Ralph, You called for history. Here it is:
History
Prelude
After the conversion of Hamza, the companions of Muhammad began to offer prayers publicly. In turn, the Quraysh intensified their opposition by torturing the Muslims. Muhammad told his followers to leave for Ethiopia, where "a king rules without injustice, a land of truthfulness-until God leads us to a way out of our difficulty."
First migration
** In seventh Islamic month (Rajab) of 7 BH (614–615 CE) [1], eleven men and four women undertook the first migration [2].
They sneaked out of Mecca on a dark night and headed for the sea where two boats happened to be sailing for their destination, Ethiopia. News of their intended departure reached Quraish, so some men were despatched in their pursuit, but the Muslims had already left Shuaibah Port towards their secure haven where they were received warmly and accorded hospitality by Negus, King of Abyssinia, also called al-Najashi, (Arabic: النجاشي). Among these emigrants were Uthman and Ruquyyah. [3]**
Returning
**
Upon return, however, they found the persecution even stronger [2].
When the returning emigrants were only an hour’s travel from Meccan, they realized that the situation. Some of the Muslims returned back to Ethiopia while the rest continued to Mecca, some sneaked in secretly while others sought asylum (Arabic: Istijarah) [3].
When the Meccan polytheists came to know the good treatment they had received in Ethiopia they became indignant and started to mete out more severe maltreatment and torture on the Muslims, thus Muhammad announced a second migration to Ethiopia.[3].**
**There was NO persecution of mohammed when he was anywhere in fact, in islam’s own texts it proves that mohammed was the one who persecuted, defamed, ridiculed and berated others.
As usual planten just continues to write nonsense as if we cannot read islam’s own documents. While it is the muslims who are not reading anything - not even their own texts let alone ours. It has been a myth about mohammed being persecuted in Mecca. **
Ishaq:119 “'Abu Tabib, your nephew Muhammad has cursed our gods [at this point he had cursed all of them, including Allah], insulted our religion [more correctly, insulted them by trying to steal their religion], mocked our way of life and accused our forefathers of error. Either you stop him or let us get to him. For you, like us, are in opposition to him. He gave them a conciliatory reply. They returned a second time and said, ‘We have asked you to put a stop to your nephew’s activities but you have not done so. By Allah, we cannot endure having our fathers reviled and our customs mocked.’ Muhammad thought that his uncle had the idea of abandoning and betraying him, and that he was going to lose his support. The Apostle broke into tears.”
Tabari VI:93 “The Quraysh went to Abu Talib and said, ‘Your nephew [Muhammad] has reviled our gods, denounced our religion, derided our traditional values, and told us that our forefathers were misguided [and burning in hell]. Either curb his attacks on us or give us a free hand to deal with him, for you are as opposed to him as we are.’ They said, ‘We asked you to forbid your nephew from attacking us, but you did nothing. By Allah, we can no longer endure this vilification of our forefathers, this derision of our traditional values, and this abuse of our gods.’ This breach and enmity with his tribe weighed heavily on Talib. ‘Abu Talib, you are our elder and our chief, so give us justice against your nephew and order him to desist from reviling our gods, and we will leave him to his god.’”
Tabari VI:95 “Abu Talib sent for Muhammad. ‘Nephew, here are the shaykhs and nobles of your tribe. They have asked for justice against you. You should desist from reviling their gods and they will leave you to your god.’”
Tabari VI:96 “Abu Talib said to Muhammad, ‘Nephew, how is it that your tribe is complaining of you and claiming that you are reviling their gods and saying this, that, and the other?’ The Messenger said, 'I want them to utter one saying. If they say it, the Arabs will submit to them and the non-Arabs will pay the jizyah [submission tax] to them.”
Ishaq:121 “‘If we say contradictory things about Muhammad, we might lose our credibility [and thus the financial benefits of being heir to Qusayy’s religious scam]. Therefore, let us agree upon one criticism, which we can all claim without dispute. Some say that we should call Muhammad a deranged soothsayer. But is his the incoherent speech of a madman? [Yes] Some say he is possessed. But there is no choking, spasmodic movements, or whispering.’ [Actually, this is how Muhammad said that he endured revelations.] Others said, ‘Then let’s say he is a poet.’ ‘No, he is no poet. We know poetry in its forms.’ [They knew that the Hanif Zayd, among others, was a far better poet than Muhammad and his god.] Then they said: ‘He is a sorcerer.’ 'No, we have seen sorcerers and their sorcery. With him there is no spitting and no blowing. [There are dozens of Hadiths depicting Muhammad spitting and blowing to exorcize illness and evil spells.]”
Ishaq:130 “When the Quraysh became distressed by the trouble caused by the Apostle they called him a liar, insulted him, and accused him of being a poet, a sorcerer, a diviner [occult soothsayer], and of being possessed. However, the Apostle continued to proclaim what Allah had ordered him to proclaim. He excited their dislike by condemning their religion.”
