Quraish infidels decided to lunch another attempt to fight the Prophet (pbuh) through boycotting all Banu Hashim members and imposing economic and social siege over Muslims.

At Your Service O' Mohammad

Banu Hashim Trapped in Abu Talib Valley

Following the Muslims emigration to Abyssinia, Quraish realized that all its attempts to give a blow to the Mission had doomed to failure. And people who started to accept Islam were getting increased since neither negotiations, policies of temptation by money and power, terror and torture, nor propaganda and fabrications were fruitful.

Therefore, Quraish infidels decided to lunch another attempt to fight the Prophet (pbuh) through boycotting all Banu Hashim members and imposing economic and social siege over Muslims. They thought that the siege would lead to one of three goals: either Banu Hashim would hand Prophet Mohammad over to Quraish to kill him, or the Messenger himself would abandon the Mission, or the Prophet and all his followers would die of thirst and hunger.

Seven years after the holy Mission, forty men of Quraish figures gathered in Dar Al-Nadwa on Moharram 1st, and signed a joint statement providing that all parties (1) should not allow the marriage from any of Banu Hashim's women, nor to allow joining in marriage with their men; (2) must not buy from Banu Hashim nor to sell them anything; (3) should not agree with Banu Hashim on any issue; (4) must get united against the Prophet (pbuh) and his followers.

When Abu Talib learned, he shouldered Banu Hashim and Banu Abdulmottalib the responsibility to defend the Prophet (pbuh) and protect his life. He ordered them to get out of Mecca and move to a valley located between Mecca mountains, named "Abu Talib Valley". All of Banu Hashim - including Muslims and infidels - moved to the new place, except Abu Lahab. They were more than forty men and remained there under blockade for two or three years.

In order to tighten the grip around Muslims, Quraish had recruited spies to prevent anyone in the tribe from selling them food, and threatened everyone who would deal with them by stealing his/their money. It also bought food from the valley outskirts in order not to keep them for Muslims to buy.

Abu Talib: the security guard

In response, Abu Talib took the following measures:

First: He fortified the valley and used to guard it around the clock, along with his brother Hamza and other Banu Hashim figures, fearing of any infiltration attempt by infidels who might assassinate the Prophet (pbuh).

Second: In order to maintain the Prophet's safety, Abu Talib used to change the place where the Prophet (pbuh) used to sleep each time people of Banu Hashim learned it, and used to order one of his sons, like Imam Ali (as) to sleep in the Prophet's place.

Historians narrate that Muslims were spending the money of Sayyeda Khadija and Abu Talib during the siege. They were eating their savings and from the secret food they received from time to time. Imam Ali (as) was also bringing food secretly from Mecca, because Banu Hashim were not allowed to get out of the valley other than periods of Omra and Hajj rituals, when sales were done amid very hard conditions.

Quraish was able to deprive Banu Hashim of food and life necessities. The Besieged people were suffering hunger and deprivation during the siege, which led them to eat grass and tree leaves in many days in order to ease their pain.

How did the blockade end?

After almost three consecutive years of boycott and blockade, the Prophet (pbuh) told his uncle Abu Talib that termites had eaten all of the Quraish statement except the name of Allah Almighty.

Abu Talib went happily to Dar Al-Nadwa, at the holy Kaaba, where Quraish leaders were sitting and said to them: "O' Quraish! my nephew Mohammad has told me that Allah ordered the termites to eat your statement but His Name. If he was right, the ban would end. If he was wrong, we would hand them over to you to kill him."

Quraish leaders agreed and opened the door of the Kaaba. They found that the termites had eaten every single word in the statement and left only Allah's Name. Despite all this, most of the infidels weren't convinced and didn't fulfill the promise.

However, Quraish's siege continued until a group that has relations with Banu Hashim vetoed the statement and deactivated it, after its people witnessed their relatives suffering from hunger and deprivation. The Hashemites then went out of Abu Talib Valley after a long suffering.

Quraish thought that the blockade would be more influential than torture and abuse. They hoped that if it did not change the position of Prophet Mohammad, then at least it would separate him from his family. But the Prophet (pbuh), who was chosen by Allah, did not deviate one iota, but increased his determination to preach for Islam, and his family and followers became more adherent to the Mission and more determined to defend the Prophet (pbuh) and his call.

Edited and translated by E. al-Rihani