Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 291
291 subjected to cruel and merciless persecution. They bore it all with patience and dignity under the most difficult conditions. Neither abuse nor persecution could provoke them into conduct unbecoming orderly, law-abiding citizens. Except for a vehement repudiation of idol worship and persistence in proclaiming and upholding the Unity of God, neither the Prophet himself nor any member of the small Muslim community in Mecca appears ever to have attempted to defy the authority of the assembly of Elders, or the rules and conventions regulating the conduct and behaviour of the citizens of Mecca. When the persecution became almost unendurable, the Prophet, rather than risk a state of civil disorder in the town, counselled that some Muslims should leave Mecca and seek asylum in the neighbouring state of Ethiopia, across the Red Sea. Later, other Muslims, including the Prophet himself, migrated to Medina. The Meccan period of the Prophet’s ministry is an outstanding example of the upholding of law and order by a hard-pressed and sorely persecuted group, whose membership was constantly growing and whose strength was increasing. Though Islam has always stood uncompromisingly on the Unity of God, the Muslims were admonished not to use harsh language against the idols worshiped by Meccans lest the latter, out of spite and ignorance, be provoked into blaspheming