The plot at Dar al-Nadwa

After the people of Yathrib had pledged to the Prophet ﷺ and the emigration had followed in succession, Quraysh feared the strategic position of Medina on the trade route to Syria. Its parliament convened in Dar al-Nadwa on Thursday 26 Safar of the fourteenth year of the mission, corresponding to 12 September 622 CE, to plot the killing of the Prophet. ^{1 2}

The deputies of the Qurayshi clans attended: Abu Jahl for Banu Makhzum; Jubayr ibn Mut'im, Tu'ayma ibn Adi and al-Harith ibn Amir for Banu Nawfal; Shayba and Utba, the sons of Rabi'a, and Abu Sufyan ibn Harb for Banu Abd Shams; al-Nadr ibn al-Harith for Banu Abd al-Dar; Abu al-Bakhtari, Zam'a ibn al-Aswad and Hakim ibn Hizam for Banu Asad; Nabih and Munabbih, the sons of al-Hajjaj, for Banu Sahm; and Umayya ibn Khalaf for Banu Jumah. ² An elder of Najd, who was Iblis in disguise, confronted them. ²

Abu al-Aswad proposed banishing the Prophet from the land. The Najdi elder replied that he would win over another people and attack them with them. Abu al-Bakhtari proposed imprisoning him in iron and waiting for him to die, as Zuhayr and al-Nabigha had died. The elder replied that his companions would rise up to bring him out. ³

Abu Jahl proposed that a strong, well-born youth be taken from every clan and each given a sharp sword, so that they would strike him with the blow of one man. His blood would then scatter among the clans, so that Banu Abd Manaf could not war on all of Quraysh, and they would accept the blood-money. The parliament agreed unanimously. ³

• The timing of the meeting early in the day is preferred by the book, on the basis of Ibn Ishaq's account that Gabriel told the Prophet of the plot and gave him leave to emigrate. ²
• The book's conversion of the date to the Gregorian calendar relies on the calendar tables of al-Mansurpuri. ²