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The tortures inflicted on Prophet Muhammad: ’Oqba ibn Abi Mou’ayt’s strangling during the prayer, Abu Bakr’s intervention and the verse of Ghafir 28, then Quraysh’s nobles gathered at the hijr and the three circumambulations, from al-Boukhari, al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Ishaq.
Questioned about the polytheists’ worst harm, ’Amr ibn al-’As related: while the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed in the hijr of the Kaaba, ’Oqba ibn Abi Mou’ayt placed his garment on his neck and strangled him violently; Abu Bakr intervened, saying: «Would you kill a man because he says: My Lord is Allah?» Another day, the nobles of Quraysh gathered in the hijr mocked him at each of his circumambulations; at the third, he told them: «I have come to you with the slaughter.» These words seized the people.
Updated on 07 October 2026 at 9:23 AM
al-Boukhari related, from ’Ayyash ibn al-Walid, from al-Walid ibn Muslim, from al-Awza’i, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim at-Taymi, from Urwa ibn az-Zubayr, that he questioned ’Amr ibn al-’As: “Inform me of the worst the polytheists did to the Messenger of Allah.” He said: “While the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed in the hijr of the Kaaba, ’Oqba ibn Abi Mou’ayt advanced, placed his garment on his neck and strangled him violently. Abu Bakr advanced, seized him by the shoulder and pushed him away from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), saying:”
“Would you kill a man because he says: My Lord is Allah? While he has come to you with clear proofs from your Lord.”
Sura Ghafir, 28
Ibn Ishaq completed the verse’s sequel through the chains of Yahya ibn Urwa, from his father, who said it to Abdallah ibn ’Amr ibn al-As; and ’Abda related, from Hisham, from his father, that it was said to ’Amr ibn al-As; and Muhammad ibn Amr related, from Abu Salama, that ’Amr ibn al-As narrated it. al-Bayhaqi said: Sulayman ibn Bilal related it likewise, from Hisham ibn Urwa, as did ’Abda. al-Boukhari alone related it, in several places of his Sahih, expressly mentioning Abdallah ibn ’Amr ibn al-As in some, which resembles Urwa’s relation about him more, and its coming from ’Amr accords better with the early dating of this story.
al-Bayhaqi related, from al-Hakim, from al-Asamm, from Ahmad ibn Abd al-Jabbar, from Younous, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq, that Yahya ibn Urwa related to him, from his father Urwa: I said to Abdallah ibn ’Amr ibn al-As: “How much I saw of Quraysh in open hostility toward the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)!” He said: “I saw them one day, their nobles gathered in the hijr, mentioning the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): never, they said, have we seen people more patient with a man than we have been with this one: he has ridiculed our reasonings, insulted our fathers, denounced our religion, divided our community and cursed our gods, and we have endured from him a great affair,” or words to that effect. While they were there, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) appeared, advanced to the Rukn, touched it, then passed before them circling the House: they mocked him with some words, and I recognized it in the face of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
He passed a second time: they did the like, and I recognized it in his face; he passed. At the third time they did so again, and he said: “Do you hear, O assembly of Quraysh? By Him who holds my soul, I have come to you with the slaughter.” These words seized the people so that not one man among them [the account continues in the source].