Stage 3 of 8
The Call in Makkah
The message goes public from a hill in Makkah. Opposition grows, and the believers hold firm.
Stage overview
The Call in Makkah
Around 613 CE, Muhammad ﷺ climbed Mount Safa and called the people of Makkah to listen. From that morning the message belonged to the whole city, and the city did not all welcome it. Some leaders of the Quraysh mocked, then pressured, then punished. Those who had no tribe to protect them suffered most.
In 615 CE a group of Muslims crossed the Red Sea to Abyssinia, where a Christian king gave them shelter. Back in Makkah, two strong and respected men joined the faith, Hamzah and Umar, and the believers stood a little taller.
Then the Quraysh tried a different pressure. They agreed to cut off his own clan from trade and marriage, and for about three years families lived in a valley on the edge of Makkah with little food. The five chapters follow the people who held firm, and what it cost them.
Five chapters
The chapters of this stage
Read them in order, or open the one you need. Each chapter is short, sourced and reviewed.
The call from Mount Safa
A morning call from a hill, and a city asked to listen.
Persecution of the believers
Pressure on the weakest Muslims, and the steadfastness of those who suffered it.
Migration to Abyssinia
A first group of believers crosses the Red Sea to a king who gives shelter.
Hamzah and Umar accept Islam
Two strong and respected men join the faith, and the believers stand taller.
The boycott
Three years of hunger in a mountain valley, until the pact is undone.
Next stage · 04Sorrow & the Night Journey
The hardest year, and a night that lifted him.
ContinueThe map
Where the stage happened
The call began in Makkah, but its effects reached across the Red Sea.
- Mount Safa Where the open call began
- Abyssinia Refuge across the Red Sea
- Shi'b Abi Talib The valley of the boycott
Mount Safa beside the Kaaba, the valley on the edge of Makkah where the boycott was kept, and the sea crossing to Abyssinia.
This map is a simple sketch to help you picture where events took place. Positions, distances and borders are approximate, so please use it for reference only, not as an accurate map.