Islam_in_Focus_text

After receiving the Charge from GocL Muhammad called
a public meeting and told the assembly of what he has re-
ceived, appealing to them to give up their idol-worship and
believe in the One True God. His first peaceful and logical
appeal was met not only with resistance but also with jeers,
mockery and laughter. He tried continually to present his
people with the blessed Call but had little success. Because
he was not left to propagate Islam in the open, he had to re-
sort to private preaching for some years to save the lives of
his few followers and mitigate their hardships. When in-
stmctions from God came to him to preach in the open, per-
secutions and torture increased and were brutally inflicted on
Muslims. But the more the persecutions increased, the high-
er the number of Muslims arose. The infidels tried all kinds
of pressure and temptation to silence the Call of God. But
the more they tried, the firmer Muhammad and the Muslims
stood. When the infidels failed to shake the Faith of the be-
lievers by threats, pressure, confiscation of property, jeers,
etc, they organized a harsh boycott, a fierce campaign of os-
tracism, against Muslims. For some years Muslims were
forced to remain within a very tight circle of association, un-
able to preach or sell or buy or marry or contact any of their
fellow Meccans. Even this did not shake the Muslim's Faith.
The boycott went on until the infidels themselves were tired
of its observance and had to call it off.
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