just as the polytheists asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to send away the weak, such as Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqās, Ibn Masʿūd, Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt, ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, Bilāl, and others like them. This took place in Mecca, before the Ahl al-Suffa (the people of the sheltered platform) were among the Companions. Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, revealed:
“Do not drive away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, seeking His Face. You are in no way accountable for them, nor are they in any way accountable for you, that you should drive them away and thus become one of the wrongdoers.”
“Thus We have tested some of them through others, so that they might say, ‘Are these the ones Allah has favoured from among us?’ Does Allah not know best those who are grateful?”
Likewise, Pharaoh said:
“Should we believe in two mortals like ourselves, while their people are our servants?”
Pharaoh also said:
“Did we not raise you among us as a child, and did you not spend years of your life among us?”
“And you committed that deed of yours, and you were one of the ungrateful.”
Similarly, the Arab polytheists said:
“If we follow the guidance with you, we will be snatched away from our land.”
Allah Most High said:
“Have We not established for them a secure sanctuary to which fruits of every kind are brought as provision from Us?”
Likewise, the people of Shuʿayb said to him:
“Does your prayer command you that we should abandon what our forefathers worshipped, or that we should no longer do as we please with our wealth?”
Similarly, the polytheists generally said:
“We found our forefathers following a religion, and we are following in their footsteps.”
These statements and others like them are not arguments that undermine the messengers’ truthfulness. Rather, they show that the messengers’ message conflicted with their wishes, desires, and customs. That was why they did not follow them. All these people were disbelievers. Indeed, Abū Tālib and others loved the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and wanted his word to prevail. They bore him no envy and knew that he was truthful, but they knew that in