Bullying
and
Torture

Now as the new muslim community grew larger

the Qureysh saw them as more of a threat.

Islam cut across the old tribal family groups,

with disagreements within families

and between husbands and wives

But the Qureysh were a proud people

and many of them became very angry that this was happening,

and decided to take their anger out on some of the new muslims.

Those with no family protection were most at risk,

which meant that slaves could be beaten and tortured

for insisting that there was only One God,

the Fount of All Mercy

And yet many did insist that what they believed and knew to be true, was true,

that there is only One God,

the Ever Living, the Ever Merciful.

They believed that this freedom

to speak what you believe

is a freedom we should be ready to suffer and even die for.

It's that important.

And one man was the worst of all to new muslims,

and his name was Abu Jahl.

If you were powerful he would just call you names

and spread lies about you,

but if you were a businessman he would try to put you out of business,

and if you were a slave he would do his best

to hurt you in as many different ways as he could imagine.

Abu Jahl didn't like people who disagreed with him.

Other clans would do the same with their own muslims when they could,

beating them,

keeping them from food and water,

and tying them down

stretched out on the earth under the baking desert sun,

to try to make them worship al-Lat and al-Uzza.

But those new muslims,

slaves and freeborn

were all prepared to face hardship and pain

for their belief in the Oneness of God,

and the recognition that Muhammad was God's Messenger.

Now the chief of the tribe of Jumah,

a man called Umayyah,

had a black slave, named Bilal, that was a firm believer,

and at the hottest part of every day

Umayyah would have this slave brought out into the blazing sun

and spread out on the ground

and weighed down by a heavy rock on his chest.

But all the while, Bilal just kept repeating

"One, One"

to the annoyance of Umayyah.

But then one day it so happened that Abu Bakr was passing by

and saw how much Bilal was suffering for his Islam,

and he persuaded Umayyah to trade him

for a bigger, stronger, idol worshipping slave,

and then when Abu Bakr owned Bilal he set him free.

And it was this man Bilal,

known for his beautiful voice,

who would later make the adzan,

the call to prayer,

in the Messenger's mosque in Madinah.