One day the Pharaoh of Makkah, Abu Jahl, said in the assembly of Quraysh: “O people of Quraysh! You can see how Muhammad considers our religion to be worthless and abuses the faith of our forefathers and their gods, and declares us to be ignorant. By God I will lie in ambush for him tomorrow and will place a stone by my side; and when Muhammad goes into sajdah (prostration) I will strike that stone on his head. On the following day the Holy Prophet arrived in Masjidul Haram to offer his prayers and stood between ‘Rukn-i Yamani’ and the ‘Black Stone’.
A group of Quraysh who were aware of the intention of Abu Jahl were wondering whether or not he would succeed in his campaign. The Holy Prophet went into sajdah and his old enemy came out of the ambush and approached him.
However, it was not long before he was struck with awe and he returned to Quraysh, trembling, and aghast, with a countenance distracted. All of them ran forward and said “O Aba Hakam! what has happened?” He said with a very weak voice which betrayed his fear and disturbance of mind “There appeared before my eyes a scene which I had never seen before in my life. It was for this reason that I abandoned my plan”.
It goes without saying that an unseen force had arisen by the command of Allah and had created a spectacle which protected the Prophet of Islam from harm by the enemies in accordance with the Divine promise: “We shall protect you from the mischief of those who mock”.