Abū Jahl's Answer

Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām found Abū Jahl in a gathering and told him, "This is the message I have for you from ʿUtbah." Abū Jahl told him, "ʿUtbah could not find anybody else to send but you." And then Abū Jahl said, "I swear his lungs are filled with terror at the sight of Muhammad and his men. By Allah, we will not return until Allah decides the issue between us and Muhammad. ʿUtbah is not sincere in what he says" — he sees Muhammad and his men as fodder for camels awaiting slaughter, meaning that Quraysh would slaughter the Muslims and win, "and his own son is there among them; he is scaring you for his own sake" — for ʿUtbah was afraid because his son was a Muslim, and did not want his own son to be killed, and that was why he was trying to get them to withdraw.

Abū Jahl, this devil, then went to the brother of ʿAmr al-Ḥaḍramī and said, "Your ally, your protector, ʿUtbah, wants to withdraw the army — go and inspire the army to fight." So the brother of ʿAmr al-Ḥaḍramī went and bared his head, and screamed, "Woe to ʿAmr, woe to ʿAmr!" and marched in front of the army, inspiring them to fight. Ibn Hishām says that so the mood for warfare grew heated, and the attitude of the Quraysh force hardened, and they became set in their evil course, while ʿUtbah's advice was ignored. ʿUtbah said, "That fellow with the filthy yellow backside will find out whether it is me or him whose lungs are filled with terror." So Abū Jahl not only swept the entire army with anger, but he was also able to drive ʿUtbah to a corner and make him so stubborn that ʿUtbah was the first one to stand forth and ask for a duel with a Muslim. This shows how effective this devil, Abū Jahl, was.

Let us stop here and comment on this. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was saying that whatever good may be in them resides in the man mounted on the red camel: if they were to obey him, they would be well guided. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is pointing to ʿUtbah, saying that if they follow him, they would be guided. So among the camp of the disbelievers there are voices of reason. There are men of wisdom; there are people who are moderate. However, when it comes to its being a battle against Islam — when it is a religious war with the intention of fighting the truth, the religion of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic — these voices of reason, these voices of moderation, are swept aside, and the voices of fanaticism and extremism gain the upper hand. And this is said because sometimes Muslims think that, well, since among the enemies of Allah there are people who are anti-war, there are people who are supportive of Muslim causes, there are people who are moderate, these voices are the overwhelming voices, and there is hope that their opinion will overcome the voices of extremism. Well, that is the case sometimes when it is a battle between kuffār and kuffār. But when it comes to fighting against the enemy of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, or the followers of the enemy of Allah, it is different. We have to understand that here we are dealing with a different game. Abū Sufyān — did he not urge the army of Quraysh to go back? Was he not representing a voice of reason?