38 in tIM Footstep! of the Proph"The number o f conversions nevertheless remained small dwing the
first few months. Tradition reports that during the first three years, only
thirty to forty Quraysh became Muslims. They would meet with the
Prophet at the home of onc of the converts, al-Arqam ibn Ahi al-Arqam,
and learn the basics of their religion while new Revelations kept arriving.
The surrounding atmosphere was becoming more and more hostile as the
inhabitants of r..'Iecca learned about the essentials of this new message
and took stock of its impact on the poor and the young. T he Prophet,
aware of those upheavals and of the dangers ahead, decided to concen-
trate on discreetly giving a solid education to a small group, who he knew
wouJd face criticism, rejection, and most probably exclusion. It was this
very group who were latet, thanks to the quality of their spiritual educa-
tion and the sin ce rity of their involvement, to remain steadfast in the face
of difficulties and persecution. From the beginning, the Prophet had
given priority to quality over quantity, and preferred to concern himself
with the nature of the hearts and minds he addressed tathet than theit
numbet. Fat thtee yeats, he guietly built up the first community of bcliC\'-
ers, whose particular feamre was that it gathered, without distinction,
women and men of all clans an d all soeial eategorics (although the bulk
wete young or poor).
The Public Call
A fter those years, J\{uhammad received a Revelation enjoining him to
make his call public: ''And admonish your nearest kinsmen.,,1 The
Prophet understood that he nO"\1/ had to convey his message to the mem-
bets of the clans to which he was linkeJ by kinship tics. He began to call
them to Is lam. One day, he climbed up Mount as-Safa and called the trib-
al chiefs one by one. Thinking he had an urgent or important announce-
ment to make, they gathered at the foot of the hill to listen to him. From
where they stood, thcy could not look into the valley, whereas J\'luham-
maJ was facing it. He called our to them: ''If I warned you that Jown in
this valley, armed horsemen are closing in to attack you, would you believe
me?" They answered, almost with one voice: "Certainly- you are trust-
worthy and we have never heard you tell lies!" The P rophet then went on:
"\Xfdl, [ am here to forewarn you of violent torments! God has ordered