THE STORIES OF PREPARATION and revelation proceed in the private sphere of Muḥammad's life. His public prophetic activity is the subject of the story of persecution. The latter is a well-known theme which already figures in the lives of quite a few biblical prophets, who are presented as suffering all kinds of torment for the noble cause of God. The story of persecution almost always presents the prophet as supported only by a small minority of devoted believers who are oppressed by a majority of non-believers. This applies especially to Jesus.

In Islam the universal theme of persecution was made the leading theme of the story of Muḥammad's emergence in Mecca. The role of the tormenting foes, as well as of the few supporters, was assigned to members of the local Meccan tribe, Quraysh. The selection of the figures for the various roles at times reflects political tensions of medieval Islamic society which were read into the condi- tions of Muḥammad's Mecca. But the theme of persecution was adapted not only to Meccan surroundings, but also to Islamic textual models, i.e. to the Quran. This was quite an easy and successful task, because the Quran itself already contains detailed descriptions of persecution suffered by the Quranic prophet. The process of adaptation to this scripture can be followed from traditions in which the Quranic element is still absent, through traditions dominated by such models.

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The first manifestation of persecution is embodied in the story of declaration. The Prophet is said to have appeared in public only after a period of hiding with his followers, for fear of Quraysh. In some traditions preserved by al- Balādhuri, an attempt is made to establish the chronology of Muḥammad's hiding period. One of the traditions is quoted from al-Waqidi (d. AH 207), with the Medinan isnād: Zuhri (d. AH 124)← ‘Urwa ibn al-Zubayr (d. AH 94)←‘Ā'isha, and says that Muḥammad was preaching secretly for four years, then declared his mission openly. Another report of al-Waqidi has an isnād reaching back to one of the Companions who embraced Islam during the hiding period. This is Sa'id, son of the ḥanīf Zayd ibn ‘Amr ibn Nufayl, who belonged to ‘Umar's clan (‘Adi ibn Ka‘b) and married ‘Umar's sister.