Persecution

12.Persecution.

The Muslims were made the object of persecution from the very beginning. They were mocked and laughed at, but when that failed, the Quraish turned to physical attacks and punishment.

Every clan targeted those who had become Muslims among them. They began to imprison them and torture them with beatings, hunger and thirst.

Bilal, a black Abyssinian slave, who had accepted Islam, was laid flat on his back in the midday heat. A huge stone was then placed on his chest. He was told by his persecutors to renounce Islam, but each time he would respond by saying, “God is One, God is One.”

The Banu Makhzum clan took ‘Ammar ibn Yasir, his mother and father, who were all Muslims, into the midday heat. They tortured them by leaving them exposed to the burning sun of Makkah. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would pass by them and tell them to be patient. Ammar’s mother, Summayyah was killed, because she refused to let go of Islam.