Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 13 - Opposition from the Quraysh - Yasir Qadhi | October 2011
Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 13 - Opposition from the Quraysh - Yasir Qadhi | October 2011
Opposition From the Quraysh (Cont.)
What else did they do to prevent the message being spread?
3. Banning of the Recitation of the Qur'an in the Public
The third thing we'll mention is that they tried to ban the recitation of the Qur'an in public. When the Qur'an was recited, they would try to drown it out with their voices or stop it from being recited. Ibn Abbas mentions whenever the Prophet PBUH recited the Qur'an in front of the Ka'bah, the Quraysh would begin shouting and making noise, and they would curse the One who revealed it, and the one upon whom it was revealed. Thus if someone wanted to listen to the Qur'an, he would have to pretend he isn't listening and hear it over the noise. Because of the shouting, the Prophet PBUH often tried to raise his own voice above theirs. But this is when Allah revealed:
وَلَا تَجْهَرْ بِصَلَاتِكَ وَلَا تُخَافِتْ بِهَا وَابْتَغِ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ سَبِيلًا
"Do not say it loudly, nor in a whisper, but say it in a moderate voice." [17:110]
Once, the companions came together in the House of al-Arqam and they said, "No one has recited the Qur'an in public except the Prophet PBUH. Who is going to volunteer?" Then Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said, "I will do it." But they said, "We don't want you because you don't have family members/tribe to help and protect you." Indeed Ibn Mas'ud was a Yemeni, he wasn't a Qureshi, not even a Makkan. Recall in those days tribal lineage was everything - if you were a part of a tribe, you were protected. But Ibn Mas'ud said, "I want to do it - I put my trust in Allah." (This is Ibn Mas'ud who the Prophet PBUH said, "If you want to recite the Qur'an properly, go to Ibn Mas'ud." He was the one who said, "I have taken more than 70 surahs directly from the mouth of the Prophet PBUH.") Ibn Mas'ud said, "I want to do this," and he went to the Ka'bah the next morning when the people had gathered.
Of course the Ka'bah was the place of socialization. When the businesses of the day had been done, everyone would gather in the shade of the Ka'bah and gossip and relax. So when all gathered, Ibn Mas'ud stood at the maqam of Ibrahim, and began reciting in a loud and beautiful voice, Surah al-Rahman. It was so beautiful people gathered around him to listen. One of them asked, "What is this he is reciting?" Realize the whole science of tilawah (تلاوة) and tajwid (تجويد) is specific to the Qur'an. The Arabs didn't use to speak in ghunnahs (غنة) and mudud (مدود). The art and words of the Qur'an is on a different level and it's mesmerizing. So they all began talking. Until one of them said, "Oh, this is what Muhammad [PBUH] has claimed has been revealed with. That is what Ibn Mas'ud is reciting." Now the cat is let out of the bag. So immediately people pounce on him and begin beating him because again he is not from the Quraysh so he had no protection. And they continued to beat him until he could not continue reciting. He wasn't able to finish two pages of Surah al-Rahman. And he came back bloodied and battered and bruised and the sahaba said, "This is exactly why we didn't want you to go." But Ibn Mas'ud said, "Wallahi, after today, nothing has increased other than my contempt for the Quraysh - I am willing to do this again tomorrow." The sahaba said, "Enough, enough. You have done enough to distress them. They have heard the Qur'an; and you have caused them to be distressed."
We also know the famous story wherein the three leaders of Quraysh went in secret to hear the recitation of the Prophet PBUH:
Muhammad bin Ishaq said in al-Seerah: "Muhammad ibn Muslim ibn Shihab al-Zuhri told me that it happened that Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, Abu Jahal ibn Hisham and al-Akhnas ibn Shurayq ibn Amr ibn Wahb al-Thaqifi, the ally of Bani Zuhrah, went out one night to listen to the Messenger of Allah when he was praying at night in his house. Each one of them took up a position for listening, and none of them knew that the others were also there. They stayed listening to him all night until dawn came. When they left, they met up on the road, each of them blaming the others, saying to one another; `Do not come back again, lest you give the wrong impression (i.e. that you like what you hear).' Then they went away until the second night came, when each of them came back to his place and spent the night listening. When dawn came they left, then when they met up on the road, each of them blamed the others, saying the same as they had said the previous night. Then they went away until the third night came, when each of them came back to his place and spent the night listening. When dawn came they left, then when they met up on the road, they said to one another, `Let us not leave until we promise not to come back,' so they made a promise to that effect, and went their separate ways. In the morning, al-Akhnas bin Shurayq took his stick and went to the house of Abu Sufyan bin Harb, where he said, `Tell me, O Abu Sufyan what do you think of what you have heard from Muhammad' Abu Sufyan said, `O Abu al-Akhnas, by Allah, I have heard something I understand and I know what is meant by it, and I have heard things I do not understand and do not know what is meant by it.' Al-Akhnas said: `Me too, by the One by Whom you swore.' Then he left and went to Abu Jahal, and entered his house. He said, `O Abu al-Hakam (i.e. Abu Jahal) what do you think of what you have heard from Muhammad' He said, `What did you hear' He said, `We and Banu `Abd Manaf competed for honor and position: They fed people so we fed people, they engaged in battle so we engaged in battle, they gave so we gave, until we were neck and neck, like race horses. Then they said, we have a prophet among us who receives revelation from heaven. How could we compete with that - By Allah we will never believe in him.' Then al-Akhnas got up and left him.''
Subhan'Allah from this we realize how beautiful the recitation of the Prophet PBUH himself must have been - that it mesmerizes and moves the hearts even of these three leaders including Abu Jahal himself. So on the 4th day, as above, al-Akhnas goes to Abu Sufyan and says, "By Allah this recitation seems to be the truth." Abu Sufyan was too embarrassed to agree so he said, "I understood some of it but other parts I didn't understand." He gave a wishy-washy answer, even though he knew it was the truth. But of course being a politician that he is, he doesn't want any slip to come out. Al-Akhnas then asked Abu Jahal's opinion. So Abu Jahal gave an honest answer as to why he will never accept the Prophet PBUH, "Us and the Banu Abd Manaf have always been in competition. When they give water, we give water." [Side note: The Prophet PBUH - Banu Abd Manaf/Hashim; Abu Jahal - Banu Makhzum] "We are right at the end of the race, but now they tell us they have a prophet whom Allah inspires from the heavens - how can we compete with that? So by Allah, as long as I live, I will never accept him." Notice he is being honest here that he cannot accept because of competition and arrogance.
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4. Ridiculing the Prophet PBUH and the Believers
The fourth tactic was to ridicule the Prophet PBUH and his believers. Many reports are reported. Once the Prophet PBUH did not receive new revelation for weeks or months, so the wife of Abu Jahal [perhaps] said to the Prophet PBUH, "I see that your shaytan (Jibril AS) had abandoned you. I don't see you recite anything new." At this the Prophet PBUH felt very grieved. This is when Allah revealed Surah al-Duha, "Your Lord has not abandoned you, nor has He detested you. The Hereafter is better for you. And your Lord will give you, and you will be satisfied." [93:3-5]
Also, Abu Jahal would go out of his way and personally try his best to smear the religion. If it's a person of status, he would make fun of him and say to him, "How can you leave the religion of your father? Are you better than your father and grandfather?" And if it's a lowly person, he would get physical and abuse them. Once Abu Jahal purchased something from someone. But Abu Jahal then refused to pay him and kept on stalling. One day, Abu Jahal said to him, "Go to Muhammad [PBUH] and he will get it for you." Abu Jahal said it as a joke. But the man didn't get it so he went to the Prophet PBUH and told him, "Abu Jahal owes me money, and he has told me to come and collect it from you." He thought the Prophet PBUH might owe Abu Jahal money, so instead of giving it back to Abu Jahal, he'd give it to himself. The Prophet PBUH said, "Don't worry. I will get your money back for you." He took the man by the hand and walked right then and there to the house of Abu Jahal, and knocked on the door. When the door is opened, he said, "O Abu Jahal, give the man his money back. Now." Abu Jahal's face changed to complete white, he began trembling and ran all the way back and threw money in the person's face without even counting it. Abu Jahal later said in one report that he did this because he saw behind the Prophet PBUH what anyone else couldn't see - a herd of angry camels waiting to pounce on him - and that terrified him. This of course was a miracle from Allah. He tried to smear the Prophet PBUH but it backfired.
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5. False Accusations and Slander
The fifth tactic was false accusations and slander. This is where the Quraysh stooped to a very low level that they've never stooped to before. The Qur'an mentions 3~5 of their particular lies - and it's amazing that to this day whoever lies about the Prophet PBUH has to say one of these lies; they cannot get out of the same lies that are recorded in the Qur'an. Of these lies, "He is crazy." [68:51] [To that] the Qur'an says, "I lived a whole lifetime amongst you, you know who I am, can't you think?" [10:16] They said also, he is "a soothsayer" [69:42], he is either "a magician" [15:15, 51:52] or "magic has been done on him." [17:47] And to this day those people who reject Islam say similar things, and the most common understanding [among non-Muslim academics who study Islam in depth] is that the Prophet PBUH was deluded into thinking he was a prophet - which is a type of madness - because even they cannot doubt the sincerity of the Prophet PBUH. But it's impossible for a man to be crazy in only one area and completely sane in every other area (as a family man, leader, etc.). They also accused him of being a poet. This too is standard to this day - they say the Prophet PBUH was a marvelous poet who had a command of the Arabic. But Allah tells us in the Qur'an [36:69] that the Prophet PBUH is not a poet. And indeed until his death, perhaps only two or three lines of poetry came from the mouth of the Prophet PBUH. One scholar said never did the Prophet PBUH give a full couplet of poetry - only one half at max. And yet [the eloquence of] the Qur'an is beyond measure.
The main story [that illustrates this point] that we all should know is the story of al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, the father of Khalid ibn al-Walid. Again, the Qur'an was completely unprecedented. Its tone, style, language etc. is completely unique and on another level. Imagine the Qur'an being recited to the masters of the Arabic language. And the biggest master was al-Walid ibn al-Mughira who was the chief of the Banu Makhzum (the tribe of Abu Jahal). He was the Shakespeare of Makkah - the best poet of Makkah. Once the Prophet PBUH was reciting the Qur'an and al-Walid ibn al-Mughira managed to listen uninterrupted for the first time. And he is mesmerized - he stops in his tracks and listen until the Prophet PBUH finishes, and he goes away a changed man. He muttered something as he walks away and it spread in the people of Makkah - again, the people of Makkah were few and it's a very small village, so everything spreads - gossip was rampant. As he walks away, he says a beautiful prose, describing the beauty of the Qur'an as a pagan:
ﻭﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻟﻘﺪ ﺳﻤﻌﺖ ﻣﻦ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺁﻧﻔﺎً ﻛﻼﻣﺎً ﻣﺎ ﻫﻮ ﻣﻦ ﻛﻼﻡ ﺍﻷﻧﺲ ﻭﻻ ﻣﻦ ﻛﻼﻡ ﺍﻟﺠﻦ
ﺇﻥ ﻟﻪ ﻟﺤﻼﻭﺓ ﻭﺇﻥ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻟﻄﻼﻭﺓ ﻭﺇﻥ ﺃﻋﻼﻩ ﻟﻤﺜﻤﺮ ﻭﺇﻥ ﺃﺳﻔﻠﻪ ﻟﻤﻐﺪﻕ ﻭﺃﻧﻪ ﻳﻌﻠﻮ ﻭﻣﺎ ﻳﻌﻠﻰ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ
"By Allah, I have heard a speech from Muhammad right now that is neither from the speech of men nor jinn; It has a rhythm, the top of it is fertile, the height of it is beautiful, and it surpasses everything I've heard, and nothing can surpass it." The people panicked that their greatest poet has admitted defeat. When the news reached Abu Jahal, he went to al-Walid ibn al-Mughira. He said, "Your people have heard your praise of the Qur'an, and they will not be satisfied with you until you say something against it." Al-Walid ibn al-Mughira said, "What do you want me to say? Tell me, I'll say it." (Compare this to Abu Talib - he stood his ground and said, "Do what you want.") Abu Jahal says, "Call him a mad man." But al-Walid ibn al-Mughira said, "But he is not a mad man, and everybody knows he is not a mad man. We have seen crazy people, but he has no symptoms of a crazy man." Then Abu Jahal said, "Say he is a fortune teller." But al-Walid ibn al-Mughira says, "He isn't a fortune teller - he doesn't have the dandana or the mazmara of the fortune tellers." So Abu Jahal said, "Call him a magician." But again al-Walid ibn al-Mughira said, "He isn't a magician." Then he said, "Say he is a poet." But al-Walid ibn al-Mughira said, "By Allah, I am the best poet amongst you. And I am telling you that this is not the type of poetry that we are used to." So Abu Jahal then said, "You need to say something and we won't be satisfied with you until you say something." So al-Walid ibn al-Mughira said, "Leave me alone for a few days."
And he began walking around in his house, thinking about what he is going to say. He is frowning. He is going about back and forth, until he comes across an idea. But before he could say it, Allah revealed in the Qur'an exactly what is happening in the privacy in his house, and the feelings in his heart, and the expressions in his face that nobody, not even his family knew. Look at the beauty of the Qur'an - coinciding with reality, that before he can say something, the Prophet PBUH recites it and exposes him. Surah al-Muddaththir, the second portion. Allah speaks directly to al-Walid. This is a miracle. No one could have known this, yet it's in the Qur'an:
ذَرْنِي وَمَنْ خَلَقْتُ وَحِيدًا
وَجَعَلْتُ لَهُ مَالًا مَّمْدُودًا
وَبَنِينَ شُهُودًا
وَمَهَّدتُّ لَهُ تَمْهِيدًا
ثُمَّ يَطْمَعُ أَنْ أَزِيدَ
كَلَّا ۖ إِنَّهُ كَانَ لِآيَاتِنَا عَنِيدًا
سَأُرْهِقُهُ صَعُودًا
إِنَّهُ فَكَّرَ وَقَدَّرَ
فَقُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ
ثُمَّ قُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ
ثُمَّ نَظَرَ
ثُمَّ عَبَسَ وَبَسَرَ
ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ وَاسْتَكْبَرَ
فَقَالَ إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ يُؤْثَرُ
إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا قَوْلُ الْبَشَرِ
سَأُصْلِيهِ سَقَرَ
"Leave Me with the one I created alone
And to whom I granted extensive wealth
And children present [with him]
And spread [everything] before him, easing [his life].
Then he desires that I should add more.
No! Indeed, he has been toward Our verses obstinate.
I will cover him with arduous torment.
Indeed, he thought and deliberated.
So may he be destroyed [for] how he deliberated.
Then may he be destroyed [for] how he deliberated.
Then he considered [again];
Then he frowned and scowled;
Then he turned back and was arrogant
And said, "This is not but magic imitated [from others].
This is not but the word of a human being."
I will drive him into Saqar." [74:11-26]
These are so powerful, that Allah is saying do you think you can challenge My speech?
It's also narrated that Abu Jahal would stand outside of Makkah and tell the pilgrims, "Careful, there is a mad man in town." Sometimes Abu Lahab would do this as well, "He is my own nephew and he has gone crazy. And I warn you, do not listen to him because if you do, you will be mesmerized." "He is a magician who will captivate you. So when you see him, turn around, put your hands in your ears, and do not listen to him." But subhan'Allah, this was the cause of the conversion of more than one person - one of them said, "Oh, if he is a mad man, I will cure him since I am a doctor." So he went to the Prophet PBUH and said, "I heard you are a mad man, or have some issues. So I will cure you." But the Prophet PBUH said, "I am not mad; but listen to my message." And the Prophet PBUH recited Khutbah al-Hajah:
إن الحمد لله نحمده، و نستعينه، ونستغفره، ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا، ومن سيئات أعمالنا, من يهده الله فلا مضل له
The Prophet PBUH didn't even get to the message yet, just Khutbah al-Hajah; and the man said, "Stop. Repeat what you have just said." This is not even the khutbah, and the doctor said, "By Allah, I have never heard anything more beautiful than this." And he accepted Islam.
But of course, the bulk of people listened to Abu Jahal and avoided the Prophet PBUH.
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6. Challenging the Prophet PBUH for a Miracle
The sixth tactic was to challenge the Prophet PBUH for a miracle. And they demanded to see something with their eyes. Allah mentions many such challenges in the Qur'an. In Surah al-Isra':
وَقَالُوا لَن نُّؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ تَفْجُرَ لَنَا مِنَ الْأَرْضِ يَنبُوعًا
أَوْ تَكُونَ لَكَ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَعِنَبٍ فَتُفَجِّرَ الْأَنْهَارَ خِلَالَهَا تَفْجِيرً
أَوْ تُسْقِطَ السَّمَاءَ كَمَا زَعَمْتَ عَلَيْنَا كِسَفًا أَوْ تَأْتِيَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ قَبِيلًا
أَوْ يَكُونَ لَكَ بَيْتٌ مِّن زُخْرُفٍ أَوْ تَرْقَىٰ فِي السَّمَاءِ وَلَن نُّؤْمِنَ لِرُقِيِّكَ حَتَّىٰ تُنَزِّلَ عَلَيْنَا كِتَابًا نَّقْرَؤُهُ ۗ قُلْ سُبْحَانَ رَبِّي هَلْ كُنتُ إِلَّا بَشَرًا رَّسُولًا
"And they say, 'We will not believe you until you break open for us from the ground a spring.
Or [until] you have a garden of palm trees and grapes and make rivers gush forth within them in force [and abundance].
Or you make the heaven fall upon us in fragments as you have claimed or you bring Allah and the angels before [us].
Or you have a house of gold or you ascend into the sky. And [even then], we will not believe in your ascension until you bring down to us a book we may read.' Say, 'Exalted is my Lord! Was I ever but a human messenger?'" [17:90~93]
Allah tells the Prophet PBUH to, "Say: I am only a prophet, not God walking on earth."
A question comes, why didn't Allah give these miracles to them?
i) Well firstly, Allah did give them many miracles. The major one was the splitting of the moon [Qur'an, 54:1]. And when Allah did this they said, "He bewitched our eyes." [Qur'an, 54:2]
ii) Second, Allah revealed the greatest miracle - the Qur'an. Allah kept emphasizing that Qur'an is His miracle.
iii) Thirdly, Allah knew they are just asking out of stubbornness and arrogance. (And this is proven by the fact that when the miracle is shown, they rejected it, such as [the splitting of] the moon.) Allah says in the Qur'an, "And even if We had sent down to them the angels [with the message] and the dead spoke to them [of it] and We gathered together every [created] thing in front of them, they would not believe unless Allah should will." [6:111]
iv) Another wisdom is that Allah is above being so petty that every time somebody asks, they're going to get it. Allah has given enough signs that they should believe in those signs.
v) Another wisdom is that if Allah is challenged, He takes it, but with a challenge back. And that is if you reject, you will face the punishment.
Narrated in Sahih Bukhari, once they begged the Prophet PBUH to convert Safa into gold. The Prophet PBUH felt they were very sincere so he made a special du'a to Allah to convert it into gold. So Allah sent Jibril AS down and said, "If you want, I will convert Safa into gold, but if they refuse [to believe in your prophethood], they will not have a second chance." Of course Allah doesn't play games, this is beyond Him - it's too petty and this isn't a joke. If they refuse, the punishment will come instantaneously. And so the Prophet PBUH realized it's better this doesn't happen. There are at least 20 verses in the Qur'an about this where Allah says, of them is, "The only reasons We don't send signs is because even the earlier nations rejected them." [17:59] "How do you know [ya Rasulullah] - [I know]; when the miracles come, they will reject them."[6:109]
So the Prophet PBUH is being told, there is a reason why Allah is not answering all the miracles; and that he has enough miracles with him. So he has given some miracles and denied others.
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7. Attempts of Middle Ground/Bribery
The seventh tactic was attempts of a middle ground/bribery - negotiations directly with the Prophet PBUH. Because it's getting out of their hands now; people are converting and the society is 'breaking up'. So they told the Prophet PBUH, "Let's reach a compromise. One day we'll all be Muslim, the next day we'll all worship our gods (idols)." This is the compromise they wanted. But of course there is no compromise in tawhid. So Allah revealed Surah al-Kafirun:
قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ
لَا أَعْبُدُ مَا تَعْبُدُونَ
وَلَا أَنتُمْ عَابِدُونَ مَا أَعْبُدُ
وَلَا أَنَا عَابِدٌ مَّا عَبَدتُّمْ
وَلَا أَنتُمْ عَابِدُونَ مَا أَعْبُدُ
لَكُمْ دِينُكُمْ وَلِيَ دِينِ
"Say, 'O disbelievers,
I do not worship what you worship.
Nor are you worshipers of what I worship.
Nor will I be a worshiper of what you worship.
Nor will you be worshipers of what I worship.
For you is your religion, and for me is my religion.'" [109:1-6]
Question: What does it mean, "Nor are you worshipers of what I worship," when the Quraysh did worship Allah? Response: When you worship Allah via shirk, you are not worshiping Allah.
The scholars have differed, over 10 opinions, about what is the difference between the second and the fourth verse. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah RH has a position: The second and third refer to Allah and the gods i.e. the object of worship; whereas the fourth and the fifth refer to the actions of worship - what you do to worship. E.g. Muslims pray, fast, give zakat, etc. and the mushrikun throw arrows in front of the idols, clapping, singing, whistling etc.
Once, they called a meeting with the Prophet PBUH in Abu Talib's house and propositioned to him directly, "What can we do so that you get rid of this message?" The Prophet PBUH said, "I only want one word from you." They stood up, "One word? We'll give you 10!" Of course they understood it as just 'one condition' but the Prophet PBUH said, "What I want is the kalimah, 'La ilaha illaLlah (there is no God but Allah).'" And then they said as revealed by Allah in the Qur'an, "Has he made our objects of worship into one? This is something that is crazy (we have never heard of this before)." [38:5]
The most famous incident of outright bribery is of Utbah ibn Rabi'ah. Utbah was from the Banu Abd Shams and was a man of wisdom. He is a distant uncle of the Prophet PBUH. (He is the one who commands the Christian servant boy to give the grapes to the Prophet PBUH after the incident of Ta'if [in later seerah]. And he is the person who, before the Battle of Badr [in later seerah], when the Prophet PBUH was looking and saw a man racing back and forth on a red camel, the Prophet PBUH said, "If the Quraysh have any good in them, they will listen to the wise man on the red camel" - and the man was Utbah ibn Rabi'ah, who was saying to his people, "O people, there is your brother, there is your father, there is your uncle, how can you fight them?! Are you going for war?! You're going to kill these people?! Who's going to be the victor?! If you die, you die; and if you win, you've killed your own brother! How would you like to be the murderer of your own brother?!" So he tried to stop the Battle of Badr from happening with a moving sermon. But of course Abu Jahal stood up and told people to ignore him. So Utbah fought in the Battle of Badr [on the side of the Quraysh], and was killed; him, his brother and son were all killed in the very beginning of the battle.)
So the Quraysh are sitting in their gathering, and they are simply cursing the Prophet PBUH, making fun of him etc. Utbah says, "Has any of you tried to negotiate with him?" They say, "No, we haven't." So he said, "Okay then, that's what needs to be done. Send me as a representative, allow me to speak on your behalf. We know him to be a good man, I'm sure we can work something out." So they say, "Khalas, whatever you need, you are our representative. Go and try to negotiate a treaty with the man." So Utbah goes to the Prophet PBUH, who was sitting in front of the Ka'bah, and says, "O my nephew, you know your status and lineage. But now you've come forth with a matter that has caused havoc in out society. O Muhammad [PBUH], are you better than your father, Abdullah? Are you better than your grandfather, Abdul Muttalib?" - clearly, these are trick questions - of course the Prophet PBUH is better, but in that society, it was a blasphemy to say that you are better than your own father and grandfather, ESPECIALLY Abdul Muttalib, the most respected chieftain in Arabian history.
The Prophet PBUH did not even answer - and there is a beautiful point of wisdom in that. When you are asked trap questions, you don't have to answer - as we as Muslims are not allowed to lie. Our religion does not allow us to have double-faces. You can't answer every question to satisfy the questioner, because their intellectual level is different - Utbah is steeped in Jahiliyyah; and to him, it is just completely a given that Abdul Muttalib was the greatest Arab ever, and the Prophet PBUH is just his grandson. So it's a trick question. So the Prophet PBUH understood this, thus he didn't say, "Of course I am better because I am upon tawhid and he was upon shirk." No. He remained silent.
And then Utbah kept on going and said, "We have never seen any young man as promising as you, flip around and become so unpromising. What a desolate failure you have become - you have broken our society. You had so much potential. But now we have not seen any young man bring forth more harm to his people than you have. The Arabs are all making fun of us, the people are mocking your call, you have split us up, and 'we are now waiting for the cry of the pregnant woman' to have civil war (it's just a matter of time before civil war breaks out). You are an intelligent man, so listen to me, I will propose certain conditions, perhaps you will agree to one or more of them: (1) If you wish for money, I have the power of Quraysh invested in me, and we will give you more money than anybody of us have. You shall be the richest of the Arabs. (2) If you want power, we will make you our king. (The Quraysh didn't have a king, but they are now so desperate. Can you believe this? In their hatred of Islam, they are willing to unify). (3) If you want woman, go choose any woman you want, and we will ensure she will marry you. (After all, these are the three things that most men want: power, money, and woman - [but not the Prophet PBUH]). (4) And if you think you are unwell (mentally), we will hire doctors to cure you."
When he is finished, the Prophet PBUH said, "Are you done, ya Aba al-Walid?" Again this is wisdom - you do not interrupt a person when they are speaking. Let them finish. Not just that, you then ask, "Are you done? Or anything else?" Utbah goes, "No. That is all I have." So then the Prophet PBUH said, "Now listen to me," and he begins reciting Surah Fussilat [41]. Just like the rest of the Quraysh, Utbah has never listened to the Qur'an wholeheartedly. After he's done with his negotiations, he was sitting back initially, but as the Prophet PBUH recites, verse after verse, Utbah's expression began to change. He begins to palpitate. And there is a verse which says, "But if they turn away, then say, 'I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt [that struck] Ad and Thamud.'" [41:13] When the Prophet PBUH reached this verse, it was so powerful and frightening that Utbah jumped up and put his hand on the Prophet's PBUH mouth and said, "I beg you, by Allah, and by the rights that I have over you as your blood relative! Do not send this punishment!" It moved him so much he is trembling. So he turns and runs back to the same group who sent him as their delegate, and says to them, "Listen to me. Leave this man alone. Because I have heard a speech from him that I have never heard before. I could not comprehend all of it," - pause here. Some scholars say the reason why some mushrikun could not understand some verses of the Qur'an was because: when they are immersed in so much shirk, there is a ghishawa/غشاوة (veil) on their hearts (as Allah says in the Qur'an, 2:7). Utbah continues, "I could not comprehend all of it, however, he is going to have a sha'n/شأن (importance) - he is going to cause some scene. If the Arabs get rid of him for us, then our hands are clean (we won't have to kill our own tribesman); but if he overcomes the Arabs, then by Allah, his victory is our [own tribe's] victory; his power is our power." When Utbah said this, they told him, "He has bewitched you as he has bewitched everyone else." They just cannot accept the truth as it comes to them.
(Tangent: And indeed through the Qur'an, the Arabs were later given the honor to rule the world, as Allah says in Surah al-Anbiya', "We have sent down to you a Book; in it will be your honor." [21:10] This is exactly what happened.)