Life-of-Muhammad

16Life of Muhammad saand beat him. Zubair bin al-‘Awwam ra , a brave younglad who later became a great Muslim general, waswrapped up in a mat by his uncle, smoked fromunderneath and tortured by suffocation. But he wouldnot recant. He had found Truth and would not give itup.Abu Dharr ra , of the tribe of Ghaffar, heard of theProphet sa and went to Mecca to investigate. The Meccansdissuaded him, saying that they knew Muhammad sa welland that his Movement was only a selfish design. AbuDharr ra was not impressed; so he went to the Prophet sa ,heard the Message of Islam straight from him and wasconverted. Abu Dharr ra asked if he could keep his faithsecret from his tribe. The Prophet sa said he could do sofor a few days. But as he passed through the streets ofMecca he heard a party of Meccan chiefs abuse the HolyProphet sa and make vile attacks. No longer could hekeep his faith secret, and he declared at once: "I bearwitness that there is no God but Allah, and that there isno one like Allah; and Muhammad sa is His Servant andProphet sa ." This cry raised in an assembly of disbelieversseemed to them an effrontery. They rose in wrath andbelaboured him until he fell down senseless. TheProphet's sa uncle ‘Abbas ra , not a convert yet, passed byand began to remonstrate on behalf of the victim. "Yourfood caravans pass through Abu Dharr's ra tribe," hesaid, "and angered at your treatment, his people canstarve you to death." The following day Abu Dharr rastayed at home. But the day after he went again to thesame assembly and found them abusing the HolyProphet sa as before. He went to the Ka‘ba and foundpeople doing the same. He could not restrain himself,stood up and made a loud declaration of his faith. Againhe was severely handled. The same thing happened athird time, and Abu Dharr ra went back to his tribe.The Holy Prophet sa himself was no exception to thecruel treatment meted out to the Faithful. On oneoccasion he was in prayer. A party of disbelievers put amantle round his neck and dragged him; his eyes