The Boycott of Banu Hashim

Ibn Ḥajar states that when Quraysh saw that some of the believers had gone to live in a different land and were safe — the ones who were in Abyssinia — and that ʿUmar had embraced Islam, they realised that Islam was beginning to rapidly catch on. They then decided that there would be no solution other than to kill the Prophet (peace be upon him). Islam now has a branch surviving in Abyssinia; inside Makkah, they have won over Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — things were getting out of control. Now they had to get beyond their hesitation of killing the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) because of fear of the retaliation by Banū Hāshim. They had to do something, and that led them to the signing of the embargo against the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), because Quraysh now officially requested Banū Hāshim to hand over the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), to kill him. Obviously, Banū Hāshim refused. So the result was an agreement between the various tribes of Quraysh to boycott Banū Hāshim.

The embargo started in the month of Muḥarram of the seventh year after the message began, and it was that no one would deal with them; no trade would be conducted between them, and no one would marry of them or to them, until they gave up the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). So it was a commercial blockade, and also it was that no family relations were established with them, no marriage to be done with them, and they would accept no marriage offers coming from Banū Hāshim. And they were to be surrounded in their enclave, in their neighbourhood in Makkah, and the people of Quraysh wanted to ensure that no food would reach Banū Hāshim and Banū al-Muṭṭalib. Again, this was not only to Banū Hāshim, but it included Banū al-Muṭṭalib — al-Muṭṭalib had a very close relationship with their brethren from Banū Hāshim, and they stood with them in that difficult moment. And, by the way, Imam al-Shāfiʿī is a descendant of Banū al-Muṭṭalib, so he is close to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). So the people of Quraysh came together and they signed this agreement, the embargo, and they posted the document inside the Kaʿbah.

Things became quite severe. Banū Hāshim and Banū al-Muṭṭalib were suffering hunger, and it is reported by Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ that they were so hungry that they used to eat leaves of trees — they would go to the trees and just grab the leaves and eat them; that is just how hungry they were. And these were mushrikīn, by the way, Banū Hāshim and Banū al-Muṭṭalib — many of them were non-Muslims, and they went through all of this. Why? Because they refused to hand over the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). So the embargo included the Muslims and non-Muslims of Banū Hāshim; all of them were included in it, because they refused to hand over the Messenger of Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).

Two or three years passed, and Hishām ibn al-Ḥārith, who was the most enthusiastic in refusing the terms of the embargo — he was a relative to Banū Hāshim from the maternal side — what he used to do during those two or three years is: he would load the camel with food, and he would take it on top of the hill that is overlooking the enclave of Banū Hāshim, and then he would hit the camel and set it free and release it, so it would go down the hill and end up among Banū Hāshim; and he would do that secretly, obviously. So he was the one who used to sneak in food to the people of Banū Hāshim and Banū al-Muṭṭalib. Obviously, Hishām ibn al-Ḥārith was not included in the embargo, because he was not himself from Banū Hāshim or Banū al-Muṭṭalib, but he had some relationship with them through his mother, his mother's side.