Part 7 - Adapted into English from Shaykh Dr. Othman Al-Khamees's Arabic Seerah lecture preserving the original meaning while presenting the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)
After Quraysh had intensified their opposition to the Prophet and had harmed both him and his Companions, the call to Islam continued for some time under difficult circumstances. During this period, two important men entered Islam: Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet's uncle, and Umar ibn al-Khattab. Their acceptance of Islam strengthened the Muslims and changed the situation surrounding the call to Allah. Quraysh had already tried different ways of stopping the Prophet. They had attempted to bargain with him, offering him wealth, leadership, authority, and whatever worldly position he might desire.
They even approached Abu Talib and, according to the account mentioned in the lecture, proposed that they would give him another young man in exchange for Muhammad so that they could kill the Prophet. Abu Talib rejected the absurdity of such a proposal, making clear that he would never hand over the son of his brother so that another man's son could take his place. When all these attempts failed, Quraysh moved toward a harsher measure: a complete boycott (muqataah) of Banu Hashim and those who stood with them.
The leaders of Quraysh agreed to isolate Banu Hashim completely. They wrote a document and hung it inside the Kaaba, declaring that there would be no marriage with Banu Hashim, no buying or selling with them, no speaking to them, and no social interaction with them, unless they handed Muhammad over to be killed. The boycott was not simply an economic measure; it was intended to place unbearable pressure on the Prophet and his family until they abandoned their support for him.
Quraysh had reached this point because they could see that their earlier methods were failing. People were continuing to enter Islam, while those who had accepted the faith were not turning back from it. Their attempts at negotiation had failed, their intimidation had failed, and their pressure had failed. So they decided to isolate the Prophet's entire clan and force them into submission.
Before the boycott began, Abu Talib had even been asked to tell the Prophet to stop his preaching and leave the matter alone. When Abu Talib conveyed this to him, the Prophet made it clear that he would not abandon the call. He said that he would continue until Allah caused the matter to prevail or until he died. The lecture also mentions the famous wording in which he said that even if the sun were placed in his right hand and the moon in his left, he would not abandon this matter.
Abu Talib had feared that perhaps the Prophet's resolve would bring unbearable pressure upon the family, but instead of withdrawing his support, he remained beside him. He expressed his recognition that the Prophet's religion was among the best of religions, although Abu Talib himself did not enter Islam.
When the boycott was imposed, Banu Hashim withdrew with the Prophet into the valley known as Shi'b Abi Talib. Banu al-Muttalib also joined them out of family solidarity, even though not all of them were Muslims. Abu Lahab, however, remained in Makkah because of his open hostility toward the Prophet. The Muslims and their supporters remained in the valley for approximately three years, during which they were prevented from buying or selling, marrying into the wider community, socializing, or maintaining normal relations with Quraysh.
The hardship became so severe that they were reduced to eating the leaves of trees because there was little else available. During those years, Abu Talib remained deeply concerned for the safety of his nephew. When the Prophet went to sleep, Abu Talib would wait until he was certain that he had fallen asleep and then move him to another place, fearing that Quraysh might discover where he was sleeping and send someone to assassinate him. The boycott therefore brought both physical hardship and constant fear, yet the Prophet and those who stood with him remained steadfast.
The end of the boycott came through a small group of men within Quraysh who could no longer accept what was happening. One of them was Hisham ibn Amr ibn Rabiah. He approached Zuhayr ibn Abi Umayyah and reminded him that while he was eating and dressing normally, his maternal relatives among Banu Hashim were being deprived of food, trade, marriage, and ordinary human contact. Hisham pointed out that if those suffering had been the relatives of Abu Jahl, Abu Jahl would never have accepted such treatment.
Zuhayr initially replied that he was only one man and could do little by himself. Hisham answered that he had already found another person willing to stand with him. From there, the effort grew step by step. They brought in al-Mutim ibn Adi, then Abu al-Bakhtari ibn Hisham, and finally Zumah ibn al-Aswad. What had begun with one man became a coordinated group willing to challenge the boycott publicly.
The five men agreed that Zuhayr would be the first to speak. The next morning, he went to the gathering place of Quraysh, circumambulated the Kaaba seven times, and then addressed the people. He asked how they could eat their food and wear their clothes while Banu Hashim were being allowed to perish, unable to buy or sell anything. He declared that he would not sit down until the unjust document of boycott was torn apart.
Abu Jahl immediately opposed him, but the others began to speak one after another, openly rejecting the document and declaring themselves free of what it contained. Abu Jahl realized that the matter had been organized beforehand and accused them of arranging it secretly. Yet by then the opposition to the boycott had become public, and the document was brought out for inspection.
At that moment, Abu Talib came forward and told Quraysh that the Prophet had informed him that a creature of the earth had eaten everything in the document that contained injustice, leaving only what invoked the name of Allah. Abu Talib proposed that they open the document and see whether this was true. If it was not, he said, they could hand the Prophet over to them; but if it was true, then the boycott should end.
The document was opened, and according to the account given in the lecture, the clauses imposing injustice and isolation upon Banu Hashim had been eaten away, leaving only the words invoking Allah's name. The boycott therefore came to an end, and Banu Hashim returned to Makkah after approximately three years of hardship.
One of the lessons drawn from this episode is that silence does not necessarily mean agreement. There were people among Quraysh who had not openly challenged the boycott, but that did not mean they were satisfied with what was happening. They needed someone to move first, and once one person acted, others found the courage to join him. This is why coordination and organization are important. The lecture emphasizes that Islam is a religion of order.
Prayer has appointed times, fasting has its appointed period, charity has its rules, pilgrimage has its time, and even divorce is regulated. The principle is that matters are not left entirely without structure. When those men organized themselves and worked together to end the boycott, Allah made the means available for the document to be overturned and the hardship to come to an end.
The end of the boycott did not mean that the Prophet's difficulties were over. In fact, another painful period was approaching. The three years of isolation had placed enormous hardship upon the Prophet and his family, and soon he would lose two of the people who had been closest to him and most significant in his life: Khadijah and Abu Talib.
After the boycott ended, Allah decreed that Khadijah, the wife of the Prophet and one of the people most beloved to him, would pass away. Her position in the life of the Prophet was unique. She had believed in him when others rejected him, supported him when the opposition intensified, and stood beside him through the earliest and most difficult years of the call.
The lecture recounts that Gabriel came to the Prophet with food or drink and instructed him to convey to Khadijah the peace of Allah and to give her glad tidings of a house in Paradise made of reeds, in which there would be neither noise nor hardship.
When the Prophet conveyed Allah's greeting to her, Khadijah responded with remarkable words: "Allah is Peace, and upon you and Gabriel be peace." The lecture highlights the special nature of this greeting and notes that scholars have used this report among the evidence in discussions concerning the virtue and rank of Khadijah compared with other women of the Muslim community.
In the same year, Abu Talib also died. His death was very different from Khadijah's in its final outcome. Abu Talib had protected the Prophet, defended him, cared for him, supported him during the boycott, and endured great hardship alongside him, yet he did not accept Islam. The lecture cites the position attributed to Ibn Kathir, expressing regret that Abu Talib did not enter Islam despite all the good he had done for the Prophet.
The Prophet himself had tried to encourage his uncle to accept the faith, but Abu Jahl and Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah urged him to remain upon the religion of his forefathers. Abu Talib ultimately remained upon what he had inherited from his ancestors and died without accepting Islam.
The Prophet was deeply affected by the deaths of Khadijah and Abu Talib. Khadijah had been his closest companion and source of support, while Abu Talib had provided the protection that had shielded him from much of Quraysh's aggression. With both of them gone, the Prophet experienced profound grief.
The lecture refers to this period as the Year of Sorrow (Am al-Huzn), because of the pain caused by their deaths. Yet even in this darkest period, Allah did not abandon His Messenger. Consolation would soon come through a remarkable event, but before that, the Prophet faced another severe trial.
After Abu Talib's death, Quraysh became bolder in their hostility toward the Prophet. Abu Talib's presence had given them a degree of restraint because they respected his position and protection of his nephew. Once he was gone, they felt freer to harm the Prophet. At the same time, the Prophet had become increasingly concerned about the possibility that the people of Makkah would continue rejecting the message.
He therefore looked beyond Makkah and decided to take the call to another place. He traveled to Taif accompanied by Zayd ibn Harithah, hoping that its people might listen to the message and provide a new place from which the call to Allah could continue.
But the people of Taif did not receive him with kindness. He approached their leaders, the sons of Abd Yalil, but they mocked him and responded with words of ridicule. One of them asked whether Allah could find no one else to send, while others continued to mock him. The rejection then became physical. They encouraged fools and children to follow the Prophet and throw stones at him.
The Prophet was struck, his ankles were injured, and Zayd was also struck while trying to protect him. Eventually the Prophet left Taif, fleeing from the people who had attacked him, until he reached a garden belonging to Utbah and Shaybah ibn Rabiah, where he stopped and rested.
The journey to Taif was painful not only because of the physical injuries but because of the rejection of the message itself. Yet the Prophet's response reveals something profound about his character. After leaving Taif, and while returning toward Makkah, Allah sent the Angel of the Mountains to him through Gabriel.
The angel offered the Prophet a choice: if he wished, the people of Makkah could be crushed between the two mountains surrounding the city, al-Akhshabayn, identified in the lecture as Qaiqaan and Abu Qubays. After everything the Prophet had suffered, the opportunity for immediate destruction of those who had opposed him was placed before him.
But the Prophet did not choose revenge. He was described as forbearing and merciful, and he instead expressed hope that Allah would bring forth from their descendants people who would worship Allah alone. He looked beyond the people who were standing before him in rejection and violence and considered those who might come after them. His concern was not simply that the people of his own generation be punished; he hoped that guidance would reach their descendants.
That hope was eventually realized. The lecture gives examples of people from the families of those who had opposed the Prophet who later accepted Islam, including Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, Umm Kulthum bint Uqbah, Utbah and Utaibah, the sons of Abu Lahab, Safwan ibn Umayyah, and Khalid ibn al-Walid. The lesson is important for anyone engaged in calling others to Allah.
The purpose is not merely to say, "I delivered the message," and then walk away without concern for what happens to those who heard it. Rather, there should be genuine concern for their guidance, a desire for them to find the truth, and supplication that Allah guides them. The Prophet's attitude at Taif demonstrates this concern even after he had been mocked, rejected, and physically attacked.
After leaving Taif, the Prophet faced another problem: how would he enter Makkah safely? Abu Talib, who had previously protected him, was now dead. The Prophet therefore sought someone who would grant him protection, known as protection or asylum (jiwar).
He approached several people, but they declined. Eventually he approached al-Mutim ibn Adi, a man from Banu Nawfal who had been among those who helped bring an end to the boycott. Al-Mutim agreed to grant the Prophet protection.
He then instructed his sons to arm themselves and stand around the Kaaba. They were prepared to defend the Prophet if anyone attempted to harm him. When Abu Jahl saw what was happening, he approached al-Mutim and asked whether he had accepted Islam or whether he was merely granting Muhammad protection.
Al-Mutim made clear that he had not accepted Islam; he was simply giving the Prophet his protection. Abu Jahl then acknowledged that Quraysh would respect the protection that al-Mutim had granted. Through this protection, the Prophet was able to enter Makkah safely, circumambulate the Kaaba, pray, and return home.
The protection given by al-Mutim also provides an opportunity to reflect upon some of the qualities that existed among the Arabs before Islam. The lecture cites Ibn Khaldun's description of qualities such as courage, generosity, honor, chastity, truthfulness, and the granting of protection to those in need.
The Arabs were not without virtues before Islam; rather, the lecture emphasizes that what they lacked was the revealed religion that would guide and complete those qualities. Islam came with the faith and law that directed human character toward worshipping Allah and living according to His guidance.
For this reason, the lecture cautions against simply describing the Arabs of the pre-Islamic period as people without virtue. Examples were found in their poetry and their conduct. Antarah is mentioned in connection with modesty and protecting the honor of his neighbor.
Al-Samaw'al is mentioned for loyalty and keeping what had been entrusted to him. Hatim al-Tai became famous for generosity. Even Abu Sufyan, when questioned by Heraclius about the Prophet, acknowledged that had he not feared the Arabs accusing him of lying, he might have lied, but his own sense of honor prevented him from doing so. These examples illustrate that certain noble qualities existed among them, even though they lacked the guidance of Islam.
The act of al-Mutim ibn Adi was therefore an example of this established Arab custom of protection. A person who granted protection to someone in danger would stand by that person and defend him, even at considerable personal cost. Al-Mutim did not merely give the Prophet permission to enter Makkah; he armed his sons and positioned them around the Kaaba so that the Prophet would be protected if anyone attempted to attack him.
The lecture notes that Islam affirmed this principle and extended it in an important way by recognizing that even a woman could grant protection.
The example given is Umm Hani, who granted protection to two men from the family of Hubayrah. Ali initially objected, saying that a woman could not grant protection, but when Umm Hani brought the matter to the Prophet, he affirmed her protection, saying:
"We have granted protection to the one whom you have protected, O Umm Hani."
In this way, the principle of protection was recognized and given a broader place within the Islamic framework.
The Prophet had now returned to Makkah after the painful journey to Taif, after being rejected, mocked, and physically attacked. Yet the story does not end with that hardship. The lecture closes by pointing toward the great consolation that Allah would soon grant His Messenger: the Night Journey and Ascension (al-Isra wal-Miraj).
The Prophet was taken by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, and from there he was raised through the heavens. He met the prophets, led them in prayer, and, as described in the lecture, Allah spoke to him. After all that he had endured, his heart was reassured and his spirit was comforted.
The journey from the boycott to Taif had been a journey through hardship, rejection, loss, and uncertainty. Yet throughout it, the Prophet remained committed to the call to Allah. He did not abandon the message when Quraysh tried to bargain with him, did not give up when his people isolated him, did not surrender after losing those closest to him, and did not seek revenge when the people of Taif rejected and injured him.
Instead, he continued to hope for guidance, even for the descendants of those who had harmed him. And after returning to Makkah, Allah brought him a consolation beyond anything he could have expected. The lecture ends at this point, leaving the details of the Night Journey and Ascension for a later discussion.
