Life of Muhammad — Page 15
sa 15 Most of these slave-converts remained steadfast in outer as well as inner professions of faith. But some were weak. Once the Holy Prophet sa found ‘ Amm a r ra groaning with pain and drying his tears. Approached by the Prophet sa , ‘ Amm a r ra said he had been beaten and compelled to recant. The Prophet sa asked him, "But did you believe at heart?" ‘ Amm a r ra declared that he did, and the Prophet sa said that God would forgive his weakness. ‘ Amm a r's ra father, Y a sir ra , and his mother, Samiyya ra , also were tormented by disbelievers. On one such occasion the Prophet sa happened to pass by. Filled with emotion, he said, "Family of Y a sir ra , bear up patiently, for God has prepared for you a Paradise. " The prophetic words were soon fulfilled. Y a sir ra succumbed to the tortures, and a little later Ab u Jahl murdered his aged wife, Samiyya ra , with a spear. Zinb i ra ra , a woman slave, lost her eyes under the cruel treatment of disbelievers. Ab u Fukaih ra , S afw a n bin Umayya's slave, was laid on hot sand while over his chest were placed heavy and hot stones, under pain of which his tongue dropped out. Other slaves were mishandled in similar ways. These cruelties were beyond endurance. But early believers bore them because their hearts were made stout by assurances received daily from God. The Qur ’ an descended on the Prophet sa , but the reassuring voice of God descended on all believers. Were not this so, the Faithful could not have withstood the cruelties to which they were subjected. Abandoned by fellow-men, friends and relations, they had none but God with them, and they cared not whether they had anyone else. Because of Him, the cruelties seemed nothing, abuse sounded like prayers and stones seemed like velvet. The free citizens who believed were not less cruelly treated. Their elders and chiefs tormented them in different ways. ‘ Uthm a n ra was a man of forty, and prosperous. Yet when the Quraish resolved upon general persecution of Muslims, his uncle, H akam, tied him up