The covert spreading of Islam lasted about three years… During these three years approximately 40 people, including those we have mentioned thus far, adopted Islam…

The majority of the Muslims were young and poor… It was easier for the youth to embrace Islam because the absurd belief system of their forefathers had not yet set root in them. As for the poor, Islam gave them the right to live as free humans despite their poverty.

The rest stayed as far as they could from Islam. The mental rigidness resulting from the pressure of the belief system of their ancestors did not allow them to break free from these futile ideas and embrace the new…

Before I share our Master’s announcement of Islam to his family, I want to share how Husain (ra) became a Muslim…

Husain was one of the nobles whom the disbelievers and polytheists of Mecca loved and respected… One day he came to Mecca… As they were conversing and catching up, one of the Meccan polytheists said, “Why don’t you say something to this man who claims to be the Nabi… He shuns our gods and scorns the religion of our ancestors!”

Husain accepted to go and talk. The unbelievers were excited and hopeful… They took him to our Master and curiously waited outside as the two conversed inside…

When our Master saw Husain he stood up and greeted him with a smile then showed him a seat next to his own. Husain said:

“O Muhammad! I have heard many things about you… I heard that you claim to be the Nabi and that you shun our gods and those who don’t believe in your religion…” He went on to relay all the complaints of the Quraishi people and added, “Your grandfather Abdulmuttalib was more noble than Husain, your clan and you!”

The followers of our Master who were present in the meeting got a little heated upon these words but suppressed their fury to not transgress their place near the Rasul of Allah (saw).

Our Master’s response was like a blade:

“O Husain, both your grandfather and my grandfather are in hell!”

He then asked, “O Husain, how many gods do you worship?”

Husain, taken aback, muttered “Eight gods…!?”

“And where are they now?”

“Seven are on earth, one is in heaven”

“And when a calamity befalls you or your possessions which one do you turn to for help?”

“The one in the heaven!”

“And when your children fall ill and need healing which god do you turn to then?”

“The one in the heaven…”

“Listen Husain, if the one god in the heaven is enough to answer all your prayers and fulfill all your needs why do you deify and worship seven other gods on earth? Why do you associate them as partners to the One in the heaven? Do you think the god in the heavens is pleased with you associating the other gods as partners to him? Do you not fear the one god that you think is in the heavens?

Let me tell you something Husain… The seemingly ‘many’ gods are all ONE, ALLAH the AHAD, worship only Allah and abandon the others; become a Muslim and find peace…”

The words of the Rasul of Allah (saw) made sense to Husain…  After asking all his questions, getting reasonable answers and feeling convinced, he asked, “And how shall I pray for my clan and my people?” 

His son Imran, who had already become a Muslim and was sitting in the room jumped out of his seat when he heard this, ran to his father and kissed his hand… Imran was overjoyed to see his father accepting Islam…

After this our Master taught him a prayer:

“O Allah, increase my dhikr, ease the way to the reality for me, and expand my knowledge!”

After hours of conversing, it was finally time for Husain to go home… Our Master asked a couple of his followers to accompany Husain to his house.

When the unbelievers who were waiting outside saw Husain coming out with the Muslims, they were furious, they started yelling and shouting in the streets “Husain turned away from his religion! He too became corrupt!” 

This event closed the era of the covert spreading of Islam and called the Muslims to take action with the revealment of the verse:

“Start your warning with those who are closest to you!”[1]

Our Master was distressed and concerned… As he thought about the load of this responsibility, he almost fell ill…

He shared his worry with Hadhrat Ali (ra):

“O Ali, it feels very heavy that Allah wants me to warn my relatives and family against the suffering of the hereafter… I know for sure that if and when I open this topic to them, they will not respond well, they will accuse me and attempt to charge me… I don’t know how I can do this!”

With this sorrow our Master didn’t leave his home for about a month… His aunt Safiya and others were worried about his health and came to visit him.  When they asked him about his health, he answered, “Thanks to Allah my health is well, I have no complaints… Only that, Allah has asked me to warn my relatives about the suffering of the hereafter… So, I must call the sons of Abdulmuttalib and announce the reality to them…”

His aunts were understanding, they said, “Invite them and let them know, however do not call Abdul Uzza (Abu Lahab)! He will NEVER accept your call; he will cause problems…”

After these talks Gabriel (pbuh) came to our Rasul and warned him, 

“O Muhammad! If you do not comply with the orders of your Rabb, you will be punished…”

Our Master called his wife Khadija and said, “O Khadija, cook for us some meat, enough only for one person, and arrange one cup of milk, then invite the sons of Abdulmuttalib so that I may fulfill the command of my Rabb…”

The next morning Hadhrat Ali made all the invitations… Some of the sons of Abdul Manaf also attended the invitation. That day there were 45 people present, including his uncle Abu Lahab, who attended without an invitation on the premise of his false assumption that the event was planned against him. 

After everybody sat on the dinner table, Muhammad (saw) put one plate with a single serving of food and one cup of milk on the table. He then said, “Bismillah (In the name of Allah) Please, help yourselves…”

Everybody ate from this single serving until they were completely full and still there was food in the plate…

They then started to drink from the cup of milk, barely enough for a single person, until they were completely sated, and yet there was still milk in the cup… 

Everyone was astounded.

Just as our Master was about to start his speech about the reason of his invitation, Abu Lahab said, “We have never seen magic like this before, our nephew has cast a big spell on us!”

Then he turned to Muhammad (saw) and said, “These are your aunts, uncles and cousins… You have always advised them to do things against their best interest. You called them to worship… Leave this nonsense! Be sure that your clan is not willing to turn all the Arab tribes against themselves… The best thing we as your relatives can do for you is to imprison you lest the Arabs attack us with all of the clans of Quraish! I have never heard of or seen a person bringing more shame and evil to their family than you have brought upon us!”