A Slave's Question to Abu Jahl About the Prophet ﷺ

Question

Some respected people relate that Abu Jahl had a slave who once, apparently in private, asked Abu Jahl about the noble Prophet ﷺ: “Is the noble Prophet ﷺ upon the truth, or are you upon the truth?” He replied that the noble Prophet ﷺ was upon the truth. The slave then asked again: “If the noble Prophet ﷺ is upon the truth, then why do you not accept him?” Abu Jahl answered: “[Then] both we and our elders would be disgraced” (literally, “our noses would be cut off”). Is this account true?

Answer

Incidents of this kind have happened to many people. The Holy Qur’an itself says: [ar]ٱلَّذِينَ ءَاتَيْنَـٰهُمُ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ يَعْرِفُونَهُۥ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَآءَهُمْ[/ar] “Those to whom We gave the Scripture know him (the Prophet ﷺ) as they know their own sons” (Surah al-Baqara, 2:146, part of the verse) — this is about the People of the Book.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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