Socio-Economic Boycott

After a few years, the Quraysh were outraged by the Prophet’s public invitation to Islam and could not tolerate his preaching anymore. They saw that despite their will and plots, Islam was growing, and the Muslims who had migrated to Habashah were also living in peace. Thus, the Quraysh clans all united to kill the Prophet and finish Islam. They knew that the Prophet had the support of his clan, the Hashemites, as it was led by Abu-Talib. Thus, the Quraysh united against the entire clan of the Hashemites and decided to punish them all due to their support for the Prophet. The Quraysh’s leaders set up a meeting and pledged to impose a socio-economic boycott against the Hashemites, and completely isolate them in Mecca. They pledged not to support, trade, wed, or even talk to the Hashemites. They explicitly mentioned that this isolation will continue until the Hashemites surrender the Prophet to them, so that they could kill him. All the Quraysh’s leaders stamped the treaty and hung it inside the Kaaba.
As a result of this treaty, the Hashemites were isolated within their residence in Mecca which was in a valley known as She’b Abi-Talib. She’b Abi-Talib was named after Abu-Talib, the head of the clan. During this long boycott, the clan was not allowed to leave the valley, trade with the Meccans, or provide for their essential needs. The Meccans also made sure that no aid would reach them. They would warn any tradesmen who visited Mecca that their wealth will be looted if they were to trade with the Hashemites. This crisis led to extreme hardships and suffering for the entire clan, to the extent that they struggled to feed themselves and had to even eat leaves for survival. The wealth of Lady Khadijah, and her secret efforts to provide food during this crisis, significantly helped the Hashemites to survive. The boycott was enforced for 8 months of the year, excepting the 4 months of Hajj and Umrah season. This exception was in place due to a long-standing tradition among the Arabs, of not waging war during the 4 months of Zu al-Qa’dah, Zu al-Hijjah, Muharram, and Rajab, to provide security for the people who would visit Mecca for pilgrimage, and pay respect to their idols. The pilgrims were also a main source of income for the Quraysh, and thus it was in the Quraysh’s own benefit to honor their tradition of ceasefire during the pilgrimage months.
The boycott in She’b Abi-Talib was the hardest period in the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad. This boycott was also the harshest response by the Quraysh against the Prophet and Abu-Talib. Now, Abu-Talib had to witness the suffering of his entire clan due to his firm decision to support the Prophet. Ironically, some of the Hashemites had not even converted to Islam, but due to the tribal tradition, they had to follow the orders of their clan’s leader, Abu-Talib. Despite the suffering and the pressure, Abu-Talib did not withdraw his support from the Prophet during the long period of boycott for about three