The persecution of Muslims has been recorded throughout the history of Islam , beginning with its founding by Muhammad in the 7th century. In the early days of Islam in Mecca , pre-Islamic Arabia , the new Muslims were frequently subjected to abuse and persecution by the Meccans , known as the Mushrikun in Islam, who were adherents to polytheism. In the contemporary period, Muslims have faced religious restrictions in some countries.
Various incidents of Islamophobia have also occurred. In the early days of Islam in Mecca , the new Muslims were often subjected to abuse and persecution by the pagan Meccans often called Mushrikin : the unbelievers or polytheists. Some were killed, such as Sumayya , the seventh convert to Islam, who was allegedly tortured first by Amr ibn Hisham. Abu Lahab's wife Umm Jamil would regularly dump filth outside his door and placed thorns in the path to his house.
Accordingly, if free Muslims were attacked, slaves who converted were subjected to far worse. The master of the Ethiopian Bilal ibn Rabah who would become the first muezzin would take him out into the desert in the boiling heat of midday and place a heavy rock on his chest, demanding that he forswear his religion and pray to the polytheists' gods and goddesses, until Abu Bakr bought him and freed him. The First Crusade was launched in by Pope Urban II , with the stated goal of regaining control of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from the Muslims, who had captured them from the Byzantines in This event, in conjunction with the killing of Germanic pilgrims who were travelling from Byzantium to Jerusalem, raised the anger of Europe, and inspired Pope Urban II to call on all Catholic rulers, knights , and noblemen to recapture the Holy Land from Muslim rule.
In part, it was also a response to the Investiture Controversy , which was the most significant conflict between secular and religious powers in medieval Europe. The controversy began as a dispute between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Gregorian Papacy and gave rise to the political concept of Christendom as a union of all peoples and sovereigns under the direction of the pope; as both sides tried to marshal public opinion in their favour, people became personally engaged in a dramatic religious controversy.
Also of great significance in launching the crusade were the string of victories by the Seljuk Turks, which saw the end of Arab rule in Jerusalem. On 7 May the Crusaders reached Jerusalem , which had been recaptured from the Seljuks by the Fatimids of Egypt only a year before. On 15 July, the Crusaders were able to end the siege by breaking down sections of the walls and entering the city. Over the course of that afternoon, evening, and next morning, the Crusaders killed almost every inhabitant of Jerusalem, Muslims and Jews alike.
