The Quraysh torture the Muslims
:
The Messenger of Allah continued to call people to Allah and the Quraysh despaired of both him and Abu Talib. Their anger descended on those of their fellow tribesmen who had become Muslims and were
defenseless.
Every clan targeted those who had become Muslims. They began to imprison them and torture them with beatings, hunger and thirst, even leaving them exposed on the sun-baked ground of Makkah when the heat was most intense.
Bilal, an Abyssinian, who had become a Muslim, was taken out on to the plain of Makkah by his master Umayyah ibn Khalaf and left flat on his back in the midday heat. His master ordered that a huge stone be placed on his chest and declared, 'By Allah, this stone will not be removed until you die or reject Muhammad and worship al-Lat and al-Uzza.'
While he was suffering, Bilal would only say, 'God is One! God is One!'
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by when he was lying there. He gave Umayyah a black slave who was stronger and sturdier in exchange for Bilal and he set Bilal free.
The Banu Makhzum took out Ammar ibn Yasir and his mother and father, who were all Muslims, into the midday heat. They tortured them by leaving them exposed to the midday sun of Makkah. The Messenger of Allah passed by them and said reassuringly, 'Fortitude, family of Yasir! You have the promise of Paradise.'
They endured their persecution until Ammar's mother was killed because she refused to reject Islam.
Mus'ab ibn Umayr was a handsome young man of Makkah whose mother was very wealthy and dressed him well. He heard that the Messenger of Allah was preaching in the house of Arqam ibn Abi'l-Arqam. After hearing about Islam, he became a Muslim. He concealed his religious beliefs because he feared the reaction of his mother and his family and he kept secret his visits to the Messenger of Allah.
However, Uthman ibn Talhah saw him praying and reported it to Mus'ab's family. He was seized and imprisoned. He was denied freedom until he was able to leave for Abyssinia in the first hijrah. When he returned with the other Muslim refugees, he was a changed man. His mother refrained from censuring him, once she saw his piety and destitution.
Some of the Muslims were under the protection of the Quraysh noblemen who were idol-worshippers. Uthman ibn Maz'un was protected by al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah until he felt ashamed of what he was accepting. He dismissed al-Walid's offer of patronage, saying that he wanted the protection of none but Allah.
A heated conversation between him and one of the idol-worshippers ended up with Uthman getting a black eye. Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, who was nearby, saw what had happened. He exclaimed, 'By Allah, nephew, your eye would not have suffered like that if you had been well-protected.
'No, by Allah,' Uthman said, 'my good eye needs to suffer the same as happened to its fellow for the sake of Allah. I am under a protection which is stronger and more powerful than any you could give me, O Abu Abd Shams!'