During this time, while in Mecca, Muhammed preached to the people, imploring them to abandon polytheism and worship one God. Although some converted to Islam, the leading Meccan authorities persecuted Muhammad and his followers. This resulted in the Migration to Abyssinia of some Muslims (to the Aksumite Empire). Many early converts to Islam were the poor, foreigners, and former slaves like Bilal ibn Rabah al-Habashi. The Meccan elite felt Muhammad was destabilizing their social order by preaching about one God and about racial equality, and that in the process he gave ideas to the poor and their slaves.