Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم ) and his followers were persecuted/tortured

The first person who died by their torture

The Quraish began to persecute Muslims by beating, torture and boycott of their businesses. Those who were weak, poor or slaves were publicly tortured. The Muslims from well-to-do families were physically restrained in their homes with the condition that if they recant they will be allowed freedom of movement.

The first person to die by this means was a Muslim women by the name Umm Ammar.

A muslim man Bilal was laid flat on his back on hot sand. A hot heavy stone was placed on his chest and he was beaten while his hands were tied behind his back.

A muslim man Usman was tied up with ropes by his uncle and beaten and tortured.

Abu Jahl beated a muslim woman Zaeerah in such a way that she became totally blind.

A muslim man Khabbab-bin-Aett was pushed into a fire.

One day Abu Jahl, an enemy of Islam, attacked Prophet Muhammad while he was resting near the hills of Safaa. Abu Jahl threw a stone and wounded him on his head. Muhammad went home bleeding a lot.

A man Omar wanted to kill the Prophet Muhammad, when he was in the way, a man informed him that your sister and brother in law has accepted Islam, he then turned to to kill them first, when he reached to his sister's house she and her husband were reading Quran. The words of Quran inspired Omar and he too (who came to kill them) accepted Islam.

Prophet Muhammad ridiculed and humiliated

He publicly ridiculed and humiliated including frequent throwing of filth on him in the street and while he prayed in the Ka’bah. In spite of great hardships and no apparent support, the message of Islam kept all Muslims firm in their belief. The Prophet was ordered by God to be patient and to preach the message of Qur’an. He advised Muslims to remain patient because he did not receive any revelation yet to retaliate against their persecutors.

Emigration to Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia)

When the persecution became unbearable for most Muslims, the Prophet advised them in the fifth year of his mission (615 CE) to emigrate to Abyssinia (modern Ethiopia) where Ashabah (Negus, a Christian) was the ruler. Eighty people, emigrated in small groups to avoid detection. When the leaders came to know this flight they sent two of their envoys to Negus to bring all of them back. However, Negus allowed them to stay under his protection after he investigated Muslim belief and heard the revelations about Jesus and Mary (peace be upon them both), which appears in Chapter 19, entitled Mary, of the Qur’an. The emigrants were allowed freedom of worship in Abyssinia.

Three year boycott on Prophet Muhammad's family

The Quraish then made life even more difficult for the Prophet by implementing total ban on contact with the Prophet’s and his family (Bani Hashim and Muttalib). They had to go and stay in a valley near Makkah. They could not buy anything, speak to anyone or sell to anyone. Sometimes they stayed without food or water for days and they suffered in this place. This boycott lasted for 3 years.

Prophet Muhammad was thrown stones on him

Once Prophet Muhammad went to Taif, his neighbour city, to preach there. The people of Taif used to worship idolaters.

On preaching to them, he found them proud and arrogant. They disrespected the Prophet in a very bad manner. They encouraged their slaves, boys and girls to follow and torture the Prophet until he left Taif. The crowd pelted them with pebbles and stones and he was bleeding so much that the blood from his body ran down into his shoes and covered his feet.

Murder Attempts to kill the Prophet

There were a number of murder attempts and plans to kill the Prophet Muhammad but God saved him from his enemies.