Economic Factors and Power, This is the Reason for the Magistrates of Makkah Reluctant to Follow the Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad

 

Economic Factors and Power, This is the Reason for the Magistrates of Makkah Reluctant to Follow the Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad

The Meccan rulers apparently acknowledged the truth of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, but because of worldly interests and their power closed their hearts from the truth.

The history of the journey of the Prophet Muhammad does leave interesting stories. There have been many books in various languages ​​that cover this. Both the history of the life of the Prophet and the life of Arabia long before the arrival of this last Prophet. One of them is Muhammad; Prophet and Statesmen by Montgomery Watt which has also been translated into Indonesian. In the book, Watt tries to trace and present anthropological facts of pre-Islamic Arabia to corroborate history. Customs and traditions that have existed for a long time will not only determine the character of the verses of the Koran, but also the patterns and approaches of the Prophet in spreading his teachings.

One thing that is interesting is Watt's description of the trade traditions of the Arabs in general, especially Mecca. As an area that is mostly arid and rocky, at that time they were well aware that nothing could be expected from its natural resources. As an option, they trade as an effort to survive. Some of them do raise livestock, but this is quite difficult because it requires them to keep moving in search of fertile grassy land to feed their livestock. With the difficult and harsh character of desert life, some groups are also used to robbing caravans that pass from various countries, in an effort to survive.

In Mecca, the existence of the Kaaba has made it a sacred and holy place for a long time. Nomads from various parts of Arabia, at certain times always come to perform rituals (pilgrimage) and worship idols. The concept of arba'atun urum which has actually existed for a long time has actually been used by many people to flock to Mecca without worrying about being attacked by other groups.

The crowds of pilgrims to the Kaaba, like the pilgrimage today, make the velocity of money in this area very high. Not only that. The strategic location of Makkah as a trade route, this city is always crowded with trade caravans. Obviously, this is a wetland. By imposing trade taxes, the prominent tribal rulers and rulers of Makkah (Kaaba) not only had great influence, but also made huge profits. In Mecca itself, there was also competition between tribes as a struggle for the power of the Kaaba area.

On the other hand, the Meccans actually also did illegal acts . They carried out violent conquests of territory, and clashed with other groups as an effort to expand their trading territory. The treasures obtained from these enemies are then used as their costs for expansion. This is what they did, until later they controlled the Ukaz market and the areas around the city of Taif. It was later discovered that Taif was one of the main competitors in the trade of the city of Makkah. Watt said, until the 600s AD the Meccans controlled almost all trade through western Arabia.

In short, then came the Prophet as predicted to come in their area. On the way, in fact they did not reject the arrival of Muhammad. However, when he started preaching to touch the aspect of monotheism so that he had to get rid of the idols around the Kaaba, some of the rulers of Mecca were disturbed. Accepting Muhammad's concept of divinity was tantamount to destroying the Meccan economy. Because it will eliminate the Kaaba religious tourists. This economic threat factor became one of the main factors in the reluctance of some Meccan authorities to accept the teachings of the Prophet.

The verses that were first revealed, about "the prohibition of collecting and keeping property for personal use", and "the need to love orphans", were seen as God's efforts to rebuke the capitalist and materialist behavior of the wealthy Meccan merchants who liked to monopolize trade and neglect weak groups. In this context, the weaker groups are those who do not socially have a large family /tribal backing, so they are vulnerable to being oppressed by financially strong merchants.

The evidences of the reluctance of the Meccan authorities to reject the teachings of Muhammad, which they themselves actually acknowledged as true, were also revealed by Ibn Hisham. In his Srah it is told, there were three leaders of the Quraysh of Mecca who deliberately went out at night just to listen to the reading of the Prophet's Quran, namely Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahal, and Akhnas bin Shuraiq. They secretly came and put their ear to the wall of the Prophet's house. Uniquely, they came individually and listened on different sides of the Prophet's house, so that none of the three of them knew each other.

It was so fun, they didn't realize they had been listening until dawn. They immediately panicked and immediately tried to leave the Prophet's house. But at a crossroads, the three meet and suspect and accuse each other. Finally they all admitted to what they had just done, but agreed to keep this a secret and would not do it again. They warned that if the people of Mecca found out, they would drop their leadership. Then, they separated.

The next night, it turned out that the three people were repeating it again without each other's knowledge, and met again at the same crossroads. As in the previous night, they again made the same agreement. In fact, this repeated for three nights.

From what was revealed by Montgomery Watt and the story of Ibn Hisham, the Meccan authorities actually acknowledged the truth of Muhammad. However, worldly factors such as the threat of losing their source of economic income and power closed their hearts from that truth. Also, from the very beginning they had realized that with his personality, Muhammad had the potential to become a great leader of Mecca. This means that if they follow the teachings of Muhammad, accommodate and make room for him, they will not only lose their trading fields but also lose their influence and power in the city of Mecca.