Allah has ordered me to call you to Him. So which of you will help
me?' All the men kept silent. Then 'Ali, his cousin, jumped up and
said: 'O Prophet of Allah! I will help you.' Then the men all got up
and left, laughing as they went because only one young boy had agreed
to help the Prophet (pbuh).

His message ignored by most of the people and his uncles, the Prophet
(pbuh) continued to meet his friends secretly in a house near the hill
of Safa. There they prayed together and he taught them about the
religion of Islam. But even though they kept to themselves, they were
sometimes abused by those who would not believe. From one such
incident, however, an unexpected conversion to Islam took place. One
day, when the Prophet (pbuh) was returning home, speaking with his
followers, he met Abu Jahl, a leader of Quraysh, who hated the Prophet
(pbuh) and his teachings. Abu Jahl started to insult him and to speak
spitefully of Islam, but the Prophet (pbuh) made no reply and went on
his way.
Later, Hamzah, one of the Prophet's uncles, who was a strong and brave
warrior of whom people were quite afraid, heard how his nephew had
been insulted. Filled with rage, he ran straight to the Ka'bah where
Abu Jahl was sitting among the people and struck him a violent blow in
the face with his bow. Hamzah then shouted, 'Will you insult him when
I follow his religion, and I say what he says? Hit me back if you
can!' Some people got up to help Abu Jahl but he stopped them saying,
'Leave Hamzah alone, for by Allah, I have insulted his nephew badly.
'From that moment on Hamzah followed the teachings of the Prophet
(pbuh) and with his conversion to Islam Quraysh realized that the
Prophet (pbuh) had a strong supporter and so for a while they stopped
persecuting him. Soon, however, the leaders of Quraysh became angry
again, when they saw that the Prophet (pbuh) was going ahead with his
teaching. A group of them went to his uncle, Abu Talib, who had
promised to protect him. They told him to ask the Prophet (pbuh) to
stop attacking their gods and their way of life,

and in return they would let him do as he wished with his religion.


After a time they saw that there was no change, so they went back to
Abu Talib and this time they told him that if he did not stop his
nephew, they would fight them both. Abu Talib was very upset by this
quarrel among his people, but he could not break his word to his
nephew. He sent for the Prophet (pbuh) and told him what had happened,
saying, 'Spare me and spare yourself; do not put a greater burden on
me than I can bear.' The Prophet (pbuh) thought that his uncle might
abandon him and that he would no longer have his support, but
nevertheless he answered, '0 my uncle, by Allah, if they put the sun
in my right hand and the moon in my left in return for my giving up
this cause, I would not give it up until Allah makes Truth victorious,
or I die in His service. Abu Talib was deeply moved by this answer. He
told the Prophet (pbuh) that he would support him for as long as he
lived and encouraged him to go on spreading Allah's message
From that time on, however hard the leaders of Quraysh tried to
convince Abu Talib to stop protecting his nephew, he always refused to
listen to them. In order to get rid of the Prophet (pbuh) and his
followers, his enemies started persecuting those Muslims who were poor
or weak, or had no powerful friends. One such person was Bilal, the
slave of Umayyah ibn Khalaf. His master would take him out into the
desert, tie him up, and leave him in the sun with a large stone on his
chest. Fortunately Abu Bakr was passing by one day and saw Umayyah
torturing Bilal, so he bought him from his master for a large sum of
money and then set him free. But not all persecuted Muslims were as
fortunate as Bilal. Many suffered, but all of them endured it
patiently, knowing that they were doing the right thing and that their
reward in the life to come would be greater' than any happiness they
could find on earth.
The King Who Believed
As the number of the Prophet's followers increased so the enemies of
the Muslims grew more and more angry. At last some of the Muslims
decided to go to another country in order to live in peace. It was
only five years since the Archangel Gabriel had first come to the
Prophet (pbuh) and two years since the Prophet (pbuh) had spoken out
in public. The Muslims asked the Prophet (pbuh) to allow them to leave
Mecca. He agreed, saying 'It would be better for you to go to
Abyssinia. The king there is a just man and it is a friendly country.
Stay there until Allah makes it possible for you to return. The
Muslims prepared for the journey. They decided to wait until night so
that they could leave without being seen. The first sixteen left Mecca
and, after reaching the shore of the Red Sea, crossed over to
Abyssinia. Another eighty-three men and nineteen women followed, all
hoping to be welcomed by the king and people of that country. This was
the first hijrah, or migration, in Islam.

In message
,
msk2000 writes
Allah has ordered me to call you to Him.
Why, does he want a halal meal and can't get one were he is?
--
Clive.