bazzar, Abu Ya` la and Baghawi. There are some differences in these reports. Hafiz Ibn Kathir has considered the report of Baghawi to be the nearest to the truth. And then he has reproduced this incident from the book 'Kitab-us-Sirah' written by Muhammad Ibn Ishaq and has preferred this version to the other three. Therefore, this incident is being reproduced here in accordance with the report of Ibn Ishaq.
Muhammad Ibn Ishaq has stated that Muhammad Ibn Ka'b Qurazi says that this report has reached him from ` Utbah Ibn Rabi` ah who was recognized as one of the foremost leaders of Quraysh. One day he was sitting in Al-Masjid-ul-Haram with a party of Quraysh, while the Messenger of Allah was sitting alone in a corner on the other side.
` Utbah asked his people, "If you agree, I would like to talk to Muhammad (ﷺ) and offer him some attractions, so that if he accepts them, we give them to him and he, in exchange, would cease to propagate against our religion and faith. This was a time when Sayyidna Hamzah had become a Muslim, and the number of Muslims was increasing, and they were getting stronger day by day. All of ` Utbah's men spoke with one voice, and said "0 ` Abul-Walid ('Utbah's filial name) ! "Do so. Please talk to him".
` Utbah got up from his place, and went upto the Holy Prophet ﷺ and said, "0 nephew! you know that you are high-born and a noble man of the Quraysh; your family is large, noble and respectable to all of us. But you have put the tribe in a great difficulty. You have given such an invitational call which has created differences among us, has made us fools, has stigmatized our deities and our religion, and declared our forefathers to be infidels. So please listen to me. I am going to present a few things to you, so that you may select any of them. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "0 ` Abdul Walid! go ahead and say what you wish to say; I am listening to you."
` Utbah ` Abul Walid said, "0 nephew! If the purpose of your movement is to collect possessions, we promise to collect so much wealth for you that you would become the wealthiest person of the nation. If the purpose is to become a leader and a ruler, then all of us would accept you as the leader of the whole of Quraysh, and would not do anything without your order. If you want kingdom, then we accept you as our king. And if the case is that some Jinn or Satan comes to you, and compels you to do these things and you are unable to drive him away, then we will have you treated at our expense, because we know that a person prevailed upon by a Satan can be cured by treatments." ` Utbah kept on speaking at some length and the Holy Prophet ﷺ kept on listening to him.
At the end, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, "0 ` Abul Walid! Have you finished? When he said yes, then the Holy Prophet ﷺ said to him, "Now please listen to me." And ` Utbah replied, "No doubt, I would listen to you."
The Holy Prophet ﷺ ، instead of saying anything himself started reciting Surah Fussilat (the present Surah):
بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ۔ حم تَنزِيلٌ مِّنَ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ كِتَابٌ فُصِّلَتْ آيَاتُهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لِّقَوْمٍ يَعْلَمُونَ
"With the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful." Merciful. Ha Meem. This is a revelation from the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful-- a book whose verses are elaborated in the form of an Arabic Qur'an for a people who understand."
Bazzar and Baghawi narrate that, during the recitation of the verses of this Surah, when the Holy Prophet reached this verse:
فَإِنْ أَعْرَضُوا فَقُلْ أَنذَرْتُكُمْ صَاعِقَةً مِّثْلَ صَاعِقَةِ عَادٍ وَثَمُودَ
"So, if they turn away, then say,” I have warned you of a calamity like the calamity of ` Ad and Thamud," (41:13)
` Utbah put his hand on the blessed mouth of Holy Prophet ﷺ ، and asked him to have mercy on his lineage and relationship, and not to recite any further for their sake. Ibn Ishaq narrates that when the Holy Prophet ﷺ commenced the recitation of these verses, ` Utbah listened quietly and attentively while supporting his back by his hands, till the Holy Prophet ﷺ reached the verse of Sajdah in this Surah and prostrated. Then he addressed ` Utbah, and said to him, "You have heard what you heard, and now you are free to do what you like." ` Utbah got up and started walking towards his party. When they saw him coming, his party members started saying among themselves that, by God, ` Abul Walid's face has changed - it is not the same as it was when he had gone. When ` Utbah reached them, they asked him, "What is the news you have come with?" He said to them:
انِی سمعت قولا واللہ ما سمعت مثلہ قط، واللہ ما ھو بالسحر ولا بالشعر ولا بالکھانۃ ، یا معشر قریش اطیعونی واجلُھا لی، خَلُوّوا بین الرجل وبین ما ھو فیہ فاعتزلوہ فو اللہ لیکونن لقولہ الزی سمعت نباء، فان تصبہ العرب فقد کفیتموہ بغیرکم، وان یظھر علی العرب فمل کہ ملککم وعزہ عزّکم و کنتم اسعد الناس بہٖ
"I heard such a discourse that, by God, I have never heard any discourse like it before; by God, it is neither a sorcerer's enchantment, nor a poet's poetry, nor a wizard incantation (which they obtain from shaitans). 0 my tribe of Quraysh! Listen to me, and let me handle this matter. My advice is that you should give up confronting him, and let him go about his business, because this discourse of his is bound to receive eminence. You should wait and see how the rest of Arabia treats them. If, besides Quraysh, the rest of Arabs defeat them, then your problem is solved without any effort on your part, and if he prevails on the rest of Arabs, then his rule will be your rule, their honor will be your honor, and you will be the luckiest people because of him." (Ibn Kathir p. 91, vol. 4)
When his Qurayshi companions heard his speech, they said to him "0 Abul Walid! Muhammad has cast an enchanting spell upon you with his words." ` Utbah replied to them, "I have given you my advice, and now it is upto you to do what you like.