Resilience

Dalia Mogahed is a community researcher, Pollster and research analyst, author and advisor based in the United States, and is the Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.
One of the most extraordinary qualities of Prophet Muhammadﷺ was his ability to persevere through the bleakest periods and greatest challenges in life. Strengthened with profound faith in God (Allāh) and loyally committed to the divine mission with which he was entrusted, the Prophetﷺ developed a mode of resilience that sustained him through every storm and tribulation thrown his way. Indeed, the tests molded him for his future prophetic role and they began from his early childhood.
Loss from a young age
Muhammadﷺ was born into struggle. His father, Abdullah (’Abdallāh), a nobleman from the tribe of Quraysh, died from an illness a few months before Muhammadﷺ was born. Another tragedy was lying in wait for him when his heartbroken mother, Amina (Āminah), also died from an illness when her son was just seven years old.
Before he was nine years old, Muhammadﷺ already understood what grief felt like, having endured three major losses in his early life.
The young Muhammadﷺ, now twice orphaned, was taken into the care of his paternal grandfather, Abdul-Muttalib (’Abdul Muṭtalib), who doted on his grandson, taking him everywhere he went and showering him with care and affection. But the bond between them was to be severed just two years later when Abdul-Muttalib passed away. And so, before he was nine years old, Muhammadﷺ already understood what grief felt like, having endured three major losses in his early life.
After a period of stability in the household of his uncle, Abu Talib (Abū Ṭālib), Muhammadﷺ grew into a young man of integrity, honesty and deep reflection. Later as a married man, after the joy of having daughters as well as tragically suffering the loss of two infant sons, the Prophetﷺ would retreat to a cave on the edge of his city to reflect on the meaning of life and the world around him.
With a heavy heart, he witnessed the backward practices and injustices of the seventh century pagan society he lived in, little knowing that he himself would be the one to transform everything. It was at this point in his life at the age of forty, that he received the first divine revelation. As a prophet he would now face a flood of calamities and upheaval on a level he had never seen before. Yet the intense insight of loss and hardship he had suffered over the years molded him for his mission ahead.
Persecution and boycott
To understand the overwhelming sacrifice that the Prophetﷺ had to make, it is important to know his position in society. As a member of the noblest clan within the noblest tribe in Arabia, the Banu Hashim of the Quraysh tribe, he could have led a life of incredible luxury and privilege, yet he rejected it all to direct people to the worship of One God.
His message was to cost him dearly. The Prophet’sﷺ own tribe cast him out, insulted and slandered him. He witnessed the early community of believers being persecuted and even tortured. He and his followers also faced a brutal boycott, a devastating blow in tribal Arab society where survival depended on trade and cooperation.
The newly emerging Muslim community were pushed out of their homes to live in the harsh desert environment on the outskirts of Mecca, where they endured three years of disease and starvation. The Prophetﷺ led his people through the most impossible of circumstances. He was there for them in every trial, keeping their faith burning bright and bolstering their determination with his own resilience.
The Year of Sorrow
He continued to persevere through every trial and every grief, drawing on God in every breath.
Although the Prophetﷺ was no stranger to grief, he was about to face a tragedy that he would carry with him for the rest of his days. The boycott had taken a fatal toll on his wife, Khadija, who was the love of his life and the first to believe in the message of Islam. The Prophetﷺ had always turned to Khadija for emotional support, and now he had lost his closest confidante and greatest strength. The grief-stricken Prophetﷺ was shaken again that same year, when he lost his beloved uncle, Abu Talib, the father figure who was his crucial political and social protector. The double tragedy left a deep scar on the heart of the Prophetﷺ in a time known as the Year of Sorrow.
The Prophetﷺ had lost the most beloved people to him, he lost his home and status in society, and had been persecuted along with his followers for his faith. There was almost no calamity that he did not endure in his life, and yet despite everything, the Prophetﷺ was filled with strength, mercy, and compassion. He continued to persevere through every trial and every grief, drawing on God in every breath.
The day at Taif when the Prophetﷺ was relentlessly abused and pelted with rocks was described as the most difficult day of his life.
The trials at Taif
Despite the abuse he received from the people of Taif and the Meccan elite, he did not give up on calling people to God. He did not give up on humanity.
After the Year of Sorrow, the Prophetﷺ hoped to find a better reception to the message of Islam outside of Mecca (Makkah), in a town called Taif (Ṭāʾif) , some 70 miles away in the mountains. But the Prophetﷺ was met not with receptivity, but with rejection and ridicule.
After days of trekking with one of his Companions, Zaid, the Prophetﷺ walked a narrow pathway that stretched for three miles through Taif. At every step, the townspeople and their children gathered on either side of the pathway, abusing and pelting him with rocks until blood poured from his forehead and dripped onto his sandals.
During this ordeal, the Prophetﷺ turned to the Quran (Qurʾān) for comfort and strength, reciting a chapter called Al-Tariq, ‘The Night Star’, repeatedly. It contained a reminder that we all have guardians, and that even when things seem overwhelmingly dark and difficult, God is always there to guide.
Afterwards, the Prophetﷺ sat in an orchard and prayed to God – not for revenge, but for mercy for the people and strength in himself. Despite the abuse he received from the people of Taif and the Meccan elite, he did not give up on calling people to God. He did not give up on humanity.
And so, he continued to reach out, spreading the Word of God and calling people to higher ideals and character. His determination finally resulted in meeting the leaders of a more hospitable city some distance away from Mecca, called Yathrib, later renamed Medina (Madīnah). The Prophet’sﷺ steadfastness had carried his people through their ordeal and led to the establishment of a new community.
Through his life experiences, the Prophetﷺ had deepened his empathy for the marginalized and the vulnerable in society. Enthused with Quranic principles, he continued to encourage an attitude of unity, love and compassion. In his profound devotion to God, he had forged the resilience that made it possible for the message of Islam to prevail.