But the stoical Moslem did nothing more than lift the forefinger of his right hand, saying again and again: 'Ahad! Ahad! Allah is one! Allah is one!' thus testifying the scorn he felt for his master who dared to couple wooden or stone associates with the Master of the Worlds. The affirmation of the slave produced insensibility to pain, because the ineffable joy of the sacrifice for his faith mingled with and mastered the bitterness of torture.
Passing one day near the Ramda, Abu Bakr witnessed this cruel sight. 'Fearest thou not the justice of Allah, the Most High, O Oummayatah! when thou dost inflict such torment on that wretched man?' he cried indignantly.—'Thou didst corrupt him; therefore 'tis thy duty to save him,' was the cynical reply.—'Willingly! I possess a young black slave, stronger and a better worker than thine. Moreover, he is entirely devoted to thy idols. I offer him to thee in exchange.' Oummayatah accepted and turned Bilal over to Abu Bakr who granted him his freedom straightway. Besides, this generous man (may Allah make him welcome in His Grace!) purchased six other slaves, men and women, all Islamic converts, merely to set them free, and deliver them out of the hands of their idolatrous masters.
These persecutions continued notwithstanding, becoming more and more barbarous. The Banu Makhzum tribe took Ammar, with Yaser, his father, and Summayy, his mother, out on the Ramda, in order to make them suffer all the tortures prompted by diabolical ferocity. Ammar was enclosed in an iron breastplate that held him down on the ground, exposed to the blazing rays of the sun at its zenith. His flesh crackled as if in contact with molten metal. But the same thing happened as with Bilal; the idolaters were unable to drag from Ammar or his parents, tortured in like fashion, one blasphemous word. It was then that, blinded by rage, Abu Jahal drove his spear through Summayy's heart, mocking the dying woman by telling her: 'If thou dost believe in Mohammad, 'tis because thou art in love with his beauty!'
Summayy was the first martyr to Islam, but such constancy was not to be found in all. A few Believers, enfeebled by privation and torture to such an extent that they could not stand upright, finished by letting fall from their lips, despite themselves, the blasphemous utterances ensuring release. For such as these, crushed by shame and shedding tears of repentance, the following Surah of consolation has come down: "Whoso after he hath believed in God, denieth Him, if he were forced to it and if his heart remain steadfast in the faith (shall be guiltless:) * But whoso openeth his breast to infidelity—on them in that case shall be wrath from God, and a severe punishment awaiteth them." (The Qur'an, xvi, 108).
When the Prophet saw what tortures were inflicted on his disciples and that he was powerless to protect them, he was overwhelmed with intense sadness. The martyrs' courage proved to him how deeply the roots of faith were planted in their hearts; nevertheless he considered that such sacrifices should be avoided. So he advised all who were weak, or even such as were not forced by imperious necessity to remain in Makkah, to emigrate to Abyssinia, a land inhabited by Christians, whose Chieftain, the Najashi (Negus) was celebrated for his tolerance and justice.
THE EMIGRATION TO ABYSSINIA
(A.D. 615)
Sixteen Moslems were the first to depart. Among them was Usman ibn Affan and his wife Ruqaiyah, one of the Prophet's daughters. They went out from Makkah secretly and on foot. Reaching the shore of the Red Sea, they chartered a felucca which carried them over to the opposite bank, from whence they journeyed to the Court of the Najashi who welcomed them kindly. Another caravan soon joined them, and the little Mussulman colony, having taken refuge in Abyssinian territory, was made up of eighty-three men and eighteen women.
Exasperated at seeing their victims escape from their clutches; and still more furious to have to include among the emigrants members of their own families, such as Umm-i-Habibah, daughter of Abu Sufyan, the idolaters despatched to the Najashi two ambassadors, Umar ibn al As and Abdullah, son of Abu Rabiyah, bearing rich presents, with a view to claiming the fugitives, described as being dangerous agitators, capable of causing a revolution in his kingdom.
The Najashi had already seen that the contrary was the case. By their honesty and virtue, the fugitives had gained the esteem and sympathy of his subjects, so that he did not feel inclined to favour the request of the ambassadors, despite their valuable gifts. They then thought it would be as well to touch upon the religious susceptibilities of the Christian monarch, and put him on his guard against the danger of Islam. 'Know then what these impostors seek to attain,' said they to him. 'They have set foot in thine empire in order to turn thy subjects away from the religion of Jesus, even as they sought to lead the Quraish astray from the religion of their ancestors. Shouldst thou wish to put our veracity to the test, question them concerning their opinions with regard to Jesus, thy God.'
The Najashi followed this piece of advice. He interrogated the most learned among the emigrants and elicited the following reply from Jafar, Mohammad's cousin, son of Abu Talib: 'These are the Verses revealed to the Prophet: "The Messiah Isa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), is only an apostle of Allah, and His Word which He conveyed into Maryam..." (The Qur'an, iv, 169.)