Minorities in an Islamic State — Page 2
2 "Ab u Lahab and ‘ Utbah were my neighbours. I was hemmed in on all sides by their schemes and machinations. To make life difficult for me they would deposit the heaps of night soil at my door steps. I would remove this dirt when I came out and would only say, 'O sons of ‘ Abd-e-Mun a f, why all this? Is this the way you discharge your neighbourly duties"? 1 As is clear from the above Hadith the Quraish spared nothing to prevent people from accepting Islam. They were determined to put an end to the new religion which was gaining converts from among their co-religionists. One can easily feel the intensity with which the inhabitants of Mecca hated the innocent Muslims and their pious leader. This insulting behaviour of the Meccans towards Muslims and the ugly manner in which they treated them, forced the Muslims to leave Mecca and seek refuge somewhere else. The Result of Persecution: The Muslims went to Yathreb — a town some 200 miles north of Mecca — where the Prophet sa had some followers. But even their migration did not appease the anger of the Meccans. Instead, they became all the more bitter and violent in their opposition. They would not let the Muslims live in peace and safety.