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Answer 1

Keyword is "Merchants." They were in the business of selling carvings, sculptures etc that people bought and worshipped as "Gods." Very lucrative business for the merchants, esp. as the Center brought tourists from far away drawn by the Propaganda that the Meccans had discovered many powerful "gods." The tourists needed accommodation, food, entertainment and all that goes with Tourism-controlled by the merchants, of course.

When the prophet Muhammad's teachings about Islam reached the Meccan Merchants, it was first and foremost an economic issue-loss of money. Since Islam was about Monotheism, and stressed that the One God could not be seen nor reproduced as a statue, there and then the merchants knew they had to take steps to preserve their economy, as it were. Has not history showed the consequences of the love of money and also the yearning for understanding of the concept of "a Higher Power" which sadly is also warped and blatantly used as a cover for crimes against humanity?

Answer 2

Merchants in Mecca objected to Mohammed on several grounds.

Preserving Religious Plurality: Meccan Merchants opposed Mohammed because the religious plurality permitted in Mecca was critical for maintaining Mecca's important position along the Arabian trade routes. It was on account of the fact that Mecca was holy site for all Arabian faiths that spared it from internal conflict and allowed the flourishing of commerce in the city. Mohammed made clear that he intended to purge the idols from the Kaaba which would cause mass uproar and ended Mecca's position as a holy site for all Arabians.

Of course, what these merchants did not take into account is that nearly all Arabians would convert to Islam after the fall of Mecca.

Attacks on Meccan Commerce: During Mohammed's Medinan Period, Mohammed organized and executed numerous raids on caravans heading to and leaving from Mecca, causing disruption to Arabian trade routes. Since this directly affected the Meccan Merchants' bottom line, this raised enmity.

Polytheism: Many Meccan Merchants ascribed to various Arabian henotheistic religions and knew that Mohammed would demand that they abandon all gods but Allah. They did not wish to be forced to change their religion.

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11y ago

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