The first martyr in Islam was Sumayyah, the mother of ʿAmmār; Abū Jahl stabbed her with a spear in her private area. (1) This report is mursal.
Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq (2) said: Abū Jahl—the flagrant sinner—was the one who stirred up the men of Quraysh against the believers. Whenever he heard that a man of rank and tribal protection had accepted Islam, he would scold and shame him, saying, “You have abandoned your father’s religion, which is better than you! We shall wreck your composure, scatter your judgment, and abase your honor.
If the convert was a merchant he would say, ‘By Allah, we shall bring your trade to a standstill and destroy your wealth.’ If the man was weak, he would beat him and set others upon him—may Allah curse and disgrace him.
Ibn Isḥāq (5) also narrated to me from Ḥakīm ibn Jubayr, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: I asked ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, “Did the idolaters inflict upon the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ such torture that they would be excused for abandoning their religion?” He replied, “Yes, by Allah! They would beat a man, starve him, and deprive him of water until he could no longer sit upright from the severity of his suffering, and he would yield to them the words of trial they demanded. They would say to him, ‘Are al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā gods besides Allah?’ and he would answer, ‘Yes!’ [Even if a dung beetle passed by they would ask him, ‘Is this dung beetle your god besides Allah?’ and he would say, ‘Yes!’]—ransoming himself with whatever words he could utter.
I say: Concerning such a case Allah the Exalted revealed, “Whoever disbelieves in Allah after having believed—except one who is compelled while his heart is steadfast in faith—but those who willingly open their breasts to disbelief, upon them is the wrath of Allah, and for them is a tremendous punishment” (Q 16:106). (6) These people were therefore excused because of the humiliation and extreme torture (7) they endured. May Allah, by His might and power, protect us from that.
Imām Aḥmad (8) said: Abū Muʿāwiyah narrated to us, al-Aʿmash narrated to us, from Muslim, from Masrūq, from Khabbāb ibn—