in the Quraysh could not significantly reduce the pressure on the Muslims. Indeed, the reverse was true. With every victim released by Abū Bakr a new turn of the screw was made in order to increase the pressure on those who were still captive. With every new recruit Islam gained, the venom of torture increased.
Khabbāb 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 Khuzāʿah. 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.
Abū Fukayhah was a slave who belonged to Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah, the son of Bilāl’s former master. When Bilāl was freed by Abū Bakr, Abū Fukayhah had to bear all the brutality of the Jumaḥ 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.
Umayyah’s brother, Ubay, encouraged him to increase the torture, saying: “Let Muhammad come and use his sorcery to release him.” They left him only when they thought that he was dead. It is said that Abū Bakr also bought him and set him free, but this is not absolutely confirmed since most reports suggest that the total number of slaves released by Abū Bakr was seven and seven have already been mentioned.
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. Yāsir, 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 Makhzūm, to which Abū Jahl belonged. This type of alliance meant, as far as Yāsir was concerned, a firm attachment to the tribe of his ally which burdened him with all the duties of the weaker members of the tribe and accorded him tribal protection. Without such a bond, no individual could hope to survive in the Arabian society at that time.
Yāsir married Sumayyah, a servant of his ally, and she gave birth to their only son, ʿAmmār. Yāsir 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, ʿAmmār was among the first to respond favourably. He joined the small number of Muslims who began to gather around the Prophet in the house of al-Arqam. ʿAmmār soon persuaded his parents to embrace Islam.
Their happy family life was soon disrupted by Abū Jahl, who gathered an effective force of youths and slaves to help him in his efforts of terrorization. He wanted to make Yāsir and his family an example for anyone who might be thinking of responding to the new message of Islam. 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: “Yāsir 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, Abū 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 Yāsir were the first two martyrs in the history of Islam.
Pressure Too Strong to Bear
After the death of both of his parents, ʿAmmār 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-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā.” 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. ʿAmmār 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.9
When the pressure increased so much and the torture became unbearable, some of those victims complained to the Prophet. Khabbāb reports:
We complained to God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) when he was reclining in the shade of the Kaʿbah 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 sawn 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 traveller can travel from Ṣanʿā’ to Haḍramout fearing no one but God and guarding against the wolf getting away with one of his sheep. You are only precipitating events.”10
What could the Prophet do for those companions of his who were weak, vulnerable and subjected to brutal torture. He himself was subjected to ridicule and physical abuse from the unbelievers who would throw dirt over his head as he prayed in the Ḥaram. They also threw impurities in front of his house. He had made it clear to his companions that they were not seeking any immediate gain. All that he promised them was a hard struggle for which God would reward them with heaven. It was enough for them that he had shown them the way and given them Divine guidance. Their life was transformed; they were given noble preoccupations to replace the low pleasures which were still sought after by the unbelievers. He could only reassure them as to the truthfulness of their message, and that their way was the right way. They were seeking God’s pleasure, and that was the only way to earn it.
The Prophet continued to make a determined stand, despite the Quraysh’s campaign of terror. He called on people to renounce the worship of idols and turn back to God, the Creator, who has honoured man and placed him in charge of the earth. Realizing that the persecution of a few helpless individuals was not deterring anyone from accepting the new faith, the Quraysh chiefs thought of making another attempt at negotiating a settlement.
Offer Too Absurd
A new delegation went to Abū Ṭālib, the Prophet’s uncle and protector. All those who had tried earlier to persuade Abū Ṭālib to stop his nephew went along this time, taking with them a few more notables and a young man called ʿImārah ibn al-Walīd, whose father was a well-known figure in Makkah. They made this proposal to Abū Ṭālib: “We have brought with us ʿImārah, the smartest and most vigorous young man in the Quraysh, to offer him to you as a son. He will benefit you, with his courage and sound mind. In exchange, you give us your nephew who has rebelled against the religion you and your forefathers have followed, and has sown the seeds of discord among your people and ridiculed their practices. We would take him and kill him while you would take a man for a man.
Abū Ṭālib replied: “What a raw deal you are offering me! You want to give me your son to feed while I give you my son to kill! This will never be.” Al-Muṭʿim ibn ʿAdiy, who was among the delegation, said to Abū Ṭālib: “Your people have offered you a fair deal indeed. They
