The Dark Danger: Bigotry: The Harsh Testing of Muslims in the Meccan Period

The revelation to our Prophet (pbuh) took a full 23 years. During the first 13 years of this, Muslims lived as a minority in the pagan society of Mecca and were subjected to very great pressures. Many Muslims were subjected to physical torture, some were martyred, the homes and possessions of most were looted and they were constantly exposed to threats and insults. Yet Muslims continued living without resorting to violence, merely keeping their distance from the pagans and always calling them to the path of peace.

Yet the aggression of the pagan communities in question was unending.

The Quraysh, the tribe that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was born into, initially seemed to regard his prophethood as unimportant. While continuing not to believe, they made no protest against the Prophet's (pbuh) call so long as he said nothing against their idols. When they saw the Prophet (pbuh) however, they attacked him verbally. They unwisely mocked and belittled Muslims. The Quraysh "verbal assault" period began in that way.

The Qur'an describes the position in these words:

Those who did evil used to laugh at those who had faith.

When they passed by them, they would wink at one another. When they returned to their families, they would make a joke of them.

When they saw them, they would say, "Those people are misguided." (Qur'an, 83:29-32) Mecca was the center of idolatry. Mecca would fill to overflowing every day with people coming to visit the Ka'aba and the idols around it, thus earning the Quraysh a good deal of money and pres-Muslims lived as a minority in the pagan society of Mecca and were exposed to much oppression. Many Muslims were physically tortured, some were martyred, most had their homes and possessions pillaged and they were subjected to constant insults and threats.

Yet Muslims continued to live without resorting to violence, merely keeping their distance from the idolaters and calling on them to live in peace.

tige. The Quraysh regarded the spread of Islam in Mecca as a threat, because they thought that this would act against their own interests and also attract the hostility of other tribes. They also knew that Islam regarded everyone as equal and made no discrimination on grounds of lineage or wealth. Leading members of the Quraysh therefore believed they needed to take precautions to stop the spread of Islam. These "precautions" frequently included the torture and even the killing of Muslims. (Ibn Hisham, 1/287)

The pagans of the time could not do much harm to members of strong and eminent families, such as Hazrat Abu Bakr and Hazrat Uthman, but they viciously mistreated poor and unprotected Muslims. Worthy Muslims exposed to such severe mistreatment included Abu Fakih, Khabbab ibn al-Aratt, Bilal ibn Rabah, Suhaib ar-Rumi, Ammar ibn Yasir, Yasir ibn Amir and Sumayyah bint Khayyat. Abu Fakih, a slave of Safwan ibn Umayyah, was tied by his feet every day by his master and dragged over hot gravel and sand. The iron-worker Khabbab ibn al-Aratt was laid on hot coals and his chest pressed down onto the coals until they had cooled. Ammar ibn Yasir's father, Yasir ibn Amir, had his legs tied to camels which were then driven in different directions, tearing his body apart. Unable to bear the pain of her husband being martyred in that savage way, Sumayyah bint Khayyat spoke out against the pagans and was killed by an arrow fired by Abu Jahl. (Zad al-Maad, 2/116; The Age of Felicity, 1/254)

Umayyah ibn Khalaf would lay his slave Bilal al-Habashi down naked on baking sand every day. He would then place a huge rock on his chest and leave him there for hours; he tortured him to try and make him go against the Prophet (pbuh) and abandon Islam. One day he tied his hands and feet and placed a rope round his neck. He then dragged him over the hot sand through the streets of Mecca. (Zad al-Maad, 2/116; The Age of Felicity, 1/253)

They were at first unable to touch the person of our Prophet (pbuh) since he was under the guardianship of his uncle Abu Talib and since they feared the Hashemites. Gradually, however they began slandering him, saying he was a "fortune teller, a poet, a magician, a conjuror." Eventually, they took every opportunity they could find to insult and mistreat the Prophet (pbuh).

This mistreatment of Muslims all took place simply because they had faith and preached Islam to others. Despite all that oppression, torture and violence, Muslims never harmed those who were harming them, which is one of the requirements of Islam, and never tried to defend themselves, which is their most basic human right. The pagans of the time were unable to harm Muslims from powerful and prestigious families, such as Hazrat Abu Bakr and Hazrat Uthman. However, they barbarically mistreated and tortured poor and helpless Muslims, in a way never seen before.

Seeing that the Muslims were not fighting back, the Quraysh stepped up their aggression and tortures. The Quraysh in question were now martyring Muslims the moment they saw them.

As the persecution worsened, the Muslims, who did not respond to it in any way and did not even defend themselves since the Qur'an prohibits the shedding of blood, found themselves unable to remain in Mecca any longer. That meant they had to migrate to Medina.