“…a lying, sinful forelock. Let him, then, summon his council; We shall summon the zabāniyah.”

The Prophet ﷺ came and began to pray. It was said to Abū Jahl, “Why do you not carry out your threat?” He answered, “The space between him and me has filled with battalions; everything has gone dark.” Ibn ʿAbbās remarked, “By Allah, had he moved against him, the angels would have seized him while everyone was watching.”

Ibn Jarīr relates—through Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā → al-Muʿtamir → his father → Naʿīm ibn Abī Hind → Abū Ḥāzim—from Abū Hurayrah who said: Abū Jahl asked, “Does Muhammad put his face on the ground among you?” They replied, “Yes.” He said, “By al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā, if I see him praying like that I will trample his neck and rub his face in the dust.” He approached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was praying, intent on doing so, but suddenly they saw him step back on his heels, fending off with his hands. They said, “What is the matter with you?” He replied, “Between me and him I saw a trench of fire, dreadful terrors, and wings.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Had he drawn any nearer, the angels would have snatched him, limb by limb.” On this occasion—though I am not certain whether Abū Hurayrah mentioned it or not—Allah Most High revealed: “He taught man what he did not know; No indeed, man surely transgresses…” to the end of the sūrah. This report is also recorded by Aḥmad, Muslim, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, and al-Bayhaqī through the narration of Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān al-Taymī.

Imām Aḥmad likewise narrates—through Wahb ibn Jarīr → Shuʿbah → Abū Isḥāq → ʿAmr ibn Maymūn—from ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd who said: I never saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ supplicate against Quraysh except on one day. He was praying while a group of Quraysh sat nearby, and the entrails of a freshly-slaughtered camel were lying close at hand. They said, “Who will take these entrails and place them on his back?” ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ said, “I will.” He picked them up and put them on the Prophet’s back while he remained in prostration. The Prophet did not raise his head until Fāṭimah came and removed them. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ invoked:

“O Allah, deal with this assembly of Quraysh! O Allah, deal with ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah! O Allah, deal with Shaybah ibn Rabīʿah! O Allah, deal with Abū Jahl ibn Hishām! O Allah, deal with ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ! O Allah, deal with Ubayy ibn Khalaf—or Umayyah ibn Khalaf.” (Shuʿbah was unsure which name.)

ʿAbdullāh said: I saw them all slain on the Day of Badr and dragged to the dry well, except Ubayy—or Umayyah ibn Khalaf—for he was a large man and his body was torn apart.

Al-Bukhārī records this incident in several places of his Ṣaḥīḥ, and Muslim relates it through various chains from Abū Isḥāq. The correct name is Umayyah ibn Khalaf, for he was killed at Badr, whereas his brother Ubayy was killed at Uḥud, as will be clarified later.