FACTORS INSPIRING PATIENCE AND PERSERVANCE
It is natural for sensible and mild-tempered people to meditate deeply on the factors that inspired  those  early Muslims that miraculous constancy and perseverance. It is normal to wonder how those people  managed to tolerate unspeakable persecutions, and stand fast in the face of tyrannical tortures. With  respect to these questions, we deem it wise just to touch on those underlying reasons:
1. Unshakable Belief in Allâh. The first and foremost factor is no doubt, unshakable Belief in Allâh
Alone coupled with a wonderful degree of perception of His Attributes. A man with this Belief  deeply averred in his heart will look at those foreseen difficulties as triflings and can under no  circumstance compare with the sweetness of Belief:
“Then, as for the foam, it passes away as scum upon the banks, while that which is for the good  of mankind remains in the earth.” 13:17
Other sub-factors that branch out from that Belief and assist in strengthening it and  promoting long amity are:
2. Wholeheartedly-loved leadership. Muhammad (Peace be upon him) the great leader of the
Muslim community, and mankind at large, was an exemplary man in his perfect manners and  noble attributes; no one could measure up to his endowments of nobility, honesty,  trustworthiness and abstinence; unanimously and uncontestedly acknowledged even by his  enemies. Abu Jahl himself, the great enemy of Islam, used repeatedly to say: “O Muhammad
(Peace be upon him), we are in no position to belie you, we rather disbelieve what you have  brought us (Islam).” It is narrated that three people of Quraish each separately and secretly  listened to some verses of the Noble Qur’ân. Later, this secret was uncovered and one of them  asked Abu Jahl (one of the three) what he thought of what he heard from Muhammad (Peace be  upon him). He answered: We contested the honour of leadership and generosity with Banu ‘Abd
Munaf and shared equal privileges competitively. They then began to boast saying that a Prophet  rose among them whom Revelation came down upon from heavens. I swear we will never  believe in him.
So Allâh said:
“ It is not you that they deny, but it is the Verses (the Qur’ân) of Allâh that the Zâlimûn
(polytheists and wrong-doers) deny.” 6:33
One day, the disbelievers of Quraish leveled to him a cynical remark three times. He remained  silent but for the third one he remarked, “O Quraish! Slaughter is in store for you.” They were  taken aback and ulterior fear filled their hearts to such an extent that the most hostile among  them began to make up for their insult by the best friendly terms they could afford. When they  slung the entrails of a camel on him while prostrating himself in prayer, he invoked Allâh’s wrath  on them, and they immediately were caught in an inexpressible state of worry and were almost  convinced that they would be destroyed. Ubai bin Khalaf used always to threaten he would kill
Muhammad (Peace be upon him). One day the Prophet (Peace be upon him) retorted that he  would kill him by Allâh’s Will. When Ubai received a scratch in his neck, on the day of Uhud, he,  under the sense of horror, remembered the Prophet’s words and remarked, “I am convinced he  would be able to kill me even if he spat on me. ” Sa‘d bin Mu‘adh said to Omaiyah bin Khalaf in
Makkah, “I heard the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) one day say that the Muslims  would surely kill you.” Omaiyah was extremely panicked and swore he would never step out of
Makkah. Even when Abu Jahl obliged him to march with them to fight the Prophet (Peace be  upon him) on the day of Badr, he bought the best and swift camels in Makkah in order that they  hasten his escape. Even his wife warned him against going out reminding him of Sa‘d’s words,  his reply was “By Allâh, I have no intention of going out with Quraish, I will disengage from them  after a short distance.”
That was the clear sense of horror and terror haunting his enemies wherever they were. His  friends and companions, on the other hand, held him dearest to them, and he occupied the  innermost cells of their hearts. They were always ready to defend him and secure his well-being  even at the risk of their lives. One day, Abu Bakr bin Abi Quhafa was severely beaten by ‘Utbah  bin Rabi‘a, a terrible polytheist. His whole body was almost bleeding and he was on the verge of  death, yet when his people took him back home extremely indignant at his misfortune, he swore  he would never eat or drink anything until they had told him about the well-being of his noble
Companion, Muhammad (Peace be upon him). That was the spirit of selflessness and sacrifice  that characterized the behaviour of those early Companions.
3. The sense of responsibility. The early Companions were fully aware of the daunting responsibility