Abu Jahl

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ABU JAHL ابو جهل
An implacable adversary of Muhammad. His real name was 'Amr ibn Hisham, but he was surnamed by the Muslims, Abu Jahl, or the "Father of Folly." He is supposed to be alluded to in the Qur'an, Surah xxii. 8: - "There is a man who disputeth concerning God without either knowledge or direction." He was the leader of the the pagan opponents in Mecca, and an extreme opponent to Islam. Abu Jahl insisted to battle at Badr against the advice of other leaders in Mecca at the time, and he was killed in the battle at the age of seventy.

Abu Jalh's hostility towards Islam may have been more directed towards Muhammad and clan differences than Islam itself. In a confession he noted how Muhammad may be sincere, but that it was unfair for the clans of Qusayy to have sacred offices of the Ka'ba, but not his own. In is worth noting as well, that Abu Jahl's body was identified on the battlefield by a scar he had his knee. He received the scar after having been pushed by Muhammad as a child.

Based on <a href="https://www.juancole.com/library/dictionary-of-islam-hughes">Hughes, Dictionary of Islam</a> <a href="http://referenceworks.brillonline.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/aaron-SIM_0146?s.num=0"> Ecyclopaedia of Islam, Three</a>

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