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- Era
- The Prophetic Era
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Quraysh agreed to cut off trade and marriage with the Banu Hashim, so the clan withdrew into a valley in the hills, the Shi'b Abi Talib, for about three years.
Quraysh agreed to boycott the Banu Hashim and the Banu al-Muttalib: no one would sell to them or marry into their families. The clan gathered in the valley of Abu Talib, a valley between the hills, and lived there for about three years in great hardship, until the agreement they had written was torn up.
Storytellers (10–12) read the Explorers text, then cross to the Scholars text.
The general boycott agreed by Quraysh against the Banu Hashim and the Banu al-Muttalib, and the clan's withdrawal into the Shi'b of Abu Talib, a valley between the hills, for about three years. No one would sell to them or marry them, and the hardship fell hardest on the children and the old. The sources say the document was later torn up, and that some people of Mecca rejected the injustice and tore it. The entry gives the boycott as the sira books tell it and passes no judgement on either side.
Summary
Quraysh gathered at the valley of Khayf of Banu Kinana, in Wadi al-Muhassab, and pledged against Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib that they would not marry them, sell to them, buy from them, sit with them, mix with them, enter their houses or speak to them, until they handed over the Prophet to be killed. They wrote this agreement in a document and hung it inside the Ka'ba 1 2.
The siege
Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib, believers and unbelievers alike, withdrew, except Abu Lahab, who stayed with Quraysh. They were confined in the valley of Abu Talib on the night of the new moon of Muharram in the seventh year of the mission 1. Supplies were cut off from them. The polytheists bought up every food item that entered Mecca, and the Hashimites could go out to buy only in the sacred months. The people of Mecca raised their prices until the Hashimites could no longer afford them 3.
Those who brought in food in secret
Hakim ibn Hizam was carrying wheat to his aunt Khadija when Abu Jahl confronted him. Abu al-Bakhtari intervened and let him carry it through 3. Abu Talib would order the Prophet ﷺ, when people slept, to sleep in his own bed. Then he would have one of his sons or brothers sleep in the bed until he saw who meant to assassinate him 3.
Notes for researchers
- The author puts the length of the siege at three years, a period on which the sources he uses agree 4.
For young visitors
Quraysh decided to cut off all dealings with the whole household of the Prophet: they would not marry into it or sell it anything. They confined Banu Hashim in a narrow valley for three years, until they ate leaves.
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Connections
- Had participant
- Abu Jahl (Amr ibn Hisham)· Abu Lahab· Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib· al-Walid ibn al-Mughira· Hisham ibn Amr al-Amiri· Khadija bint Khuwaylid· Mut'im ibn Adi· Zuhayr ibn Abi Umayya· Banu Hashim· Muhammad· abu-al-bakhtari-ibn-hisham· zamaa-ibn-al-aswad
- Occurred at
- Mecca
- Part of
- The Prophetic Era
- Led to
- Nullification of the boycott covenant and the exit from Shi'b Abi Talib
People and things also explored
Mecca· Quraysh· Nullification of the boycott covenant and the exit from Shi'b Abi Talib· The call to the nearest kin· Banu Hashim· Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib· Muhammad· Abu Talib gathers Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib
Sources
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.109
- Zad al-Ma'ad — Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya , 2/46
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.110
- al-Raheeq al-Makhtum — Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri , p.115
- al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham
- Sahih al-Bukhari
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The boycott of the Banu Hashim”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/boycott-of-banu-hashim/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-25.