Besides our Master, other believers, particularly the youth and the slaves, were being put through unbelievable forms of excruciating torture to make them turn away from their religion…
Though on the other hand Allah was exposing their true faces with the verses that were being revealed… One of these verses, directed at Walid bin Mugiyra in particular – one of the most ferocious of the unbelievers - is as follows:
Do not conform to every base and imprudent habitual swearer (as they are cocooned from Allah and the sunnatullah);
Who mocks, reproaches and gossips;
Who prevents the experience of (the reality) and is guilty of transgression;
Stingy, ignorant and moreover branded with (ZANIM) disbelief!
(Will you obey him) just because he has wealth and children![1]
No (it is not like what they think)! Indeed, if he does not desist, We will drag him by his forehead (brain)![2]
Walid bin Mugiyra’s nickname was “ZANIM” which meant “bastard”. His father had adopted him when he was 18 years old.
Ibn Abbas explains:
Allah has not exposed the obscenities of a person more than that of this man… Allah has given him a name that will never leave him…
Walid’s mother fell pregnant to him through illegitimate means and nobody knew this until this verse was revealed…
When Walid heard the verse, he ran to his mother who had grown rather old and drew his sword at her crying:
“Muhammad exposed ten attributes about me to Quraish today… Nine of these attributes I saw in myself. But being a “zanim”? I know nothing about this? Tell me the entire truth or I will behead you right here right now!”
“Be quiet!” his mother pleaded… “I will tell you the truth… You decide if what I have done has been beneficial to you or not… My son, your father was a very wealthy man, albeit he was inhibited in the ability to engage in sexual intercourse. When he died, I feared his wealth was going to be taken by others… So, I invited a shepherd to my house and he accepted my invitation… Now you tell me, would it have been better if all these possessions were taken by others?”
Walid sank into silence…
Our Master had shown another miracle…
Sadly however, despite all the miracles, those whose ears were deaf, eyes were blind, and hearts were sealed to the Truth could not come near Islam…
Other examples of these entail the tortures that were done to the poverty-stricken Muslims and the slaves…
The slaves in particular were put through such excruciating torture that no sane human can bear to hear about it let alone witness it or be a part of it!
I personally can’t find the strength in myself to write about the brutal torture these distinguished people were put through…
Let us suffice to note the first two martyrs of Islam who died as a result of these barbarous tortures. Ammar bin Yasif, the first male martyr, and Sumayya, the first woman martyr… I invite my readers to read a Fatiha to each of these venerated souls before whom I bow with respect and courtesy… In fact, to all Muslims who were martyrized due to committing the offense (!) of saying “Allah” …
Their son Ammar was also put through extreme torture. One time, after his parents were martyred, Ammar asked our Master, “Sometimes the intensity of the pain and torture to which I am subject is so unbearable… if I tell them what they want to hear will this be wrong?”
Considering the difficulty of his situation our Master gave consent: “You can tell them while you wholeheartedly believe in Allah and his Rasul”
One day again the Meccan polytheists caught hold of Ammar and started torturing him, “This time…” they affirmed with one another “let us not stop until he abandons his religion.”
“O Ammar, either you abandon your religion and accept our gods or we will kill you!”
Eventually out of the intensity of the pain Ammar exclaimed, “I believe in your gods!”
Those nearby who witnessed this ran to our Master and gave him the news “Ammar abandoned his religion! He complied with the polytheists!”
Our Master was already aware of the situation, “No, Ammar will not abandon his religion!” he replied…
A little later Ammar, who was left free, came running to our Master and admitted with shame “O Rasul of Allah! I have become an unbeliever… I accepted what the polytheists told me…”
Our Master asked, as though he did not already know:
“Why O Ammar?”
“I told them Lat and Uzza is greater than your religion O Rasul of Allah…”
“And did you say this consciously and wholeheartedly Ammar?”
“No, my Master, I was forced to say it through torture!”
“And what state was your heart in when you said this?”
“My heart was filled with the love of Allah and His Rasul!”
“Then you are not accountable for this Ammar! You are a good Muslim… If the same thing happens, do exactly as you did and save yourself from them…”
Upon this the following verse was revealed:
Except for the one who is forced (to renounce his faith) while his heart is secure in faith, whoever disbelieves (covers the reality of) Allah and opens his breast to disbelief, upon them is the wrath of Allah! And for them is a great punishment.[3]
Our Master loved Ammar dearly… One time he said, “Heaven longs for three people from among my followers: Ali, Ammar and Bilal…”