The Quraysh of Today

We find many instances in the Quran in which the Quraysh (the prophets tribe) and nations of the past rejected the message of Islam based solely on the fact it wasn’t the religion of their fathers. They were convinced of its validity but hey if their fathers didn’t do it, why would they, right? It is easy for us to criticise this notion, we view their decisions as blatantly unreasonable and ridiculous because they knew the truth of Islam yet the one single reason stopping them from embracing it was the fear of something different to what they had ever known. The uncle of the prophet — Abu Talib, spent a lifetime protecting the prophet, witnessing the miracles, evidences and truths of Islam with him, yet even on his last breath; as the prophet begged him to say the shahadah, he wasn’t able to leave the religion of his forefathers. The prophet begged him on his deathbed & on the other hand the quraysh too were persistent: ‘Oh Abu Talib, will you leave the religion of your father, Abu Muttalib?’ they screamed over and over. Finally, he looked at the Prophet and said, ‘Upon the religion of Abdul Muttalib’, and passed away.

We hear these stories and we think “Wow what did he even have to lose, as if he didn’t just embrace Islam in that moment!” But what is funny is we may not be too far from this ourselves.

Why has Allah repeatedly mentioned this concept in the Quran over and over again? It is a timeless issue relevant to human nature. Our “forefathers” may not quite literally be the religion of our family but have we ever thought that cultural norms & what “everyone else in society is doing” is what we are so afraid to be different from? What have we chosen to worship instead of the only one deserving of all worship; Allah? A corrupt society whose norms change on the daily?

Ask yourself: What is the religion you have chosen to cling onto? These verses are as applicable to people today as they were to the people 1400 years ago.