‘The only superiority which Islam recognizes is a personal one...

‘The only superiority which Islam recognizes is a personal one, based on greater fear of God and greater piety ’ [Qur’an 49:13].” [^3] Among the Meccans , it was the Banu[^4] Umayya (the Umayyads) who bore utmost personal enmity against the Prophet (S), followed by the Banu al-Mughira, and the Banu Makhzum.[^5] Maulana Shibli, a Sunni scholar writes, “ The Prophethood of Muhammad (S) was considered by the family of Bani Umayya as the victory of its opponents, Bani Hashim, and on that account they opposed the Prophet (S) to the maximum .” [^6] Since the Prophet (S) first preached Islam to the Arabs, they were the first to take a leading part in opposing him and his Message - Islam.

Quraish, the Prophet’s own tribesmen, took active part in his persecution as they found that Islam was contrary not only to their pagan beliefs but also that it put restrictions upon their vagrant ways of life. Migration The Prophet (S) had, during the course of about forty years of his life in Mecca , earned the reputation, in the entire community of the Meccans without exception, of being truthful (Sadiq ), honest and trustworthy (Amin).

In spite of their opposition to his Message, the Prophet (S) was considered the most trustworthy. As a result, they entrusted not only their valuables but also their affairs to the Prophet (S). The fact that the Meccans offered to give unlimited resources and offered to get him married to the wealthiest and most beautiful girl of his choice[^7] shows that, for the Meccans, the Prophet (S) was a noble and venerable person.

However, what the Meccans abhorred was not the Messengership of (S), but the Message he propagated. The Prophet (S) along with those who had accepted Islam endured severe torture, for over ten years, at the hands of the infidels of Mecca . During this period, the persecution and hardened attitude of the Meccans , made it difficult to peacefully spread Islam.

The Prophet (S) then received the Divine Commandment directing that the oppressed Muslims should migrate to safer places.[^8] Thereupon, some Muslims migrated to Abyssinia. According to Baqir al Majlisi, the number of those who migrated at that time, was either seventy-two or eighty-two men besides women and children.[^9] The pious and peaceful way of Islamic life practiced by the Migrants not only endeared them to the Abyssinians but also brought quite a few converts.

This was the first migration in Islam.