In the early days of Islam in Makkah, the chiefs of the Quraysh, the master tribe in Arabia, felt that the new call could threaten their position and alter their social structure. Therefore, they felt that they must oppose it by all means. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was immune from physical abuse, as his uncle Abu Talib, the well-respected chief of the major clan of Hashim, protected him. His companions who belonged to noble families were subjected to moral pressure, social harassment and verbal abuse. Others who were vulnerable, such as slaves and affiliates, had to bear physical torture. This is common practice by all tyrannical forces. We see it practiced today by many a dictatorial government, as well as by superpowers which claim to uphold man’s freedom of belief and expression. Some of the Prophet’s companions were subjected to unbearable pressure and savage torture.
Bilal was born in slavery to an Abyssinian father. His master, ‘Umayyah ibn Khalaf, the chief of the clan of Jumah, was very hostile to Islam. Hence Bilal was taken out to the open desert, day after day, where he was severely beaten. At midday, when the sun was at its hottest, he was made to lie on the sand without any clothes to protect his back from the burning sand. A large stone was put on his chest to increase the torture. He was dragged with ropes over the burning sand. Repeatedly he was asked to renounce Islam and to declare that he believed in the idols. Just as often he repeated: “He is One! He is One.” Waraqah ibn Nawfal, the old man who had studied Christianity and reassured the Prophet that his was a mission of truth, used to come by to encourage him to remain steadfast. He told Umayyah that should Bilal die under torture, he would make his grave a shrine.
Bilal’s ordeal lasted a long time, until one day Abu Bakr passed by while he was being tortured. He tried to soften ‘Umayyah’s heart, without much success. Umayyah, however, accused Abu Bakr of being responsible for Bilal’s transgression and challenged him to save him. Abu Bakr immediately took up the challenge and offered Umayyah an exchange deal: Bilal would become his in return for a more youthful and vigorous slave who was not a Muslim. Umayyah accepted the deal and Bilal joined Abu Bakr, who immediately set him free because he knew Islam disliked slavery and promised great reward from God to those who freed slaves.
Khabbab ibn Al-Aratt was kidnapped from his clan’s area while he was still young. He was brought to Makkah, where he was sold to a man from the clan of the Khuza’ah. He was one of the very early Muslims; therefore, he suffered more than most. The unbelievers experimented with all kinds of torture. They put him in a fire and beat him severely. They kicked him and punished him and flogged him, but he was as firm as a mountain. Once they tore off his clothes and laid him over stones heated with fire and twisted his neck all at the same time. They caused him permanent injuries to his back, but he was prepared to die for his faith. He survived the torture and lived to fight the unbelievers with the Prophet in all his wars.
Abu Fukayhah was a slave who belonged to Safwan ibn Umayyah, the son of Bilal’s former master. When Bilal was freed by Abu Bakr, Abu Fukayhah had to bear all the brutality of the Jumah master. He was dragged over the burning sand and tortured until he could hardly speak. A beetle passed close to him and Umayyah pointed to it and said to him: “This is your Lord, isn’t it?” He replied: “God is my Lord and your Lord and the Lord of this creature.” He was nearly strangled for saying that.
Those who suffered most as a result of the campaign of terror mounted by the Quraysh were a family composed of two elderly parents and their only son who was about 35. Yasir, the father, was originally of a Yemeni tribe. He came to Makkah in his youth looking for his brother. He loved Makkah and felt a strong desire to stay. He, therefore, entered into an “alliance” with his host, a notable personality of the clan of Makhzum, to which Abu Jahl belonged. This type of alliance meant that Yasir became an affiliate of his ally’s clan, burdened with all the duties of its weaker members of the clan in return for tribal protection. Without such a bond, no individual could hope to survive in the Arabian society at that time.
Yasir married Sumayyah, a servant of his ally, and she gave birth to their only son, Ammar. Yasir never regretted his decision to stay in Makkah. He led a happy life there, although he instinctively disliked idolatry. When the Prophet started to preach his new message, Ammar was among the first to respond favorably. He joined the small number of Muslims who began to gather around the Prophet in the house of Al-Arqam. Ammar soon persuaded his parents to embrace Islam.
Their happy family life was soon disrupted by Abu Jahl, who gathered an effective force of youths and slaves to help him in his efforts of terrorization. He supervised a progressive type of torture of parents and son to make them renounce Islam. As the volume of torture increased, the three afflicted victims showed a growing determination to stick to their faith.
The Prophet passed by one day while they were being tortured. He could not do anything to release them. However, he gave them the most encouraging words when he said to them: “Yasir and family, persevere. Heaven is our meeting place.” After weeks of varied types of torture, Sumayyah gave her tormentor a piece of her mind, telling him what she thought of him and his methods. Infuriated, Abu Jahl stabbed her in her private parts with a spear he was carrying. Then he turned to her husband, who was laid on the burning sand. He kicked him in his chest until he died. Thus Sumayyah and Yasir were the first two martyrs in the history of Islam.
After the death of both of his parents, Ammar was released, but only for a while. Time and again they would come to him with increased venom. After inflicting untold torture on him, they would say: “We will never release you until you abuse Muhammad and praise Al-Lat and Al-Uzza.” One day he was in such a state that he could bear the torture no longer. He did what he was told. They let him alone and went away. When he managed to pull himself together, he went to the Prophet with tears in his eyes. The Prophet asked him what was troubling him. He answered: “It is bad news, Messenger of God.” He told him what had happened. The Prophet asked him how he felt deep in his heart. Ammar answered that his faith was as firm as ever. The Prophet said to him that if the unbelievers did the same to him again, he could tell them the words they wanted to hear, provided that deep in his heart he was absolutely certain of his faith. When the pressure increased so much and the torture became unbearable, some of those victims complained to the Prophet. Khabbab reports: “We complained to God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) when he was reclining in the shade of the Kaaba saying, ‘Will you not pray God to help us?’ He said, ‘Among believers who lived before you there were many who were placed in a hole dug in the ground and were sewn in halves, from head to foot; and there were some whose flesh was torn with combs of iron which also broke their bones. They did not turn away from their faith. By God, your Lord will certainly accomplish His purpose until an individual traveler can travel from Sanaa to Hadramout fearing no one but God and guarding against the wolf getting away with one of his sheep. You are only precipitating events.’”
