The Muslims sources unashamedly acknowledge that it wasn’t the unbelievers that antagonized the Muslim community at Mecca. Rather, it was Muhammad who bullied and insulted them, even though the disbelievers went out of their way to appease him and avoid any conflict that would leave to civil war and bloodshed:
(Revile not those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance…) [5[sic]:108]. Said ibn ‘Abbas, according to the report of al-Walibi: “They [the idolaters] said: ‘O Muhammad, either you stop reviling our idols or we will revile your Lord’. And so Allah, exalted is He, warned against reviling their idols lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance”. Qatadah said: “The Muslims USED TO REVILE THE IDOLS OF THE UNBELIEVERS and the latter USED TO REACT against them. Allah, exalted is He, therefore, warned the Muslims against BEING THE CAUSE WHICH DRIVES ignorant unbelievers, who have no knowledge of Allah, to revile Allah AS A RESULT OF REVILING THEIR IDOLS”. Said al-Suddi: “When Abu Talib was dying, [some chiefs of] the Quraysh said: ‘let us go to this man and ask him to forbid his nephew from reviling our idols, for we feel shame to kill him after he passes away and drive the Arabs to say: ‘He used to defend him but once he passed away, they killed him’. And so Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Umayyah and Ubayy the sons of Khalaf, ‘Uqbah ibn Abi Mu‘ayt, ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, al-Aswad ibn al-Bukhturi went to see Abu Talib. They said to him: ‘You are our master and chief, but Muhammad HAS HARMED US and harmed our idols. We would like you to call him and warn him against speaking ill of our idols. And from our part, we will leave him alone to his Allah’. The Prophet went when he was summoned. Abu Talib said to him: ‘These are your people and cousins!’ The Messenger of Allah asked them: ‘What do you want?’ They said: ‘We want you to leave us alone with our idols and we will leave you alone with your Allah’. Abu Talib said: ‘YOUR PEOPLE ARE BEING FAIR WITH YOU, so give your consent’. The Messenger of Allah said: ‘If I agree to this would you agree to give me one sentence, if you were to utter it, you would rule over the Arabs and non-Arabs alike?’ Abu Jahl said: ‘Yes, by your father, we will give it to you and also give you ten other things like it; but what is it? He said: ‘Say: there is no god but Allah!’ They refused and expressed their aversion at this proposal, upon which Abu Talib said; ‘Son of my brother, ask for something else, for your people are wary of this’. (‘Alī ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi, Asbab al-Nuzul, Q. 6:108 https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=86&tSoraNo=6&tAyahNo=108&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold and capital emphasis mine)
He said: ‘O uncle, I am not one who would ask for other than that. If they were to place the sun in my hand, I would not ask for anything other than that’. The chiefs of Quraysh said: ‘You would better stop reviling our idols or we will revile you and revile He Who commands you’. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. (Ibid. https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=86&tSoraNo=6&tAyahNo=108&tDisplay=yes&Page=2&Size=1&LanguageId=2; bold emphasis mine)
Pay attention to the fact that the disbelievers had no problem with Muhammad as long as he focused on preaching about Allah. It wasn’t until Muhammad started to ridicule their religious traditions did they start taking issue with him and returned tit for tat. And despite their repeated efforts to avoid turmoil and bloodshed, their pleas for a peaceful resolution fell on deaf ears.
Also keep in mind that even Muhammad’s paternal uncle agreed that the disbelievers were being very fair with his nephew, despite his repeated tirade and insults against them.
In light of the repeated ridicule, insults, turmoil and distress Muhammad caused, it isn’t surprising that the unbelievers started demanding that he show them a supernatural miracle so that they could know for certain that he was truly God’s messenger, which would make it easier for them to abandon their idols and their ancestral traditions.
Here’s Muhammad’s response to this very reasonable request:
(And they say: We will not put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us) [17:90]. ‘Ikrimah reported that Ibn ‘Abbas related that ‘Utbah, Shaybah, Abu Sufyan, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Abu’l-Bukhturi, al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, Abu Jahl, ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Umayyah, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, and the chiefs of Quraysh gathered in front of the Ka’bah and said to each other: “Send for Muhammad, speak to him, and argue with him so that others do not blame you about him”. They sent to him with a message that the nobles of your people have gathered and want to speak with you. He came promptly, thinking that they had changed their mind about him, for he was keen to see them guided and was pained for their stubbornness. When he sat with them, they said: ‘O Muhammad, by Allah we do not know of any man among the Arabs who has introduced to his people what you have introduced. You have INSULTED OUR FOREFATHERS, censored our religion, ACCUSED US OF IGNORANCE, slandered our idols, divided the community AND YOU HAVE NOT LEFT ANYTHING REVOLTING EXCEPT THAT YOU HAVE PLACED IT BETWEEN US AND YOU. Now, if you have brought all this to seek wealth, we will collect from our wealth so that you become the richest among us; if you seek status, we will make you our chief; if you seek kingship, we will make you our king; and if the jinn that appears to you has completely overwhelmed you, we will spend our money to get you the right medicine to cure you or discharge our duty toward you‘. The Messenger of Allah said to them: ‘I do not have what you accuse me of. I did not bring you what I brought to seek wealth, status or kingship. Rather, it is Allah, glorious and majestic is He, Who has sent me to you as a Messenger. He has revealed to me a Scripture and commanded me to be a carrier of good tiding as well as a warner. I have conveyed to you the message of my Lord and advised you well. If you accept that which I have brought you, it is your share in this world and in the next. (Ibid., Q. 17:90-93 https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=86&tSoraNo=17&tAyahNo=90&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold and capital emphasis mine)
And if you reject it, I will be patient with the judgment of Allah until He judges between me and you’. They said: ‘O Muhammad, if you do not accept our offer, then you know that, compared to other people, we have a more restricted land, a tougher life and much less wealth. So ask your Lord, Who has sent you with that which He has sent you, to remove from us these mountains which have restricted our land and expand our country and run through it rivers like the rivers of Syria and Iraq. And let Him resurrect our dead forefathers, and among those resurrected, let Him resurrect Qusayy ibn Kilab, for he was a truthful old man, so that we ask them about whether what you say is true or false. If you do what we ask for, we will believe you and, by the same token, know your status with Allah, and that He has sent you as a Messenger, as you claim‘. The Messenger of Allah said: ‘I WAS NOT SENT TO BRING WHAT YOU HAVE ASKED FOR. Rather, I came to you from Allah, glorious is He, with that which He has sent me, and I have conveyed to you what I have been sent with to you. If you accept it, it is your share in this world and in the next; but if you reject it, I will be patient with Allah’s judgement’. They said: ‘If you do not do what we have asked for, then ask your Lord to send an angel to confirm your message, and ask Him to provide you with gardens, treasures and palaces of gold and silver which will suffice you from your needs, for you stand in the market place as we do, and strive to earn a living as we do, in order that we appreciate your merit and position with your Lord, if you are truly a messenger, as you claim to be’. The Messenger of Allah said: ‘I will not do it, nor am I someone to ask his Lord for such things, nor was I sent to you with this; He has rather sent me as a bringer of good tidings and as a warner’. They said: ‘In that case, cause the heaven to fall piecemeal down on us, since you claim that your Lord can do so if He wills’. (Ibid., https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=86&tSoraNo=17&tAyahNo=90&tDisplay=yes&Page=2&Size=1&LanguageId=2; bold and emphasis mine)
The Messenger of Allah said: ‘That is up to Allah, He will do it if He wills’. One of them said: ‘We will not believe in you until you bring Allah and the angels as warrants. ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah al-Makhzumi – the son of ‘Atikah bint ‘Abd al-Muttalib, the maternal aunt of the Prophet – said: ‘I will never believe in you until you get a ladder and climb up to heaven while I am watching you, and bring an unfolded Scripture with you and a group of angels to testify about what you say’. The Messenger of Allah left to his family very sad for failing to get his people to follow him as well as for the antagonism they displayed toward him. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And they say: We will not put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us…). Sa’id ibn Ahmad ibn Ja’far informed us> Abu ‘Ali ibn Abi Bakr al-Faqih> Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn al-Junayd> Ziyad ibn Ayyub> Hushaym> ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr> Sa’id ibn Jubayr who said: “I said to him [to ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr]: ‘The words of Allah (And they say: We will not put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us) was it revealed about ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah?’ He said: ‘This is what they claim’”. (Ibid. https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=86&tSoraNo=17&tAyahNo=90&tDisplay=yes&Page=3&Size=1&LanguageId=2; bold emphasis mine)
This next citation is quite interesting:
Ibn Jarir recorded from Muhammad bin Ishaq, “An old man from among the people of Egypt who came to us forty-odd years ago told me, from `Ikrimah, from Ibn `Abbas, that `Utbah and Shaybah — the two sons of Rabi’ah, Abu Sufyan bin Harb, a man from Bani `Abd Ad-Dar, Abu Al-Bakhtari — the brother of Bani Asad, Al-Aswad bin Al-Muttalib bin Asad, Zam`ah bin Al-Aswad, Al-Walid bin Al-Mughirah, Abu Jahl bin Hisham, `Abdullah bin Abi Umayyah, Umayyah bin Khalaf, Al-`As bin Wa’il, and Nabih and Munabbih – the two sons of Al-Hajjaj As-Sahmin, gathered all of them or some of them behind the Ka`bah after sunset. Some of them said to others, `Send for Muhammad and talk with him and argue with him, so that nobody will think we are to blame.’ So they sent for him saying, `The nobles of your people have gathered for you to speak to them.’ So the Messenger of Allah came quickly, thinking that maybe they were going to change their minds, for he was very keen that they should be guided, and it upset him to see their stubbornness. So he came and sat with them, and they said, `O Muhammad, we have sent for you so that nobody will think we are to blame. By Allah we do not know any man among the Arabs who has brought to his people what you have brought to your people. YOU HAVE SLANDERED OUR FOREFATHERS, criticized our religion, INSULTED OUR REASON, SLANDERED OUR GODS AND CAUSED DIVISION. There is no objectionable thing THAT YOU HAVE NOT BROUGHT BETWEEN US. If you are preaching these things because you want wealth, we will collect some of our wealth together for you and make you the wealthiest man among us.
“‘If you are looking for position, we will make you our leader. If you are looking for kingship, we will make you our king. If what has come to you is a type of Jinn that has possessed you, then we can spend our money looking for the medicine that will rid you of it so that no one will think we are to blame.’…
“They said, `O Muhammad, if you do not accept what we have offered you, then you know that there is no other people whose country is smaller, whose wealth is less and whose life is harder than ours, so ask your Lord Who has sent you with what He has sent you, to move away these mountains for us that are constricting us, to make our land wider and cause rivers to gush forth in it like the rivers of Syria and Iraq, and to resurrect for us those of our forefathers who have passed away.
“Let there be among those whom He resurrects Qusayy bin Kilab, for he was a truthful old man, and we will ask them whether what you are saying is true or false. If you do what we are asking, and they (the people who are resurrected) say that you are telling the truth, then we will believe you and acknowledge your status with Allah and believe that He has sent you as a Messenger as you say.’ The Messenger of Allah said to them…
(I was not sent for this purpose. I have brought to you from Allah that with which He has sent me, and I have conveyed to you the Message with which I was sent to you. If you accept what I have brought to you, then this is your good fortune in this world and the Hereafter, but if you reject it, I shall wait patiently for the command of Allah until Allah judges between me and you.) They said, `If you will not do this for us, then at least do something for yourself. Ask your Lord to send an angel to confirm that what you are saying is the truth and to speak up on your behalf. Ask Him to give you gardens and treasures and palaces of gold and silver, and to make you independent so that you will not have to do what we see you doing, for you stand in the marketplaces seeking provision just as we do. Then we will know the virtue of your position with your Lord and whether you are a Messenger as you claim.’ The Messenger of Allah said to them…
(I will not do that, and I will not ask my Lord for this. I was not sent to you for this reason. But Allah has sent me to you to bring you good news and a warning. If you accept what I have brought to you, then this is your good fortune in this world and the Hereafter, but if you reject it, I shall wait patiently for the command of Allah until Allah judges between me and you.) They said, `Then cause the sky to fall upon us, as you claim that if your Lord wills, He can do that. We will not believe in you until you do this.’ The Messenger of Allah said to them…
(That is for Allah to decide. If He wills, He will do that to you.) They said, `O Muhammad, did your Lord not know that we would sit with you and ask you what we have asked and make the requests that we have made? He should have told you beforehand and taught you how to reply to us, and informed you what He would do to us if we do not accept what you have brought to us. We have heard that the one who is teaching you this, is a man in Al-Yamamah called Ar-Rahman. By Allah, we will never believe in Ar-Rahman. We are warning you, O Muhammad, that we will not let you do what you want to do until you or we are destroyed.’ One of them said, `We worship the angels who are the daughters of Allah.’ Another said, `We will never believe in you until you bring Allah and the angels before (us) face to face.’ When they said this, the Messenger of Allah got up and left them. `Abdullah bin Abi Umayyah bin Al-Mughirah bin `Abdullah bin `Umar bin Makhzum, the son of his paternal aunt `Atikah, the daughter of `Abdul-Muttalib, also got up and followed him. He said to him, `O Muhammad, your people have offered you what they have offered you, and you did not accept it. Then they asked for things for themselves so that they would know your position with Allah, and you did not do that for them. Then they asked you to hasten on the punishments with which you are scaring them. By Allah, I will never believe in you unless you take a ladder to heaven and ascend it while I am watching, then you bring with you an open book and four angels to testify that you are as you say. By Allah, even if you did that, I think that I would not believe you.’ Then he turned away from the Messenger of Allah, and the Messenger of Allah went home to his family, grieving over having missed out on what he had hoped for when his people had called him, because he saw that they were resisting him even more.”…
In the case of this gathering where the Quraysh came together to speak with the Messenger of Allah, if Allah knew that they were making these requests in order to be guided, they would have been granted, but He knew that they were making these demands out of disbelief and stubbornness. It was said to the Messenger of Allah, “If you wish, We will give them what they are asking, but if they then disbelieve, I will punish them with a punishment that I have never imposed upon anyone else in the universe; or if you wish, I will open for them the gate of repentance and mercy.”…
(And nothing stops Us from sending the Ayat but that the people of old denied them. And We sent the she-camel to Thamud as a clear sign, but they did her wrong. And We sent not the signs except to warn, and to make them afraid (of destruction). (17:59) …
(Or you have a house of Zukhruf.) Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Qatadah said, “This is gold.” This was also what was said in the recitation of Ibn Mas`ud, “Or you have a house of gold.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Q. 17:90-93 https://www.alim.org/quran/tafsir/ibn-kathir/surah/17/90; bold and capital emphasis mine)
The unbelievers were right in their retort and objections. Since Allah is supposed to be the true God who knows all things then he would surely have known beforehand what their requests and demands would be in order to enable his prophet to meet their challenge and provide persuasive evidence to convince them to abandon their religion. Why, then, was Muhammad so ill-equipped and failed to convincingly refutetheir arguments and/or meet their demands to perform a miraculous sign proving that he spoke for the true God?
Even Muhammad’s own cousin, the son of his paternal aunt, agreed with them that their demands were quite reasonable in light of how Muhammad was treating them, and in the rather harsh and disrespectful criticisms of their beliefs.
The claim by Ibn Kathir and others that the disbelievers weren’t asking sincerely which is why Allah did not honor their requests for a miraculous sign doesn’t hold any weight and is simply a lame excuse, since the Islamic sources testify that Jesus was asked something similar. And instead of refusing to do so on the grounds that the disbelievers would refuse to believe anyway, Jesus went ahead and performed the very miracles which they had asked for:
When God said, ‘Jesus Son of Mary, remember My blessing upon thee and upon thy mother, when I confirmed thee with the Holy Spirit, to speak to men in the cradle, and of age; and when I taught thee the Book, the Wisdom, the Torah, the Gospel; and when thou createst out of clay, by My leave, as the likeness of a bird, and thou breathest into it, and it is a bird, by My leave; and thou healest the blind and the leper by My leave, and thou bringest the dead forth by My leave; and when restrained from thee the Children of Israel when thou camest unto them with the clear signs, and the unbelievers among them said, “This is nothing but sorcery manifest.” And when I inspired the Apostles: “Believe in Me and My Messenger”; they said, “We believe; witness Thou our submission.”‘ And when the Apostles said, ‘O Jesus son of Mary, is thy Lord able to send down on us a Table out of heaven?‘ He said, ‘Fear you God, if you are believers. They said, ‘We desire that we should eat of it and our hearts be at rest; AND WE MAY KNOW THAT THOU HAST SPOKEN TRUE TO US, and that we may be among its witnesses.’ Said Jesus son of Mary, ‘O God, our Lord, send down upon us a Table out of heaven, that shall be for us a festival, the first and last of us, and a sign from Thee. And provide for us; Thou art the best of providers.’ God said, ‘Verily I do send it down on you; whoso of you hereafter disbelieves, verily I shall chastise him with a chastisement wherewith I chastise no other being.’ S. 5:110-115 Arberry
Despite the unbelievers arguing that Jesus’ signs were nothing more than sorcery or magic he, nevertheless, went ahead and performed them anyway, thereby leaving them no excuse whatsoever for denying his commission from God.
Moreover, the miracles of Christ served to strengthen the faith of his disciples who wanted divine assurance that Jesus was indeed speaking the truth from God. And because of that, Jesus gave them the very exact sign that they had requested of him.
And here is what the Muslim expositors state in respect to Jesus’ being asked to perform miracles to validate his divine mission:
And He will make him to be a messenger to the Children of Israel during his tender years or after puberty. Gabriel breathed into the opening of her garment and she became pregnant. What happened to her after this is mentioned later in sūrat Maryam Q. 1921ff. Thus when God sent him to the Children of Israel he said to them ‘I am God’s Messenger to you’ and ‘I have come to you with a sign an indication of my truthfulness from your Lord and it is that I will create a variant reading for the particle introducing the relative clause annī ‘that I’ has innī ‘truly I’ indicating a new independent sentence that I will fashion for you out of clay like the shape of a bird ka-hay’at ‘something like the shape of’ the kāf is the subject of a passive participle then I will breathe into it fīhi the suffixed pronoun -hi refers to the preceding kāf and it will be a bird tayran is also read tā’iran by the leave the will of God. So he created for them a bat being the most perfectly-created of birds and they would watch it flying but when it went out of sight it would fall dead — so that the work of a creature sc. Jesus may be distinguished from the work of the Creator namely God exalted be He and that he might know that perfection belongs to God alone. I will also heal the blind akmah is one that is blind from birth and the leper; these two are singled out for mention because with both afflictions the person is completely helpless. He Jesus was sent in an age of [sic] characterised by medicinal science and he cured through supplication fifty thousand in one day on the condition that each person would become a believer; and I bring to life the dead by the leave of God — He repeats this to preclude any false attributions of divinity to him — he brought back to life his friend ‘Āzar the son of an old woman and the daughter of the tithe-collector all of whom lived on and produced offspring and he also brought back to life Shem son of Noah but he died again immediately. I will inform you too of what things you eat and what you treasure up store in your houses and what I have never seen and he would inform people what they had eaten and what they would eat. Surely in that mentioned is a sign for you if you are believers. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn, Q. 3:49 https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=3&tAyahNo=49&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2; bold emphasis mine)
And:
According to al-Qasim (b. al-Hasan)–al-Husayn (b. Dawud) Hajjaj-Mufaddal b. Fada1ah–
‘Ali b. Zayd b. Jud’an–Yusuf b. Mihran–Ibn ‘Abbas: The Apostles said to Jesus, the son of Mary: Would that you send us a man who saw the ark and could tell us about it. He went with them and came to an earthen hillock. There, he took a handful of the earth in his palm and asked: Do you know what this is? They replied: God and His prophet know best! Jesus said: This is the grave1083of Noah’s son Ham. He continued. He struck the hill with his staff and said: Rise with God’s permission! And behold there was Ham, with grey hair, shaking the earth from his head. Jesus asked him whether he had perished in that state (with grey hair). Ham replied: No, when I died, I was a young man, but I thought the Hour had come, and my hair turned grey. (Jesus) said: Tell us about Noah’s ark! He said: It was 1,200 cubits long and 6oo cubits wide. It had three stories, one for domestic and wild animals, another for human beings, and a third for birds. When the dung of the animals became excessive, God inspired Noah to tickle the elephant’s tail. He did, and a male and a female hog fell down and attacked the dung. When the rat fell down into the seams (of the planks) of the ark and gnawed at them, God inspired Noah to strike the lion between its eyes, and a male and a female cat came out from its nose and attacked the rat. Jesus asked Ham: How did Noah learn that (all) the places had been under water (but were no longer)? He replied: He sent the raven to bring him information, but it found a corpse and pounced upon it, whereupon (Noah) cursed the raven that it should be fearful; therefore, the raven does not like houses. He continued. He then sent the dove. It came with an olive leaf in its beak and clay on its feet. Noah thus knew that (all) places had been under water (but were no longer). He continued. Therefore, the dove’s necklace is the greyish-greenness on its neck. Noah blessed the dove that it should be tame and safe; therefore, the dove likes houses. He continued. The Apostles said: O Messenger of God, why do you not bring him to our people, so that he can sit down and talk with us? Jesus replied: How could one who has no sustenance follow you? He continued. Then Jesus said to Ham: Go back with God’s permission! And Ham turned to dust again. (The History of al-Tabari: General Introduction and From the Creation to the Flood, translated by Franz Rosenthal [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany, NY 1989], Volume 1, pp. 357-358; bold emphasis mine)
These next reports are most interesting since they directly relate to the disbelievers’ challenge to Muhammad to raise one of their ancient ancestors to life:
“Jesus continued his mission, aided by divine miracles. Some Qur’anic commentators said that Jesus brought four people back from the dead: a friend of his named Al-‘Azam, an old woman’s son, and a woman’s only daughter. These three had died during his lifetime. When the Jews saw this they said: ‘You only resurrect those who have died recently; perhaps they only fainted.’ They asked him to bring back to life Sam the [sic] Ibn Noah.
“When he asked them to show him his grave, the people accompanied him there. Jesus invoked Allah the Exalted to bring him back to life and behold, Sam the [sic] Ibn Noah came out from the grave gray-haired. Jesus asked: ‘How did you get gray hair, when there was no aging in your time?’ He answered: ‘O, Spirit of Allah, I thought that the Day of Resurrection had come; from the fear of that day my hair turned gray.’” (Stories of the Prophets by Ibn Kathir, translated by Sheikh Muhammad Mustafa Geme’ah, Office of the Grand Imam, Sheikh Al-Ahzar, edited by Aelfwine Acelas Mischler [El-Nour For Publishing and Distribution and Translation Est.; 38 Al-Madina Al-Monawara St., Toryl Al-Gadida], pp. 347-348; bold emphasis mine)
And:
He brought four individuals back to life: a friend of his, the son of the old woman, the daughter of a tax-collector, and Sām ibn Nūḥ. Allah knows best. The friend had died some days before and he prayed to Allah and he rose by Allah’s permission, lived and had a child. The son of the old woman had passed by him being carried on a bed and he prayed to Allah and he got up, wrapped in his shroud, and carried the bed on his shoulder and returned to his family. He went to the daughter of the tax-collector in the night and prayed to Allah for her. She lived and had children.
When they saw that, they said, ‘He has brought back to life those who have recently died. Perhaps they were not dead but in a stupor.’ So he brought to life Sām ibn Nūḥ. He said, ‘Show me his grave.’ He went out with the people to his grave and he prayed to Allah and he came out of his grave, white-haired. ‘Īsā asked him, ‘Why is your hair white when there was no white hair in your time?’ He answered, ‘Spirit of Allah, you summoned me and I heard a voice saying, “Respond to the Spirit of Allah!” I thought that the Day of Rising had come and terror of that turned my hair white.’ He asked him about the wresting of the soul at death. He said, ‘Spirit of Allah, the bitterness of the wresting has not left my throat.’ He had died more than four thousand years earlier. He told the people, ‘Affirm him. He is a Prophet.’ Some people believed him and said that he was a Prophet and some said that it was sorcery.
It is related from Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Ayyāsh from Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥah from a man that when ‘Īsā wanted to bring the dead to life, he would pray two rak‘ahs and recite Surat al-Mulk (67) in the first and Surat as-Sajdah (32) in the second. When he finished, he praised Allah and then inHoked his seHen names: ‘O Ancient! O Hidden! O Constantly Abiding! O Unique! O Odd! O One! O Everlasting Sustainer!’ Al-Bayhaqī mentioned it and said that its isnād is not strong. (Aisha Bewley, Tafsir al-Qurtubi: Juz’ 3: Sūrat al-Baqarah 254–286 & Sūrah Āli ‘Imrān 1–95 [Diwan Press Ltd., 2019], Volume 3, pp. 316-317; bold emphasis mine)
Pay attention that, similar to what the pagans had asked from Muhammad, the disbelieving Jews challenged Christ to resurrect Shem the son of Noah who had been dead for thousands of years in order to prove that he wasn’t merely resuscitating individuals who were mistakenly thought to be dead. And yet unlike Muhammad, Jesus didn’t refuse to do so on the grounds that the disbelievers would still reject him anyway. Rather, Christ went ahead and raised Shem to life in order to leave the Jews with no grounds whatsoever for denying his divine commission.
Seeing that Allah acquiesced to the demands of both believers and unbelievers that Christ perform specific miracles to validate his prophetic commission, and didn’t use the lame excuse that doing so would prove futile since they still wouldn’t believe in Jesus anyway, why then didn’t he do the same thing in the case of Muhammad?
Why didn’t Allah enable his so-called prophet to carry out the specific signs which the disbelievers asked him for, such as raising Qusayy bin Kilab from the dead, which would then have provided the miraculous confirmation that Muhammad was thoroughly justified in humiliating them, belittling their religious beliefs, and insulting their dead ancestors?
In fact, wouldn’t it have been better for Muhammad to have done the signs requested of him since this would have vindicated the subjugation and humiliation that the Meccans endured when Muhammad and his jihadis conquered them?
After all, Muhammad could have used the disbelievers’ outright rejection of his prophetic claims even after showing them so many signs as his justification for the degradation, humiliation, and slaughter he and his Muhammadan warmongers brought upon them, and the rest of the unsuspecting world.
The fact is Muhammad was not a true prophet of God, but rather was an antichrist, a false prophet sent into the world to mislead people from the true God revealed in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Cf. Deuteronomy 13:1-10; Jeremiah 23:9-22; Matthew 24:23-25; Galatians 1:8-9; Acts 13:6-12; 16:16-18; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4, 13-15; 1 John 2:22-23; 4:1-6; 2 Peter 2:1-22; Jude 1:3-4; 2 John 1:7-11; Revelation 13:1-8).
Muhammad was nothing more than a demonized bully, a tyrant, a satanically inspired narcissist who believed he was better than everyone else, and therefore felt he had every right to humiliate and disgrace whomever he wished. Muhammad expected the unbelievers to tolerate whatever abuse he hurled against them, but would not allow even for a second for them to respond in kind, which is a typical trait and pattern of narcissists.
FURTHER READING
MUHAMMAD: THE ANTAGONIZING WAR-MONGER
The Byzantine Christians: Antagonists or Antagonized? Pt. 1
The Byzantine Christians: Antagonists or Antagonized? Pt. 2
Answering Islam Blog 