More than 1400 years ago, this story took place. In those distant days, there lived in the lands of the Arabs, in the city of Mecca, a powerful man of extreme strength, tall and wide, bulging with muscles, red-faced, with harshness in his looks, inspiring terror in souls, with terrible breath that provoked fear in hearts.
The Childhood of the Mighty Giant:
When he was small, he was distinguished by extreme courage and love of adventure. He loved fighting, wrestling, and combat. He wrestled his peers among the boys and defeated them all! He fought those older than him among the young men and defeated them all. He became known among them by the name: The Champion, the hero who never loses.
The Mighty Giant and His Youth:
He grew up and became a young man. He became the gallant knight whose dust is not settled, brilliant in striking with sword, spear, arrows, and daggers. When he walked, the entire path opened for him, and terror poured into souls because he was extremely tyrannical, rough, harsh, and merciless.
The Strength of the Mighty Giant:
When he didn’t find anyone from the young men or knights who could match his power and might, he would go out with his horse to the mountains, chase wild beasts in the hills and valleys, shoot them with arrows and daggers, and hit them with death by his strong spear and his cutting sword.
The Camels of the Mighty Giant and the Grazing:
It was the custom of the Arabs to graze their family’s camels. One day, he drove the camels before him and headed with them to a place rich in grass and trees to graze there. Some shepherds had preceded him to this grazing spot, and their camels were grazing happily on fresh grass and abundant water. Suddenly, the shepherds saw the Mighty Giant’s camels heading toward them. They fled terrified as if all the world’s scorpions had stung them. They hastened to drive their camels far from this place to escape the evil of this merciless giant.
The Daughter of the Mighty Giant:
It was also the custom of the Arabs in those days that one would be angry when a daughter was born to him. And God, glorified and exalted is He, says in His Noble Book: “And when one of them is given news of a female, his face becomes dark, and he is suffused with grief. He hides himself from the people because of the evil of the news given to him. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the dust? Unquestionably, evil is what they judge.” God Almighty has spoken the truth.
One day, the Mighty Giant’s wife gave birth to a daughter. He became angry and extremely distressed by this. Days passed until a day came when he was sitting near the Kaaba. A man described to him his daughter. The Giant became extremely angry, rose immediately, went to his house, rushed like a whirlwind, pulled his little daughter from her mother’s embrace, carried her, and went out.
The Cruelty and Savagery of the Mighty Giant:
He walked until he reached the desert in the outskirts of Mecca, then dug a hole in the sands, held his small daughter who was looking at him with the innocence of an angel, and placed her in the hole. She began to scream, but he filled the sand over her with oppression and cruelty and buried her while she was alive. Then he shook his hands and clothes from the sand and returned to his house as if nothing had happened! Have you seen more cruelty and savagery than this!
The Appearance of Islam:
In those days, Islam appeared and shone with its light. The Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, began calling his people secretly to the worship of Allah, the One and Subduer, and to abandon the worship of idols. A small number embraced Islam. The early Muslims suffered various types of torture and persecution that cannot be counted. The Mighty Giant was among the most severe people in torturing Muslims.
The Mighty Giant’s Participation in Torturing Muslims:
He had a slave girl named Zenira who had embraced Islam. The Giant would torture her with various types of torture day and night until she lost her sight and became blind. Weakness befell her, and she became afflicted with diseases. But she remained steadfast in the religion of Islam and refused to return to polytheism with Allah. The Mighty Giant’s distress with Islam and Muslims increased. He found that torture only increased their adherence to the religion of God!
Searching for the Messenger to Kill Him:
The Mighty Giant thought: “What should I do? He who cannot be opposed by any of the heroes. How can he accept that a slave girl he bought with money would challenge him? His thinking reached that the only solution was to eliminate the problem from its roots and get rid of Islam by killing the Messenger who calls to Islam. He went searching for (Muhammad) to kill him!
The Entry of the Mighty Giant’s Family into Islam:
A man from the elders of Quraysh met him and said to him: “Instead of displaying your power on the weak Muslims, see what you can do with your sister and her husband?” The Mighty Giant shouted at him: “What did they do?” The man said: “They have entered the religion of Islam, and now they read Muhammad’s Quran in their house secretly!” The Mighty Giant let out a terrifying shout that made the place’s foundations shake!
Yes, We Embraced Islam:
He headed to his sister’s house and her husband, with fire flying from his eyes. He reached the house and heard a whisper from behind the door. He stood listening and heard a recitation of words he had never heard before. He confirmed that someone was reading the Quran. He knocked on the door with violence and force and entered, shouting at them what he had heard about their entering the religion of Islam. His brother’s wife said to him, her heart filled with the power of faith: “Yes… we have embraced Islam.”
The Mighty Giant attacked her and threw her to the ground, and beat her violently and harshly. The sister wanted to rescue her husband from her brother the Giant’s tyranny, so she went to him and struck her on her face with force. Blood flowed from her nose. Then he struck her on her head, and blood gushed from it forcefully. But she turned to her brother the Mighty Giant, with blood covering her face and head, and shouted with the strength of faith and the pride of the believer: “Yes, we have embraced Islam… do with us what you wish! Kill us if you want… but we will not turn back from the truth after we have known it.”
The Secret of This Religion:
The Mighty Giant looked at his sister, with blood covering her face and head. He felt some regret and was astonished at her courage and her husband’s bravery. They challenged him, he the Giant whom all feared. He remembered the courage of his slave girl Zenira and her steadfastness in her religion. He wanted to know the secret of this new religion that inspired such pride and amazing courage in its companions.
Only the Pure Touch It:
He asked his sister to show him this Quran. She said to him with strength and determination: “It is in this document. It is the speech of the Lord of the worlds. Only the pure touch it. Go first and perform ablution, then read what is in it.” The Mighty Giant fell silent, having found for the first time someone challenging him and issuing him orders. He found himself obeying his sister, going to a place in the house, performing ablution, then returning.
Surah Ta-Ha:
Then he took the document and read the saying of Allah, glorified and exalted is He: “Ta-Ha. We have not sent down the Quran to you to cause you distress. But as a reminder for him who fears. A revelation from Him who created the earth and the high heavens. The Most Merciful rose over the Throne. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth and whatever is between them and whatever is under the soil. And if you speak aloud, then indeed He knows the secret and what is even more hidden. Allah—there is no deity except Him. To Him belong the best names. And has the story of Moses reached you? When he saw a fire, he said to his family: ‘Stay, for indeed I have perceived a fire. I will bring you a brand from it, or I will find at the fire guidance.’ Then when he came to it, he was called: ‘O Moses, indeed I am your Lord, so remove your sandals. Indeed, you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa. And I have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed.’” Allah Almighty has spoken the truth.
The Islam of the Mighty Giant:
These divine words affected the Mighty Giant’s soul. His heart submitted, and his ribs trembled. He realized that this speech was not from the speech of humans. His sister looked at him and found tears flowing from his eyes. She said with humility: “Guide me to Muhammad.” He went to him and embraced Islam at his hands, saying: “I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah, and I bear witness that you, O Muhammad, are the Messenger of Allah.”