More persecution for the Prophet (3)

The next day the same group of people assembled at the Ka’bah and began talking about the Prophet . A few moments later the Prophet appeared and they all rushed towards him in rabid anger. Pulling on his clothes, they asked, “Are you the one who orders us to stop worshipping the gods of our forefathers?”

The Prophet was not intimmidated. “Yes, I am.” The mob surrounded him on all sides and some began pushing him and shoving him from side to side, while others shouted insults. Uqba bin Abi Mu’ayt caught hold of a cloth hanging from around his neck and began choking the Prophet .

Abu Bakr heard the commotion and ran to defend him. He seized Uqba by his shoulders and pulled him off the Prophet . Abu Bakr tore each man away from the Prophet, crying: “Woe to you! Would you kill a man simply because he says that Allah is his Lord?”

Now the mob turned on Abu Bakr and let the Prophet go. Abu Bakr paid a great price for rescuing the Prophet . The mob beat him violently, and his face was so battered that his nose was indistinguishable from his face. The people from Banu Taym wrapped him up and took him to his house. They were sure that he would not live to see the next day.

Abu Bakr , however, survived the assault. That evening he asked about the Prophet . The people of Banu Taym rebuked him for his stubborn loyalty to the Prophet and went away.

Unconcerned about his own health, Abu Bakr refused to food and drink insistent on seeing the Prophet to make sure he was alive and well. Finally, in the still darkness he was taken to the Prophet in Dar Al-Arqam. There he saw the Prophet , and only then did he eat and drink.

Abu Bakr suffered more and more at the hands of the Makkan pagans, until he decided to migrate to Abyssinia. With this intention, he left Makkah and headed for what had become a place of refuge for the Muslims. When he reached Bark Ghimad, he happened to meet Malik bin Dughunna, the leader of Qara3 and Ahabish4. Malik asked him why he had left Makkah. When Abu Bakr told him he was migrating to Abyssinia, Malik voiced his disapproval: “A man like you cannot be expelled. You help the destitute, you keep good relations with your family, you bear the burden of the helpless, you are hospitable with guests, and you comfort those who suffer for the sake of truth. I pledge to protect you. Come along with me and pray to your Lord in your city.”