First Declaration, First Backlash

The first believers were Khadijah, Ali b. Abu Talib, Zayd bin Haritha and Abu Bakr; they were the first of the al-Khulafa al-Rashidun.

The first backlash from the polytheists arose with the revelation given to the Messenger of Allah that contained the verse: "Therefore declare openly what you are bidden and turn aside from the polytheists". This commanded him to spread the word of Allah openly and to start to do this from his immediate family and relatives.

The polytheists chose Valeed ibn Mughirah to decide how they would respond to the Messenger of Allah and what had been revealed to him. When they realized that they could not claim that the Prophet was an oracle, lunatic or a poet, they thought it would be best to call him a wizard.

Some of the polytheists who had listened to the Quran and the Prophet (pbuh) believed in what he had revealed deep in their hearts and accepted the fact that these verses could not possibly be the words of a human being. However, their fear of the dominant powers of their community kept them from expressing what was in their hearts. Utbah bin Rabiah, for example, once said: "Nothing that I have ever heard in my life can compare with what I've heard from him. These words are not from a poem nor are they prophecy. They are nothing like that. Oh, people of Quraish! Listen to me and leave him alone. If he cannot succeed, Arabia will destroy him and if he can, then his victory is your victory."

Valeed bin Mughirah also spoke of the Messenger of Allah and the verses he had recited: "By God I swear, no! He is not an oracle. We have seen many oracles, for one thing, and what he says does not sound like the unintelligible murmur of an oracle. Why not call him a lunatic then? By God I swear, no! He is not a lunatic either. We have seen lunacy and we know what it is about. His words are nothing like the confusing mutter of a lunatic. Let's call him a poet. By God I swear, no! He is not a poet either!"

 The Quran tells us that they could not help sneaking out at night without the knowledge of the others to go and listen to the Messenger of Allah recite the Quran.