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Many hardships Part -8 A Student’s Comprehensive Guide to Studying the Biography of Prophet Muhammad (S.A

  • Banu Hashim and Banu Mutalib decide to protect the Prophet ﷺ
  • Social Boycott
  • Abu Talib’s passes away
  • Khadija passes away
  • Marriage with Sawda t and Aisha t 
  • The Prophet ﷺ in Taif
Banu Hashim and Banu Mutalib decide to protect the Prophet

Abu Talib feared that the enemy would not hesitate to make any kind of injury to his nephew including the murder. So he assembled his kin Banu Hashim and Banu Mutalib and asked to give full security to the Prophet ﷺ. Thus all members of Banu Hashim and Banu Mutalib including the pagans decided to defend the Prophet ﷺ.  

Social Boycott

After Banu Hashim and Banu Mutalib decided to shield the Prophet ﷺ against any kind of harms, the Quraish enemy confirmed that their plot to kill him would go in vain. They feared their blood would flow plentifully in the valley of Makah and they would be killed in retaliation. So they adopted a new tactic that would save them from being killed; that was to boycott both Banu Hashim and Banu Mutalib who offered full support to Prophet ﷺ. They decided to boycott Banu Hashim and Banu Mutalib in business dealings, marriage. Even they decided not to sit or speak with these two tribes until the Prophet ﷺ was given to them for killing.

After the announcement of the boycott in Muharram, the seventh year of the Prophethood, Banu Hashim and Banu Mutalib went to a nearby place. It was a narrow pass (valley) which later called by the name Shi’b Abu Talib[1].  Believers and non-believers from both tribes went to that narrow pass and lived there for three years.

They faced great hardships, the food supply stopped to them. Kids and women who were suffering from hunger were crying very loudly to the extent that one can hear from outside. They ate leaves of trees and skins. Some sympathetic people like Hakeem bin Hizam delivered food to them secretly. Banu Hashim couldn’t buy any food from the outside seller because Quraish overpriced the foodstuff.

Although Banu Hashim was suffering from this calamity, the Prophet ﷺ didn’t stop his mission of preaching Islam. He went to Ka’bah and actively involved in conveying the message of Islam to pilgrims and others.


[1] Shi’b Abu Talib (شعب أبي طالب) means the valley of Abu Talib.

This is excerpts from the book A Student’s Book to Study the Biography of The Prophet Muhammad by Abdu Shaheed Azhary. To download the full chapter click the below link. Buy the digital copy of the book from Amazon or the printed edition from Here