Whenever people were persecuted for their faith, they sought to migrate hoping to find a place where they could practice their faith in freedom. This was the case of Prophet Abraham and Prophet Lot (peace be upon them), and it continued ever since. Today, people try to immigrate for different reasons, but persecution in one’s home country remains a major reason for immigration. Unfortunately countries are nowadays placing too many restrictions on immigration which makes this resort to freedom more and more difficult. The advocates of Islamic revival have been facing great difficulties in many Muslim countries; a fact that causes many of them to try to flee their countries. The restrictions that continue to increase on travel and settlement outside one’s country are making this recourse ever more difficult. Dictators are finding help readily available from countries which until recently have taken pride in being open and free.
After 13 years of advocating Islam in Makkah, with the majority of its population taking a hostile attitude to his call, the Prophet (peace be upon him) told his companions who gave him a positive response that God has given them new brethren in the city of Yathrib (which was later to be renamed as Madinah) and that they should immigrate to establish a new home for themselves and their message. They started to immigrate individually or in small groups. The unbelievers in Makkah tried hard to prevent them from immigrating, feeling that they might become stronger and threaten them with a larger force. Although this was far from the minds of the Muslims at the time, the unbelievers made every effort to prevent their escape. They would chase them in the desert, even as far as Madinah, which is nearly 500 kilometers away, and would use trickery to arrest Muslims and take them back to Makkah where they would continue to subject them to persecution.
Umar ibn Al-Khattab reports on his own trip from Makkah to Madinah: “I made arrangements with Ayyash ibn Rabee’ah and Hisham ibn Al-Aas to meet at Al-Tanadib of the Sarif Valley to travel together to Madinah. We agreed that if any of us is not there by the morning will be assumed arrested, and the other two should travel without waiting for him. By the morning Ayyash and myself were at the meeting place, but Hisham was not. In fact, he was detained and persecuted until he gave in to his persecutors.”
This shows that even at that time, when there was no formal government in the Arabian tribal society, people could be arrested for their beliefs and denied their basic rights. Everyone could travel freely at the time. There was no need for passports, visas or compliance with any regulations. Yet relatives could imprison their own relatives or tribesmen and torture them until they rescinded their faith. Of the three people mentioned in this story, Hisham was not the only one to suffer this fate. Umar continues his report:
“When we arrived in Madinah, we were welcomed as guests of the clan of Amr ibn Awf in Quba. Abu Jahl and his brother Al-Harith followed us right into Madinah. They came to Ayyash, who was their half brother, with all of them having the same mother. They tried to persuade him to go back to Makkah with them. They sought to appeal to him on account of his mother. They said to him: ‘Your mother has missed you and is longing to see you. In fact, she has vowed that she would not touch her hair with a comb or take shelter from the sun until she sees you again.’ He was touched and felt that he must not leave his mother in that state. I said to him: ‘These people only want you to go back with them so that they will have a go at you trying to turn you away from your faith. Do not believe them. If your mother’s head becomes infested with lice, she will comb her hair, and if she is troubled by hot weather in Makkah she will sit in the shade.’ He said: ‘I will go to allow my mother to honor her oath, and I will also bring the money I have there.’ I said: ‘You know that I am one of the richest people in Makkah. I will happily give you half my money, but do not go with them.’ He insisted on going with them.
“When it was clear to me that he would not be persuaded, I told him: ‘Now that you are insisting on going, take this she-camel of mine as it is fast and easy to ride. Stay always on it. Should you suspect foul play, you will be able to escape.’
“They traveled together. At one stage on the way to Makkah, Abu Jahl said to Ayyash: ‘Brother, I find this camel of mine too hard to ride. Could you not take me behind you for a stage of the road?’ Ayyash agreed, and they all dismounted. When they were all on the ground, Abu Jahl and Al-Harith assaulted their half brother and tied him up. They went into Makkah with him in chains. They kept persecuting him until he gave in to their demand.”
We used to read such stories and wonder at the hate that drove unbelievers to resort to such methods. Two brothers would go on 1,000 km roundtrip on camel back to trick their half brother and start torturing him for no reason other than choosing to believe in God’s oneness. Yet why should we wonder when we see pictures of the treatment of innocent people at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and many other prisons and concentration camps around the world?
The torture those prisoners of old received must have been brutal to make them renounce their faith. They must have been in very low spirits, even though they continued to be certain of the truth of Islam. No one can feel easy for giving in to his tormentor. However, there is another aspect to this, which Umar explains:
“We, and even they, used to think that God would not accept such people, even though they might repent. We thought that no matter what pressure they were subjected to, they could not be justified in denying the truth after they have been certain of it. However, after the Prophet arrived in Madinah, the following verses were revealed: ‘Say: (Thus speaks God): You servants of Mine who have transgressed against their own souls! Do not despair of God’s mercy: God forgives all sins; He alone is Much-Forgiving, Merciful. Turn toward your Lord and submit to Him before the suffering comes upon you, for then you cannot be helped. Follow the best that has been revealed to you by your Lord before the suffering comes upon you of a sudden, without your being aware of it.’ (39: 53-55) I wrote it down and sent it to Hisham ibn Al-Aas.”
Umar felt that those who yielded to persecution should be made aware that the door was open to them to rejoin the fold of Islam, if they were sincere. The only thing that could deter them was their feeling that they might not be accepted. In fact, this is what they thought. Hisham reports: “When Umar’s message was given to me, I read it time and again. I reflected long on it but I could not understand its relevance to my case. I then prayed, saying: ‘My Lord! Please help me to understand it.’ I then felt that it was directly relevant to me and others in the same position, and to what was generally assumed about us. Therefore, I mounted my camel and headed straight to Madinah to join the Prophet.”
Needless to say, he was warmly welcomed by the Muslims in Madinah. As for Ayyash, the Prophet prayed for him and he also managed to rejoin the Muslims. He served the cause of Islam well until he was killed in the Battle of Yarmouk in which the Muslim army scored a splendid victory against the Byzantine Empire.