3RD TERM (LESSON: 2)

Early Preaching of the Prophet, Opposition and persecution,

Migration to Abyssinia.
LEARNING OUTCOMES/ OBJECTIVES:
➢ Students will be able to know and describe the nature of early preaching of
the Prophet (saws)
➢ They will be able to narrate the reason of opposition and persecution.
➢ They will aslo be able to describe the reasons and events of the migration of
Abysinia.
➢ They will be able to infer the consequences of this migration along with its
importance in the history of Islam.
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Early Preaching·
Opposition and Persecution by the Quraish:
During his early years, the Prophet had to face severe persecution and
opposition from the Quraysh, some examples are mentioned below:
1-When the prophet first called them to Islam at the mount of safa, he was
ridiculed and made fun of.
2-Once, when the Prophet was praying a person from Quraysh threw the intestines
of a camel on his back while he was prostrating.
3-Umm-e-Jameel, the wife of Abu Lahb, used to throw thorny bushes on the path
of Prophet.
4-Abu Lahb told his sons to divorce their wives who were the Prophet’s Daughters,
just to add to his worries.
5- The Makkans wrote poems to ridicule the Prophet and called him a magician.
6-They also offered him bribe like making him king or marrying him to the
prettiest girl so that he would stop preaching Islam.
7- When both of the Prophet’s sons passed away in infancy, the Quraish called
him “abtar” – he who has no male descendants.
Why did the Quraysh oppose and persecute the Muslims
1- Idol Worship--They did not want to leave idol worship. It was the religion of
their forefathers and they were not willing to go against the way of their
forefathers.
2- Authority--They did not want to lose their authority and power. They were not
willing to accept the Prophet as a leader and they were not willing to follow him.
3- Economic power-- They did not want to lose their economic power. They were
the custodian of Kaaba and being the custodian of ka’ba they enjoyed a unique
status and people used to give them gifts and in this way Kaaba was also a
source of income for them.
4- Social customs--They did not want to leave their social customs and traditions.
Becoming Muslims meant that they had to follow the rules and regulations
prescribed by Islam.
Prophet's Call: Main points of his teaching:
a. Allah is One and unique.
b. All idols are false.
c. Allah is the only Creator and controller of the universe
d. There is another life after death.
e. The day of judgement will come and we have to be held answerable before
Allah.
f. The eternal success will be for those who would follow Quran and Sunnah.
 g. All human beings are equal. No one is superior to others.
h. Justice is the basic value and it cannot be sacrificed at any cost.
i. We should fulfil our duties towards Allah and towards human beings as well.

Lessons to be learned from the response of Prophet to the

Authorities about The Prophet's Character:
The Prophet's integrity - he did not compromise his message.
His fortitude - he endured all that his enemies did without flinching.
His mercy - he did not plan revenge or seek to embitter his followers.
The Prophet's trust in Allah - this remained unshaken.

The Prophet's Faith:

It was inspirational - his followers Learned from him and copied him. It was
unchanging - nothing that happened altered his basic beliefs.
Public preaching
For the first three years Prophet (saws) preached privately to his friends and
relatives, then Allah commanded him to preach publically. He, then, went to
Mount Safa and called all the people of Quraysh. When all gathered there,
he addressed the people and asked them, “If I say to you that there is huge
army at the back of this mountain, will you believe?” They all said
unanimously that they would. This was because they believed that the
Prophet had never told a lie and he was truthful and trustworthy. Then he
said to them that leave idol worship and believe in one Allah. This is the true
way of worship. These idols are nothing but lifeless statues. When Quraysh
 listened this they could not tolerate the insult of their beliefs and
immediately rejected the truth. Even the uncle of the Prophet, Abu Lahb ,
abused the Prophet and in his response Allah revealed surah Lahb. After that
the period of persecution and opposition started which last for ten years.

Muslims Migration To Abyssinia (Habasha)

Migration to Abyssinia is an important event of Islamic History. Through this
migration (Hijrah), several Muslims saved themselves from the persecutions
of Quraysh tribe of Makkah. The favorable experience of this migration paved the
way for a far more fruitful Muslim Migration to Madinah which later proved to be
the prelude for formation of Islamic Caliphate.

Situation Before Hijrah

Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) started preaching of Islam secretly in 610 AD. After
three years, he publically started teaching Islam and declared his Prophethood.
Quraysh became extremely annoyed by his pious teachings as it was against the
way of their forefathers. They started mistreating those few people who accepted
Islam and life became very difficult for Muslims in Makkah.

First Hijrah to Abyssinia

At that time, Muslims heard about a kind-hearted king of Abyssinia (now in

Ethiopia and Eritrea), Najashi. On seeing the difficulties of people and cruelty of
Quraysh, Muhammad (PBUH) allowed few Muslims to migrate towards
Abyssinia. In 613 AD, 15 Muslims migrated to Abyssinia including 11 men and 4
women. Prominent Muslims including Usman bin Affan, his wife and daughter of
Muhammad Ruqayyah (RA), Sa’d bin Abi Waqqas (RA) and others were the part
of this migration. It was the first phase of Migration to Abyssinia and known as
the First Migration to Abyssinia (First Hijrah).
Return & Second Phase

After few days of migration, a rumor reached in Abyssinia that the people of
Makkah have embraced Islam. Most of the migrants returned to Makkah and found
that it was false news and the hardships of Quraysh had reached on even higher
levels. The experience of first migration was positive and it prompted even more
people to migrate towards a peaceful land away from the tyranny of Makkans. It
marks the second migration to Abyssinia in 615 AD. This time the number of
immigrants was far higher than the first one. Total 101 Muslims migrated this time
to Abyssinia with 83 men and 18 women. Ja’far bin Abi Talib (RA) was the head
of this group of immigrants.

Efforts of Quraysh and their Failure

Quresh became unhappy with the peaceful life of several Muslim. They wanted to
take them back as they might not create problems for them later. For this purpose,
they sent a delegation to the court of the King of Axum to persuade him return of
the emigrant Muslim.

First they argue that the immigrants are the disbelievers of the old faith of Makkah
and want to destabilize the area with new alien faith. But the head of Muslims
Ja’far (RA) told the fact that there was tyranny, immorality and injustice among
the Arabs while the noblest among them (Muhammad (PBUH)) was given
prophethood who teach them oneness of Allah, morality, justice and other good
deeds and now the majority wants few of us believers of the true faith to return to
our satanic deeds. This speech was very touchy and Najashi refused to return them
back to the delegation of Quraysh.
After the first failure, now the Qurash use another trick. They told the king (a
Christian) that the Muslims disbelieve the trinity. At that critical moment, Jaf’ar
(RA) recited the verses of Holy Qur’an about Virgin Mary and the miraculous
birth of Holy Christ (PBUH). The king now realized that Muslims respect the
personalities of Christ (PBUH) and his virgin mother Mary and the Quraysh are
only trying to create differences among them for their own purpose with these
kinds of accusations. He totally refused the demand of delegation and let the
Muslims live there with peace. The emigrants remained there till
the Muslim Migration to Madinah (622 AD) and later went directly to Madinah.

Importance in Islamic History

This migration to Abyssinia was not only saved several Muslims from tyranny of
Quraysh but it was also a prelude to the more productive Migration to
Madinah. Its goods affects proved to be the first success of Muslims against
Quraysh.

Results (consequences)

1-The Abyssinian emigration gave the Makkans a conclusive proof that the
Muslims were ready to face all risks, and undergo every form of hardship in the
cause of Islam.

2-This incident gives us a comprehensive paradigm for coexistence. The Muslim

emigrants’ stay in Abyssinia provides one such good example.

3- The Muslims got a chance to lead a peaceful life.

4-The good character and the dealings of the Muslims helped to spread the teachings
of Islam and even the king of Abysinia accepted Islam.
Muslims lived in Abyssinia as a minority yet they enjoyed a secure and safe life
and rights and freedom in a non-Islamic country

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