Persecution

As the muslim community in Makkah grew,

they would often go in groups to the glens outside Makkah

so that they could pray together without being seen,

but one day some idol worshippers came upon them while they were praying

and interrupted them with abuse.

Argument quickly led to blows, and one of the muslims, Sa'd of Zuhrah,

struck a disbeliever with a camel's jawbone and wounded him.

This was the first blood shed in Islam,

but after that it was decided

that as the Message told them to bear their trials with patience

and to argue with their opponents in the best of manners,

they would avoid all violence

until God told them otherwise.

And in Makkah at the time,

this was a very unusual way of dealing with such situations.

But as the community grew,

the Quraysh leaders spoke to Abu Talib

to try to get him to withdraw his protection from Muhammad,

but he refused,

so they decided that if nothing else

they would organise a widespread persecution

of those new muslims who had no such protection,

such as the poor,

orphans and slaves.

Then as the pilgrimage season approached

they decided to station people on all the roads entering Makkah

to warn pilgrims that there was a sorcerer at large

who could divide their families

and set them against each other.

But this was not good enough to stop the word spreading.

It was so beautiful that it captured the hearts of those who heard it.

And so the numbers of muslims grew,

not just from among the young and poor,

but also from those who had more standing in the community,

those with more money, power and prestige.

So very soon the Qureysh saw that

more and more people were rejecting the worship of idols

on which so much of their wealth,

their prestige and power,

rested.

So this time they decided to make Muhammad an offer he couldn't refuse.

They offered to make him king,

and to give him as much power and wealth as he could ever want,

if only he would accept that the man-made gods around the Ka'abah

were really gods, and not just wood and stone.

But he could not say the opposite of what he knew was true,

and kindly rejected their offer.

And more and more people came to hear Muhammad

reciting the wondrous words of the Qur'an,

and to worship in the way that he showed them.

Soon they had the use of a big house in which to meet and pray,

and when Muhammad's uncle Hamza accepted Islam

he added his protection to that of Abu Talib,

making this new muslim community a growing force to be reckoned with.

So the Qureysh decided that

it was time to start getting a little rougher.

How did those who became muslim get treated?

What happened to the black slave Bilal?

How did the muslims escape cruel treatment?

Where could they find safety?

How did the tribes punish Muhammad's family?

Why did the worms like the Ban?