PERSECUTION BEGINS
The Prophet (r) continued to preach the message of God as vigorously as before. The
Makkans were now desperate of forcing Abu Talib to give up Muhammed (r) and there was
nothing that they could do to stop him. Their anger swelled to such an extent that they
started inciting the tribes against those who had accepted Islam but had nobody to protect
them. Every tribe asserted itself on the Muslims amongst it; beating and putting them under
chains, denying them food and water and forcing them to lie on the burning sand and under
the scorching heat of Arabia's sun.
Bilal Ibn Rabah was a slave who had embraced Islam. Umaya Ibn Khalaf, his master, used
to bring him out at noontime and throw him on his back into the hot sand. He ordered to
place a great rock on the chest of Bilal and then he would say to him, “No, by God, you will
lie here till you die or deny Muhammed and worship Al-Lat and Al-Uzza.” Bilal endured the
affliction, crying, “One, One”.
Abu Bakr once saw Bilal (May Allah be pleased with him) being tortured by his master.
Sensing the servant’s conviction, he bought Bilal’s freedom. (Ibn Hisham, Vol. I, pp. 317-18)
Ammar Ibn Yasir and his parents had accepted Islam. Bani Makhzum used to take them
out in the full glare of the sun at the hottest part of the day and then take them to task for
their faith. If the Prophet (r) passed by them, he used to advise them: “Patience, O family of
Yasir, patience. Your destination is Paradise.” They endured all persecutions until ‘Bani
Makhzum killed Ammar’s mother for she refused to renounce Islam. (Ibn Hisham Vol. Pp.
317-18)
Mus’ab Ibn ‘Umyr was the most well dressed young man of Makkah. Mus’ab’s mother,
who possessed a handsome fortune, had brought him up in the life of luxury. He used to put
on the costliest clothes perfumed with the best scent and always had his shoes imported
from Hadramaut, then famous for manufacturing leather goods. The Prophet (r) is reported
to have once remarked about him: “I had not seen any young man in Makkah more hand-
some and far well-dressed or who had been brought up with more grandeur and comfort
than Mus’ab Ibn Umayr.” He came to know that the Prophet (r) preached a new religion in
the house of Arqam. ‘Umayr’s curiosity took him there but he came back as a true believer
in Islam. He did not, however, declare his faith open and kept on meeting the Prophet (r)
secretly. ‘Uthman Ibn Talha once saw him performing the prayer and disclosed his secret to
his mother and other tribesmen. The result was that he was seized and imprisoned, and
remained in fetters until the Muslims first migrated to Abyssinia. When he returned from
Abyssinia along with the other refugees, he was completely a changed man. His daintiness
and elegance was relinquished in favor of such a rugged simplicity that his mother had to
leave him alone instead of confronting him (Tabaqat Ibn S’ad, Vol. III, pp. 82; Isti’ab, Vol. I,
pp. 288)
Scared of the hostile atmosphere then prevailing against the Muslims in Makkah, others
had sought the protection of their friends who were still polytheists. One of them was