The membrane known as al-salā is the covering that comes out with a she-camel’s calf, much like the placenta that accompanies the birth of a child. Some wordings of the authentic collections report that when the idolaters placed it on the Prophet’s back they burst into laughter, leaning over one another in their amusement—may Allah curse them.
Those same reports mention that when Fāṭimah removed it, she turned on them and reviled them; and that when the Prophet ﷺ finished his prayer he raised his hands and prayed against them. When they saw him supplicate their laughter died away and they grew fearful. He invoked a general curse upon their council and singled out seven men by name.
Most narrations actually record six of those names: ʿUtbah and his brother Shaybah—sons of Rabīʿah—al-Walīd ibn ʿUtbah, Abū Jahl ibn Hishām, ʿUqbah ibn Abī Muʿayṭ, and Umayyah ibn Khalaf. Abū Isḥāq commented, “I have forgotten the seventh.” I say: the seventh is ʿImārah ibn al-Walīd, whose name appears in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī.
The Story of the Man from Irāsh
Yūnus ibn Bukayr relates from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, who said: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī Sufyān al-Thaqafī told us:
A man from Irāsh came to Mecca with several camels. Abū Jahl ibn Hishām bought them from him but delayed payment. The Iraashī then went to the Quraysh gathering while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting in another part of the Mosque. He called out, “People of Quraysh, who will help me against Abū al-Ḥakam ibn Hishām? I am a stranger and a traveler, and he has taken my right.”
Those in the council—pointing him toward the Messenger of Allah because they knew of the hostility between him and Abū Jahl—said, “Do you see that man? Go to him; he will see that you get your due.”
The man approached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and explained his situation. The Prophet rose and went with him. When the Quraysh saw this, they said to one of their number, “Follow them and see what he does.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ walked until he reached Abū Jahl’s house and knocked at the door. “Who is it?” Abū Jahl asked. “Muḥammad,” he replied. “Come out.” Abū Jahl stepped outside, his face drained of color. The Prophet said, “Give this man what you owe him.”
“Do not leave until I pay him everything,” Abū Jahl replied. He went inside, brought out the full amount, and handed it over. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then turned to the Iraashī and said, “Go on your way.”
The man returned to the council and declared, “May Allah reward him well; I have received what was mine.”