Table of Contents
The First Shock and Denial
When the Prophet ﷺ publicly called his people to Islam and warned them of the hereafter, the leaders of Quraysh were taken by surprise. Until that point, they had known him only as an honest and trustworthy man. The first clear sign of their reaction appeared in the famous gathering on Mount Safa. After the Prophet ﷺ asked them whether they would believe him if he warned of an enemy behind the mountain, they replied, as in the hadith:
قَالُوا نَعَمْ، مَا جَرَّبْنَا عَلَيْكَ إِلَّا صِدْقًا
They said, "Yes, we have never experienced from you anything but truth."
[Sahih al Bukhari]
Yet when he told them:
فَإِنِّي نَذِيرٌ لَّكُم بَيْنَ يَدَيْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ
"I am indeed a clear warner to you before a severe punishment."
[Quran 67:26]
they did not respond with faith. Instead, their pride and attachment to old ways pushed them toward rejection. His uncle Abu Lahab stood up and said words of insult and dismissal. Allah revealed:
تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ
"Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab, and perish he."
[Quran 111:1]
This marked the beginning of Quraysh moving from private annoyance to open, public denial of the Prophet ﷺ and his message.
Accusations Against the Prophet ﷺ
The Quraysh chiefs knew that they could not accuse the Prophet ﷺ of lying about worldly matters. His reputation as Al Amin made that impossible. Their strategy was to redefine him in the eyes of the people so that his call would lose credibility. Different groups among them tried different labels.
Some called him a poet. Allah recorded their words:
بَلْ يَقُولُونَ شَاعِرٌ نَّتَرَبَّصُ بِهِ رَيْبَ الْمَنُونِ
"But they say, 'A poet, for whom we wait some misfortune of time'."
[Quran 52:30]
Others called him a magician, claiming that he separated relatives through his message. The Quran mentions:
وَقَالَ الظَّالِمُونَ إِن تَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا رَجُلًا مَّسْحُورًا
"And the wrongdoers say, 'You follow none but a man affected by magic'."
[Quran 25:8]
They accused him of being a madman:
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ بِهِ جِنَّةٌ ۚ بَلْ جَاءَهُم بِالْحَقِّ
"Or do they say, 'There is madness in him'? Rather, he has brought them the truth."
[Quran 23:70]
They also claimed he was a sorcerer who brought tales from the ancients:
وَقَالُوا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ اكْتَتَبَهَا
"And they say, 'Tales of the former peoples which he has had written down'."
[Quran 25:5]
These accusations were not consistent. At one time they called him a poet, at another a magician, then a madman, then someone taught by others. Their confusion is itself a sign that they were resisting a truth that they could not refute clearly.
The Quraysh could not deny the Prophet’s personal integrity, so they attacked his message by using shifting accusations: poet, madman, magician, storyteller taught by others.
Private Negotiations and Failed Compromises
As the Prophet ﷺ continued to recite the Quran publicly and call people to worship Allah alone, some of the chiefs of Quraysh tried to negotiate with him. They hoped he would soften his message or accept some sort of compromise.
They offered him wealth, leadership, and even marriage if he would stop criticizing their idols. The Prophet ﷺ answered in words reported in seerah narrations that showed his firmness. Among the most famous reports is that he said if they placed the sun in his right hand and the moon in his left, he would not abandon his call until Allah made it victorious or he died in the effort. This showed Quraysh that their normal methods of buying off critics would not work on him.
Some of them suggested a religious compromise as mentioned in the Quran, that they would worship Allah for a year if he would worship their idols for a year. Allah revealed:
قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ
لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ
"Say, 'O disbelievers,
I do not worship what you worship'."
[Quran 109:1–2]
This surah closed the door on any idea of mixing the worship of Allah with the worship of idols. The Quraysh leaders saw clearly that the Prophet ﷺ would accept no middle path between tawhid and shirk.
Pressure from Tribal and Familial Pride
Quraysh were tied strongly to their traditions, ancestors, and tribal honor. The Prophet ﷺ, by calling them away from idol worship, was challenging a system that defined their identity and status.
The Quran describes their argument:
إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَىٰ أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِم مُّقْتَدُونَ
"Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are in their footsteps following."
[Quran 43:23]
They felt that accepting Islam would mean that their ancestors had been wrong. For the proud leaders of Quraysh this was a painful idea. They also feared that abandoning their idols would damage their position among the Arabs, since the Kaaba and its idols brought them both respect and income through pilgrimage.
Their fear is mentioned:
وَقَالُوا لَا تَذَرُنَّ آلِهَتَكُمْ
"And they said, 'Do not abandon your gods'."
[Quran 71:23]
This attachment to ancient customs and the fear of losing status in Arabia were powerful reasons behind their rejection. Their reaction was not only about theology, it was also about keeping their social and political power.
Public Ridicule and Mockery
As the message of Islam spread among both the noble and the weak, Quraysh increased their use of insult and mockery. They tried to make the Prophet ﷺ and his followers look foolish in order to stop people from listening.
Allah described this pattern:
وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ
"Woe to every scorner and mocker."
[Quran 104:1]
They joked about the resurrection and the Day of Judgment, and twisted the words of the Quran to make them sound strange. Allah revealed:
وَإِذَا رَآكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِن يَتَّخِذُونَكَ إِلَّا هُزُوًا
"And when those who disbelieve see you, they take you not except in ridicule."
[Quran 21:36]
Some of the most powerful men of Quraysh, such as Abu Jahl, would mock the prayers of the Prophet ﷺ, stand in his path, or speak loudly and disrespectfully when he recited the Quran. Their goal was to make public belief in him something shameful.
Yet Allah protected His messenger. About the one who constantly mocked and harmed the Prophet ﷺ and took pride in his wealth and sons, Allah said:
إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ
"Indeed, the one who hates you, he is the one cut off."
[Quran 108:3]
Their mockery did not stop the dawah but instead exposed their bad character and hardened hearts.
Attempts to Block the Quran Being Heard
The Quran had a powerful effect on those who heard it. Quraysh leaders understood this very well. They saw men and women changing their lives after hearing just a few verses. So they tried to prevent people from listening to the recitation.
Allah records their strategy:
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَا تَسْمَعُوا لِهَٰذَا الْقُرْآنِ وَالْغَوْا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَغْلِبُونَ
"And those who disbelieve say, 'Do not listen to this Quran, and speak noisily during its recitation so that you may overcome'."
[Quran 41:26]
They would make noise, clap, shout, or talk over the recitation in order to drown it out. They warned travelers and pilgrims not to listen to Muhammad ﷺ, calling him a sorcerer who would captivate minds through his words.
Ironically, some of their own leaders, like Abu Sufyan and others, were drawn in secret to listen to the recitation of the Prophet ﷺ at night. Reports mention that they would stand outside his home at night to hear the Quran, and when they realized that the others were doing the same, they felt ashamed. This showed that inside their hearts they recognized some truth, even while they publicly opposed him.
Quraysh feared the effect of the Quran, so they tried to block people from hearing it through noise, warnings, and labeling it as dangerous magic.
Hostility Mixed with Recognition of Truth
Although the leaders of Quraysh fought against the Prophet ﷺ, many of them admitted in private that his words were beautiful, powerful, and not like human speech. Allah says:
قَدْ نَعْلَمُ إِنَّهُ لَيَحْزُنُكَ الَّذِي يَقُولُونَ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَا يُكَذِّبُونَكَ وَلَٰكِنَّ الظَّالِمِينَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ يَجْحَدُونَ
"We certainly know that what they say grieves you. For indeed, they do not call you a liar, but it is the verses of Allah that the wrongdoers reject."
[Quran 6:33]
This verse shows that deep down they knew he was truthful. Their problem was with the message, not with his honesty. They refused to surrender to Allah, not because they were convinced he was false, but because doing so meant giving up pride, idols, and control.
Allah describes this inner state:
وَجَحَدُوا بِهَا وَاسْتَيْقَنَتْهَا أَنفُسُهُمْ ظُلْمًا وَعُلُوًّا
"And they rejected them, while their souls were convinced of them, out of injustice and arrogance."
[Quran 27:14]
Their reaction combined open hostility with hidden recognition. This makes their rejection even more serious, because it was not only ignorance, but also arrogance against a truth they partly recognized.
Escalation Toward Persecution
As more people entered Islam and as the Prophet ﷺ continued to criticize idol worship and injustice, simple mockery and argument were no longer enough for Quraysh. Their fear and anger grew. They began to move from verbal opposition toward physical pressure and persecution, especially against the weak, the slaves, and those without tribal protection.
Their complaints about the Prophet ﷺ intensified:
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِرُسُلِهِمْ لَنُخْرِجَنَّكُم مِّنْ أَرْضِنَا أَوْ لَتَعُودُنَّ فِي مِلَّتِنَا
"And those who disbelieved said to their messengers, 'We will surely drive you out of our land, or you must return to our religion'."
[Quran 14:13]
Although this verse speaks in general about past messengers, it applies to the attitude of Quraysh as well. The direction of their reaction was clear. They were preparing to use social and economic pressure, torture, and collective measures to silence the message of Islam.
The Prophet ﷺ remained firm, patient, and gentle, even while their reaction became harsher. The detailed forms of their persecution belong to the later events of this stage, but they rise directly out of the early reactions of denial, accusation, mockery, and fear that appeared from the moment he called them openly on Mount Safa.