an Abyssinian father. His master, Umayyah ibn Khalaf, the chief of the clan of Jumaḥ, wanted to show to everyone in Makkah that he was just as keen as Abū Jahl to defend the established order. Hence Bilāl was taken out to the open desert, day after day, where he was severely beaten. At midday, when the sun was at its hottest, he was made to lie on the sand without any clothes to protect his back from the burning sand. A large stone was put on his chest to increase the torture. He was dragged with ropes over the burning sand. Repeatedly he was asked to renounce Islam and to declare that he believed in the idols. Just as often he repeated: “He is One! He is One.”2
Bilāl’s ordeal lasted a long time, until one day Abū Bakr passed by while he was being tortured. He tried to soften Umayyah’s heart, without much success. Umayyah, however, accused Abū Bakr of being responsible for Bilāl’s transgression and challenged him to save him. Abū Bakr immediately took up the challenge and offered Umayyah an exchange deal: Bilāl would become his in return for a more youthful and vigorous slave who was not a Muslim. Umayyah accepted the deal and Bilāl joined Abū Bakr, who immediately set him free because he knew Islam disliked slavery and promised great reward from God to those who freed slaves.
Abū Bakr’s Noble Heart
Indeed, Abū Bakr repeated his noble action several times. ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah was a slave who belonged to al-Ṭufayl ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Asdī, who was related to Abū Bakr through his wife, Umm Rūman, ʿĀ’ishah’s mother. ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah was among the very early Muslims. For this, he suffered a great deal; he was one of the victims of the campaign of terror. Abū Bakr, however, bought him from his master and set him free. ʿĀmir continued to work for Abū Bakr as a shepherd. Later he was to play an important role in helping the Prophet and Abū Bakr to emigrate from Makkah to Madinah.3
The Prophet was very pleased with Abū Bakr’s action with those two slaves. He encouraged him to do what he could in order to help those victims of the campaign of torture. Abū Bakr responded, as he always did, without any hesitation. He chose the most helpless and those who showed a great determination to defy the prosecutors. Zunayrah was a slave who belonged to the Makhzūm clan. As such, it was left to Abū Jahl to torture her. He gave her so much of his venom that she lost her sight. Then he told her: “It is the two gods al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā who have done this to you.” She replied: “How can al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā know who worship them? This is simply the will of God and my Lord is able to give me back my sight.” When she woke up the following day, she had regained her sight. People of the Quraysh said: “This is part of Muhammad’s magic.” Abū Bakr moved swiftly to rescue this woman slave and set her free.4
A woman called al-Nahdiyah and her daughter were slaves belonging to a woman from the clan of ʿAbd al-Dār. Both became Muslims and their mistress ordered them to be tortured. One day she gave them a quantity of flour to bake, but as she set them to their task, she threatened them: “You will remain my slaves for ever. By God, I will never set you free.” Abū Bakr was nearby, and he heard the woman. He said to her: “Why don’t you release yourself from your oath?” She replied, “Release myself! It was you who spoiled them, so you set them free if you wish.” Abū Bakr asked her what price she wanted for them, and he paid her the price. Immediately, he declared that they were free and told the two women to give their former mistress her flour. They asked him whether he would mind if they finished it for her. He said that was up to them.5
Another woman slave, called Umm ʿUbays, belonged to al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth from the clan of Zuhrah. As Abū Bakr saw her one day being tortured by her master, he bought her and set her free. He did the same with a woman slave who belonged to the clan of ʿAdiy, in which ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb was the tormentor of Muslims as he was still an unbeliever then. ʿUmar used to beat up this woman as frequently and as painfully as he could. One day he stopped beating her, saying: “I apologize to you! I am only stopping beating you up because I am bored.” She said, “It is God who does this to you.” Then Abū Bakr bought her and set her free.6
All in all Abū Bakr freed seven slaves to save them from the campaign of terror launched by the Quraysh. His father, who was not a Muslim, could not understand his action. He said to him: “Son, I see that you are setting free weak slaves. If you want to do this, why don’t you set free some strong men slaves who will be able to protect you?” Abū Bakr explained that he wanted only to be rewarded by God for his action.7
Abū Bakr’s action was the best example of how closely knit the new Muslim community was. Those who were able to help their brothers and sisters did not hesitate to render any assistance they could. Nevertheless, Abū Bakr’s actions were exemplary. Neither he nor the other Muslims who enjoyed tribal lineage were able to stop the campaign of terror. Although he was reasonably wealthy, he could not buy all the victims of the Quraysh’s persecution. Not all of them were slaves anyway, and those who were could not have been bought because their masters refused to sell them. Abū Bakr’s action demonstrated the new bond that was established among the followers of the new religion. There was another aspect to what he did: it emphasized that the followers of the new religion were all equal, slaves and masters alike. Much later, when ʿUmar became one of the leading figures among the Muslims, he stated this fact in the clearest of terms when he said of Abū Bakr and what he did for Bilāl: “Abū Bakr is our master, and he has freed our master.”8
The Great Suffering
These efforts by Abū Bakr and other Muslims to help those of their brethren who were subjected to brutal torture by the young men who belonged to the most privileged families in the Quraysh could not significantly reduce the pressure on the Muslims. Indeed, the reverse was true. With every victim released by Abū Bakr a new turn of the screw was made in order to increase the pressure on those who were still captive. With every new recruit Islam gained, the venom of torture increased.
Khabbāb ibn al-Aratt was kidnapped from his clan’s area while he was still young. He was brought to Makkah, where he was sold to a man from the clan of the Khuzāʿah. He was one of the very early Muslims; therefore, he suffered more than most. The unbelievers experimented with all kinds of torture. They put him in a fire and beat him severely. They kicked him and punished him and flogged him, but he was as firm as a mountain. Once they tore off his clothes and laid him over stones heated with fire and twisted his neck all at the same time. They caused him permanent injuries to his back, but he was prepared to die for his faith. He survived the torture and lived to fight the unbelievers with the Prophet in all his wars.
Abū Fukayhah was a slave who belonged to Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah, the son of Bilāl’s former master. When Bilāl was freed by Abū Bakr, Abū Fukayhah had to bear all the brutality of the Jumaḥ master. He was dragged over the burning sand and tortured until he could hardly speak. A beetle passed close to him and Umayyah pointed to it and said to him: “This is your Lord, isn’t it?” He replied: “God is my Lord and your Lord and the Lord of this creature.” He was nearly strangled for saying that.
Umayyah’s brother, Ubay, encouraged him to increase the torture, saying: “Let Muhammad come and use his sorcery to release him.” They left him only when they thought that he was dead. It is said that Abū Bakr also bought him and set him free, but this is not absolutely confirmed since most reports suggest that the total number of slaves released by Abū Bakr was seven and seven have already been mentioned.
Those who suffered most as a result of the campaign of terror mounted by the Quraysh were a family composed of two elderly parents and their only son who was about 35. Yāsir, the father, was originally of a Yemeni tribe. He came to Makkah in his youth looking for his brother. He loved Makkah and felt a strong desire to stay. He, therefore, entered into an ‘alliance’ with his host, a notable personality of the clan of Makhzūm, to which Abū Jahl belonged. This type of alliance meant, as far as Yāsir was concerned, a firm attachment to the tribe of his ally which burdened him with all the duties of the weaker members of the tribe and accorded him tribal protection. Without such a bond, no individual could hope to survive in the Arabian society at that time.
Yāsir married Sumayyah, a servant of his ally, and she gave birth to their only son, ʿAmmār. Yāsir never regretted his decision to stay in Makkah. He led a happy life