Persecution faced by the Holy

Prophet and his companions

After the silent preaching ended and Prophet Muhammad had strong, loyal beleivers with him; It was time for
open preaching, the Prophet no longer had to privately go to people and preach Islam. He could now publicly
and openly preach Islam, but this led to an inhumane amount of persecution by the Makkans that the Prophet
and his companions had to face.
The Makkans once went to Abu Talib so he could advice his nephew to stop preaching islam, they addressed
him in the following manner: “o Abu Talib! Your nephew curses our gods; finds faults in our way of life, mocks
at our religion and degrades our forefathers. Either you must stop him or you must let us get at him for you are
in the same opposition as we are in opposition to him and we will rid you off him”. Abu Talib gave them a polite
reply and refused to listen any further.
The Prophet ignored the Makkans and stayed true to his duty, continued to spread islam despite all the
persecuation. His companions also faced a painful amount of hate and abuse, but they continued to stay loyal
and committed to their religion. Their faith in Allah was stronger than any power from Quraish.
Persecuation that the Prophet went through; Verbal abuse

The reaction of the Makkans was very unwelcoming, they were against the teaching of islam, and they weren’t
ready to accept equality as islam teaches. Soon enough the Quraish started targeting the Prophet through their
verbal power and would often call him names and throw sensitive remarks at him.
The persecuation started with the Prophets uncle, Abu Lahab himself. He started ridiculing the Prophet. Once,
the Prophets son died in infancy, Abu Jahal would call the prophet ‘Abtar’ (the man with no male offspring).
The Prophet would often be called names like ‘the magicion’ or ‘the crazy one’ or ‘the delusional’. There were
also many other sensitive remarks thrown at him. He would be intrepted while performing the pilgrimage.
Furthermore, there was disobiedence and disrespect shown during the recitation of Quran. The people of
Quraish would purposely raise arguments over religion and they would mock the Prophet’s companions.
Despite all this the Prophet was very patient and remained calm. He continued to practice and preach religion.
He refused to give up on his duty and chose to worked even harder.
Persecuation that the Prophet went through; Mental abuse
All the persecuation that the Prophet went through caused a lot of mental stress on him. The constant hatred
towards the Prophet and the oppression he had to face was very pressuring.
The Prophets Daughters were married to Abu Lahabs sons, and Abu Lahab forced his sons to divorce the
daughters of prophet Muhammad. Quriash would interrupt the Prophets prayers and take advantage of his
patience. He couldn’t practice religion in peace because the Makkans would put their full effort in disturbing the
prophet Muhammad. The Prophet also suffered from the loss of his most loyal companions.
The Prophet suffered a lot, but he never took revenge, he rather chose to ignore them and simply continued his
hardwork in spreading islam.
Persecuation that the Prophet went through; Physical abuse
Prophet Muhammads patience and silence was triggering Quraish and at this point the Makkans started
physically abusing the Prophet. The Prophet had to face a lot of torture and this physical torture was also
affecting his mental health.
The physical torture was started by the Prophets very own uncle, Abu Lahab. He started with ridiculing the
Prophet and flinging stones at him. Abu Lahabs wife was no better than him. She used to tie bundle of thorns
with the ropes of twisted palm-leaf fiber and stew them about on the path The Holy Prophet was expected to
take. In response, Allah said in Surah Lahab: “He will enter to burn in a fire of blazing flame and his wife as
well the carrier of firewood. Around her neck is a rope of twisted fibre”. (Surah-Al-Lahab, verses 3-5)
According to Abdullah Bin Masood, once the Holy Prophet was prostrating in front of the Kaa’bah; Abu Jahal
asked his companions to put a camel’s entrails on his back, Laughter arose as the crowd enjoyed the suffering of
Prophet Muhammad. Luckily, Hazrat Fatima happened to pass by, she quickly approached the Prophet and
removed the entrails from his back.
The Prophet would constantly get tortured and mistreated but his faithfulness and tolerance was like no other.
Persecution faced by the companions of Prophet Muhammad.

The early Muslims suffered the most, they were painfully tortured and were given inhumane punishments just
because they chose to go on the right path.
Most of the Muslims were martyred and they sacrificed their lives for the sake of Islam. They were badly
persecuted and most of them experienced painful death or life long injuries. Abu Talib despite not being a
Muslim suffered from humiliation because he supported his nephew. Women were equally tortured and
martyred. Sumaiyyah, the mother of Ammar was put to death by Abu Jahal who pierced her stomach with spear
and thus, she merited the title of ‘the first woman martyr in Islam’. There were so many other Muslim that
suffered like Zunairah, her master pierced a hot iron rod in her eyes; she was left blinded and lost her eyesight
completely.
There are so many more heroes that are a prime example of leaders and warriors. So many companions of
Prophet Muhammad were such great examples for the Muslim world.
Ammar bin Yasir and his family
Another victim of Quraish's violence was Ammar bin Yasir, a freed slave of Bani Makhzoom. He along with his
father and mother, embraced Islam in its early phase. They were made to lie on burning sand and were beaten
severely. Ammar was tossed upon the embers. The Prophet comforted him and raised his hands in prayer and
said: “Be patient, O family of Yasir, you will verily find your abode in paradise”.
Yasir, the father of Ammar, eventually died because of the repeated tortures. His mother Sumaiyyah was put to
death and was the first woman in Islam to get martyred.
Ammar bin Yasir’s entire family were true believers of Islam and all of them sacrificed themselves for the
Almighty.
 Bilal ibn Rabah
When Muhammad announced his Prophethood and started to preach the message of Islam, Bilal renounced idol
worship, becoming one of the earliest converts to the faith. Ummaiyah, Bilal’s slave master found out and he
bound Bilal and had him dragged around Mecca as children mocked him . Ummaiyah bin Khalaf used to throw
his Abyssinian slave, Bilal on the hot sand under the burning sun, put a heavy stone on his chest and leave him
there to die, for no reason but his insistence upon Islam. Bearing this torture patiently, Bilal kept on repeating
“Ahad, Ahad” (Allah is one, Allah is one). When Abu Bakr saw him being tortured so brutally, he bought him
from his master and set him free.
He was born in Makkah and is considered to have been the first mu’azzan in history, chosen by Muhammad
himself. He was a former slave and was known for his voice with which he called people to their prayers. He
died in 640 CE, at the age of 60 (or just over 60 in Hijri lunar years).
 Abu Bakar bin Abu Qahafa
For three years after the advent of Islam, Muslims kept secret their faith, and prayed in secret. In 613 Prophet
Muhammad received a revelation to call people to Islam openly. The first public address inviting people to offer
allegiance to Prophet Muhammad was delivered by Abu Bakr.
After the news of Abu Bakr spread the young men of the Quraish rushed to Abu Bakr and beat him mercilessly
till he lost consciousness. Following this incident his mother also accepted islam and was persecuted
mercilessly. He was the most loyal companion of Prophet Muhammad.
Abu Bakar utilized his wealth for the cause of Islam and freed many Muslims slaves after buying them from
their cruel masters. He should great courage and strength and he was dear friend to Prophet Muhammad.
 Uthman bin Affan
On returning from a business trip to Syria in 611, Uthman learned of Muhammad's declared mission. After a
discussion with Abu Bakr, Uthman decided to convert to Islam, and Abu Bakr brought him to Muhammad to declare
his faith. Uthman thus became one of the earliest convert of Islam, following Ali, Zayd, Abu Bakr and a few others.
His conversion to Islam angered his clan, the Bano ummaiyyah, who strongly opposed Muhammad's teachings.
The Uncle of Uthman used to wrap him in a mat of palm leaves and set fire under him. On another occasion when
Labid b. Rabi’a b. Malik b Ja’far b. Kilab was in an assembly of the Quraish when Uthman was present, he recited a
verse:
Everything but God is vain, True! Interjected Uthman; but when he went on:
And everything lovely must inevitably cease,
Uthman cried, ‘You lie! The joy of Paradise will never cease.’ Labid said: ‘O men of Quraysh your friends never used
to be annoyed this. Since when has this rot of thing happened among you?’ One of the audience answered: ‘This is
one of those louts with Muhammad. They have abandoned our religion. Take no notice of what he says.’ Uthman
objected so energetically that the matter became serious. Whereupon that man rose to his feet and hit him in the eye
so that it became black.
Uthman was a very wealthy individual, and he was another courageous companion of Prophet Muhammad.
 Women that were persecuted
The persecution was so bad that they didn’t even spare women. Women were brutally tortured, and
they faced the same torture as men.
Among these women were An-Nahdiyah and Zunairah, who were badly mistreated. Zunairah lost
her eyesight after a brutal punishment. Summaiyyah was also the first women to get martyred in
Islam. Daughters of Prophet were also forcefully divorced by the sons of Abu Lahab. Abu Bakr’s
mother was also maltreated.
Women of Islam were faithful towards their religion, and they showed equality in Islam. Women
participated in migrations, and they were very brave inspirations.
 Muslims of pure Arab blood
The Muslims that were originally from Arab weren’t spared either. They suffered from ferocious mistreatment
and were punished harshly.
When the mother of Mus’ab bin Umair heard of her son’s conversion, she put him to starvation and then
expelled him from her house. In the aftermath he was badly tortured, and his skin got severely burnt and he
assumed a horrible physical appearance. Khabbab bin Al-Aratt was also another victim of Quraish's brutality.
The Makkan polytheists used to pull his hair and twist his neck and made him lie on burning coal with a big
rock on his chest to prevent him from escaping.
In the light of such persecutions, Prophet Muhammad advised his followers to conceal their faith. He took the
decision to meet them secretly and avoided any sort of open confrontation with polytheists because such thing t
this early stage would have been harmful to the cause of Islam.