Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 18 - Conversion of Omar & Hamza and Boycott - Yasir Qadhi | December 2011
Seerah of Prophet Muhammed 18 - Conversion of Omar & Hamza and Boycott - Yasir Qadhi | December 2011
We covered the story of the Muslims in Abyssinia and that the Prophet PBUH prayed Salah al-Janazah for the Najashi when he died.
Why Did The Muslims Remain in Abyssinia Even After 1 AH?
They remained there for another 10-11 years. This is significant because the Prophet PBUH emigrated to Madinah in just 2-3 years later. But they stayed there even after Badr, Uhud, Khandaq etc. It was only when the Prophet PBUH sent a letter to Ja'far after the Battle of Khaybar that they finally came to the Prophet PBUH in Madinah. This is interesting because we wonder why did the Prophet PBUH want the Muslims to remain in Abyssinia when he was in power in Madinah, winning battles etc.? Most likely, the Prophet PBUH wanted a backup plan in case Madinah didn't work. And this shows us the long term planning of the Prophet PBUH that he's 'tying his camel.' Only when he is firmly established in Madinah, when he expelled all of the immediate threats, when it was fully secure, that he called the Muslims back.
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Did the Locals of Abyssinia Convert to Islam?
There remains a controversy which we may never resolve unless we discover some new books: Did the locals of Abyssinia convert to Islam when the Muslims were there? i.e. Did they give dawah to the locals? Allahu a'lam, but there might be some indications that a few Abyssinians embraced Islam through interactions with the Muslims, but for sure Islam didn't pass down in Abyssinia until Islam conquered its land after 50-60 years. Islam didn't make a strong presence just by dawah in the land. They converted Najashi of course, but there was no large presence of Islam.
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Ummi Habiba bint Abi Sufyan (أم حبيبة بنت أبي سفيان)
Another incident was that Ubaydillah ibn Jahsh, a cousin of the Prophet PBUH, passed away in Abyssinia. So his wife Ummi Habiba bint Abi Sufyan (daughter of Abu Sufyan) became a widow in a foreign land. There was no one to take care of her. So after her iddah, the Prophet PBUH sent her a marriage proposal through the Najashi. So the Najashi took charge of the marriage. And he gifted the mahr to Ummi Habiba on behalf of the Prophet PBUH, even though the Prophet PBUH didn't particularly ask him to. She then migrates to Madinah, accompanied by a delegation sent by the Najashi. So Ummi Habiba is one of the Mothers of the Believers.
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Two Major Conversions in Makkah
We return to the affairs in Makkah. Two major conversions took place after the bulk of the Muslims migrated to Abyssinia for the second time. Some scholars say there were only around 37-38 Muslim men left in Makkah. Allah AWJ then blessed two people to embrace Islam, that caused a huge safety factor for the Muslims: (1) Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib; and (2) Umar ibn al-Khattab.
1. Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib (حمزة بن عبد المطلب)
The first of them was Hamzah ibn Abdul Muttalib - the uncle of the Prophet PBUH. It's narrated that Hamzah was a well known archer, he was one of the strongest men in Makkah. He would often go on long expeditions, and when he returns, he would go to the Ka'bah, do tawaf and go home.
One day Abu Jahal was in a foul mood for some reason, he began to curse the Prophet PBUH and his ancestors like he'd never before. The Prophet PBUH remained silent not saying one word back until Abu Jahal got tired and just went away. One of the women of the Banu Hashim got extremely insulted that Abu Jahal cursed the Prophet PBUH and her own forefathers, "Who does he think he is to curse our men?" She wasn't a Muslimah, but this was a matter of tribal honor.
When Hamzah returned from one of his expeditions, some of the women began to taunt him, "What type of uncle are you? What type of leader are you? When your own nephew is insulted, no one stands up to defend him!" i.e. "Where is your honor for the Banu Hashim?!" So Hamzah asked, "What happened?" They said, "Abu Jahal stood there for however long he wished haranguing and insulting Muhammad [PBUH] and not one person stood up to defend him!" And they narrated all that Abu Jahal said. Hamzah's blood began to boil - it's a matter of pride and honor for him. So he asked, "Did this happen in public?! Did other people see this humiliation?!" They told him, "The whole of Makkah saw it! It was a public insult!" So Hamzah lost it. He marched to the Ka'bah, still with his bow and arrow, and went straight up to Abu Jahal and smacked him across the face with his bow, causing a huge gush of blood to come out. And he said, "How dare you curse my own nephew?!" and he didn't even realize what he was going to say but he just blurted out, "And I too am a follower of his religion!" He didn't plan this - he just said it out of anger, basically to say, "What are you gonna do now?!" And this of course shocked himself as much as it shocked everybody else. He just wanted to defend the Prophet PBUH because he's his nephew.
When this happened, the tribesmen of Banu Makhzum around Abu Jahal stood up to attack Hamzah; but Abu Jahal said, "Leave him be, for I cursed his nephew like never before (so I know why he is angry)." Then Hamzah returned home confused and dazed, "What am I going to do now? I don't know if this [religion] is the truth or not!" And so Hamzah made a du'a, "O Allah, you know I am a leader of the Quraysh. And I've said something that I cannot take back. So if this matter is true, guide my heart to it. And if it's not true, cause me to die right now." And so he spent the most miserable night of his life tossing and turning.
The next morning he went to the Prophet PBUH and told him the whole story. So the Prophet PBUH stood up and began talking to him, convincing him until finally Hamzah said, "I testify you are speaking the truth and now I don't want to go back to the religion of my forefathers."
So this is Hamzah's conversion story. Initially he wasn't sincere, but then Allah guided his heart, and later on in the Battle of Uhud he is going to become the Leader of the Shuhada (Sayyid al-Shuhada). When Hamzah accepted Islam, this was a huge boost for the Prophet PBUH as he was the senior most Qureshi to convert up until this point. He was the son of Abdul Muttalib, and the brother of Abu Talib! So when Hamzah converted, the mushriks had to tone down their hatred towards the Prophet PBUH and the Muslims.
2. Umar ibn al-Khattab (عمر بن الخطاب)
It's reported that just three days after the conversion of Hamzah, Allah blessed the Muslims with another conversion that is the conversion of Umar ibn al-Khattab. It most likely occurred in Dhu al-Hijjah in the 6th year of the dawah. And we mentioned before, for the second migration to Abyssinia, when Umar passed by Layla and asked, "Where are you going?" she got irritated and said, "You dare ask?! Because of you we have to emigrate! Because of your animosity we have to leave our homeland and our belongings in order to worship Allah!" And she was expecting a harsh response back, but Umar softened at her comments and said, "Has it reached this level? May Allah protect you wherever you go." When her husband came back she told him the story but her husband said, "His father's donkey will accept Islam before he does!" That was his perception of what would happen, but he didn't know that the Prophet PBUH had made a du'a to Allah.
The du'a is narrated in Sunan al-Tirmidhi. Ibn Umar (the son of Umar) narrated: The Prophet PBUH had made a du'a to Allah, "O Allah, bring glory to Islam with one of these two men who is the more beloved to you, either Abu Jahal or Umar ibn al-Khattab." These two men were the most severe enemies to Islam; they were physically powerful; and in terms of lineage also the most powerful. So the Prophet PBUH basically said, "One of these two, please give him to me. The one that is more beloved to you." And Ibn Umar said, "Umar was more beloved than Abu Jahal." And indeed this shows that guidance is from Allah SWT; these two people were beyond hope - nobody could've imagined that either could come to Islam, but Allah caused the heart of Umar to come to Islam. It also shows that people of influence and power have more of an impact upon the masses, thus it's a sign of intelligence to talk to them and concentrate your dawah upon them (of course not to ignore the others). The Prophet PBUH made du'a specifically for one of these two people. Indeed if a big person converts this brings about a huge change.
When Umar was on his deathbed, Ibn Mas'ud RA said, "We have ever remained in izzah (honor) since Umar has converted up until now. We weren't allowed to pray even in the Haram, but when Umar converted, that was the day we all were able to pray in the Haram." And indeed Umar was a legend in Islam. Umar's khilafa was truly the pinnacle of Islam. In political sense, it was just unparalleled. And of course his conversion was a black and white moment. Ibn Abbas asked Umar once, "How did you get the title of al-Faruq (the one who divides good from evil)?" He said, "The Prophet PBUH gave me this title because when I converted, we marched to the Ka'bah on that day, headed by two rows, me and Hamzah, and for the first time ever, we prayed in the public. And that was when the Prophet PBUH gave me this title."
Umar's conversion: There is more than one story mentioned regarding his conversion. It's narrated that once Umar went out during the evening with a craving for drinking. He went to the house where all of the young men would go and drink and he found none of them were there. He went to another house but for some reason they too were not there. He went to the wine seller, but even the wine seller wasn't there. So he said, "Let me just go do tawaf," just to get his mind off the craving. So he went to the Ka'bah and he heard the Prophet PBUH reciting Qur'an all alone in the middle of the night. No guards no nothing. And so Umar thought to himself, "Now is my time to beat this person up." So he crept up behind the Prophet PBUH, but he found him reciting something - the Qur'an. Of course just like the rest of the Quraysh, Umar never listened to the Qur'an wholeheartedly - so he stopped and began listening. Even the Prophet PBUH didn't know Umar was there. (Umar is narrating this story himself in Musnad Imam Ahmad.) And Umar said he was amazed at the rhythm and power of the surah (al-Haqqah). And while the Prophet PBUH was reciting, Umar began to think, "Where is this coming from? This must be the statement of a beautiful poet just like the Quraysh are saying." As soon as he thought of this, Surah al-Haqqah said, "And it is not the word of a poet; little do you believe." Then Umar thought, "It must the word of a soothsayer/magician." Then the Prophet PBUH recited, "Nor the word of a soothsayer; little do you remember." Umar thought: "Then what is it?!" Surah al-Haqqah: "[It is] a revelation from the Lord of the worlds." Umar thought: "And what if he is inventing it?!" Surah al-Haqqah: "And if Muhammad had made up about Us some [false] sayings. We would have seized him by the right hand; Then We would have cut from him the aorta." And Umar listened until the Prophet PBUH finished the entire surah. Umar later said, "That was the first time Islam entered my heart."
Then one day, the people were sitting and Umar were with them. And Abu Jahal began his tirade about the Prophet PBUH and said, "This man has done more to insult our fathers and gods than anybody else! He has cursed our religion! He has said that anybody who worships idols will be punished in Hell - he's making fun of our forefathers! Who will finally rid us of this man? By Allah anyone who succeeds in doing this, I promise him 100 camels, red (dusky brown) and black, the choicest colors! And I'll also add 100 uqiya (pouches of silver)." And this was an immense amount of wealth. So Umar thought, "This is a good amount of money, I'll do it." So he went back home, took his sword out, and walked towards the Prophet PBUH with an unsheathed sword. And subhan'Allah in Ibn Ishaq and other riwayat, it is said that as he was walking towards the Prophet PBUH, a number of things stopped him along the way - he heard some supernatural voices telling him in eloquent Arabic, "What are you doing? This is just a man saying there is no God other than Allah!" But he kept on ignoring it. Until he passes by Nu'aym ibn Abdillah al-Nahham (نعيم بن عبد الله النحام), who was a fresh secret convert, and he asks Umar, "Where are you going? What happened?" Umar said, "Enough is enough! We have been cursed too long! Our ancestors have been ridiculed! I am going to kill Muhammad [PBUH]!" Nu'aym panicked and said, "Have you lost your mind?! Do you really think the Banu Abd Manaf will allow you to walk on the face of this earth after you kill one of their own?! And if you really want to do something, go back and fix your own family first!"
Umar was shocked, "What do you mean?" Nu'aym: "Don't you know? Your own sister and brother in-law have accepted Islam!" Nu'aym thought, "Let me just get him off the back of the Prophet PBUH - he's not gonna harm his own sister, is he?" But this enraged Umar even more - as this is now a slap on his face, "MY family has converted?!" So he marched to his sister's house in anger and as he came close to the door, he heard the recitation of the Qur'an. (Side note 1: This was because every time someone converted, the Prophet PBUH would assign a teacher to the new convert. This shows us that EVEN in this times of persecution, the education of Islam was paramount. The Prophet PBUH had an educational program up and running - the teacher would teach how to pray, fast, read the Qur'an etc. In our times when someone converts, nothing even happens - we just come and hug him and khalas, never hear from him again. This needs to change.) (Side note 2: The one who was assigned to teach Umar's sister, Fatima bint al-Khattab (فاطمة بنت الخطاب), was Khabbab ibn al-Aratt. And Fatima's husband was one of the Ashara Mubasharun, Sa'id ibn Zayd (سعيد بن زيد), the son of Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl who was one of the hunafa - the one whom the Prophet PBUH said is a one man ummah with two Gardens.)
[Back to the story] Khabbab was teaching the Qur'an to Fatima and Sa'id, and Umar was hearing this through the door. He then bangs the door, and out of fear, Khabbab hides in the closet, and Fatima hides the parchment (or stone or tablet) she was reading by covering it over with her skirt (as if she was sitting on it). "Come in! Come in! What are you doing here at this time of the day?" Umar: "What is this noise I heard you were reciting?" Fatima: "No, you didn't hear anything." But Umar said, "By Allah, I know what I heard! I know now that the both of you have accepted Islam!" They continued to deny it, and Umar was already enraged so he took a step forward to punch Sa'id ibn Zayd. But Fatima got in the way so the blow landed on her instead of him - the blood began to flow down. When this happened, both Fatima and Sa'id became enraged they said, "Yes! We have accepted Islam and we believe in the Prophet PBUH! So what?! Do as you please!" When Umar saw the blood and this sincerity, again his heart softened. Indeed we all know that Umar had a harsh side and a soft side - and this continued throughout his khilafa as well. So Umar then calmed down and said, "Let me see what you were reciting." Umar was an educated man so he could read and write. Fatima got worried because the Qur'an needs to be respected so she didn't want Umar to desecrate it; but Umar swore that he wouldn't do anything except to read it. So she told him, "You are a pagan so you are not allowed to touch the Qur'an until you purify yourself." So Umar quickly did ghusl and then read Surah Taha. Islam then entered his heart.
Sa'id saw he had completely calmed down, and so when Umar requested to see the Prophet PBUH, Sa'id took him to the House of al-Arqam with the sword still in his hand. Umar then bangs on the door of al-Arqam's house and when one of the sahaba saw him he said, "Ya Rasulullah, Umar is outside with a sword in his hand!" And so Hamzah says, "Let him in, for if Allah wants good, he will accept Islam, but if Allah wants other than this, the very sword he is holding will be the end of him (i.e. I will use his sword against him)." Some of the sahaba went to the door and they escorted Umar to the Prophet PBUH, and he sat down in front of the Prophet PBUH. Ibn Ishaq says the Prophet PBUH held onto his collar and said, "Ibn al-Khattab, what are you doing here?" No fear from the Prophet PBUH. And the Prophet PBUH said, "If you continue in this path, Allah will destroy you." This is when Umar said, "I have come to accept Islam" and upon hearing this the Prophet PBUH said, "Allahu Akbar!!" so loud everyone in the house could hear it and knew Umar had accepted Islam. After the conversion of Umar, they all publicly prayed in front of the Ka'bah. The narration says there was around 40 people. Hamzah and Umar went together, leading the way because nobody would dare harm them.
And there are many other stories narrated of Umar's conversion. Of them is that he wanted to personally inform Abu Jahal of his conversion to basically rub it in, so he went knocking on Abu Jahal's door. Abu Jahal opened the door and welcomed him, "Welcome! What has brought you here?" Umar: "I have come to personally inform you that I am now a Muslim, and I am upon the religion of Muhammad PBUH." Abu Jahal slammed the door on his face and said, "May Allah curse you and what you have come with!" And then Umar RA said, "Who is the one who is the most rumormonger/tattletale in all of Makkah?" Someone said, "Jamil ibn Ma'mar al-Jumahi (جميل بن معمر الجمحي)." So he went to Jamil and said, "Do you know I have a secret? I have just accepted Islam and I am now following the religion of Muhammad PBUH!" Jamil jumped up barely grabbing a garment to cover his nakedness, and rushed outside because he wanted to be the first to tell, so he began screaming in the streets of Makkah before he even gets to the Ka'bah, "O people of Makkah! O Quraysh! Umar ibn al-Khattab qad Saba'a!" (Saba'a is what the pagans used to call 'accepting Islam' - because there was a religion at that time called Sabianism. And the pagans would say that anybody who left idolatry has become a Sabian.) And Umar RA tried to correct Jamil, "Aslamtu (I accepted Islam)." And it's also narrated that many people had fights with Umar RA that day in front of the Ka'bah until Amr ibn al-As's father, al-As ibn Wa'il (العاص بن وائل) gave him protection.
And of course there are so many blessings of Umar ibn al-Khattab. Of the most authentic and simplest one narrated in Bukhari: The Prophet PBUH said, "There were people before you who were communicated with [by the angels] but they were not prophets. If there is anybody in my ummah like this, then it is Umar." It's enough of a blessing to see what happened in his khilafa - Islam quadrupled in size. Abu Bakr RA solidified Islam in Arabia, and Umar RA expanded it.
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The Boycott
With these two conversions, both Hamzah and Umar RA, the Quraysh really felt threatened.
Two things had happened now that is just astounding. Firstly, the bulk of the Muslims fled to Abyssinia. This was threatening and disgraceful. And secondly, two of the most prominent and powerful men had left them and joined Islam.
It's said that in the 7th year of the dawah, all the Qureshi tribes got together and agreed, "We need to kill Muhammad." And they said, "How can we do it? The Banu Hashim is not going to give him over to us." So they said, "We will offer whatever blood money they want. And we'll even conceit to them that none of us will kill him - we'll pay some other tribes to do the job." So for the final time they went to Abu Talib and say to him, "You don't have a choice - either hand over Muhammad—and we will give you whatever blood money and it won't even be a Qureshi who will do the job—OR we will have to cut you off from the Quraysh." Again this is absolutely unprecedented. "How are you gonna cut us off? We're blood relatives." They said, "None of us will allow you to get any food or water; we'll boycott you; we'll cut off all marriages with you; there will be no business transactions." etc. When they came to Abu Talib like this, he became furious and said, "Do as you please, I will never hand my nephew over to you."
One report says they were forced to, but most likely voluntarily, Abu Talib decided to live elsewhere; and so the Banu Hashim & Banu Muttalib (two cousin tribes) imposed a type of exile on themselves and moved to a valley that the Banu Hashim 'owned' outside of Makkah, called the Valleys of Abu Talib (شِعب أبي طالب).
So this is the incident of the boycott.
In order to solidify this, the Quraysh wrote a treaty/pact amongst themselves that nobody will buy and sell to the two tribes, nobody will marry into or from them, and nobody will socialize with them. So it was a boycott of an economic, political, and social level. And they hung this treaty inside the Ka'bah. And of course nobody walks in and out of the Ka'bah, so they locked the door and left it hanging in there. (Side note: It is said that Bu'ayd ibn Amir (بعيض بن عامر) was the one who wrote this treaty, and the Prophet PBUH made du'a against him, and his hands became paralyzed until he died.)
So the Banu Hashim & Banu Muttalib lived outside of Makkah for 2-3 years.
We don't have too much information about this period. Why? Firstly, because very few lived to narrate these times. Secondly, people tend to gloss over bad memories - we don't want to think about bad memories. So even those who lived to narrate, they didn't narrate much. It was a very difficult and traumatic time for them.
So for 2-3 years they lived in these valleys eking out an existence. Drinking rainwater, eating from the shrubbery, leaves etc. Bilal said that we began defecating like how goats defecate. Our droppings were indistinguishable from the goats'. One of the main sources of food was that every few weeks someone felt sympathy for them and sent in secret supplies of food. The most famous of them was Mut'im ibn Adi (مطعم بن عدي). (Recall Mut'im ibn Adi was a chief of the Banu Nawfal, one of the subtribes of the Quraysh. And he died a year before the Battle of Badr. He was one of the most sympathetic non-Muslims ever. And the Prophet PBUH praised him a lot. E.g. After the Battle of Badr he said if Mut'im was alive and told him to release all the captives of war, he would have done it without any question.) Mut'im every few weeks would go to the valleys with a large camel laid in with food, supplies, water, grain etc. And of course when they caught it, they could dry the meat, they could keep it, and it lasts for many many weeks.
It's reported that a few other people also would do this during this 2-3 years boycott. Of them is Hakim ibn Hizam (حكيم بن حزام) (Khadija's nephew, and later became a famous sahabi). Otherwise they eked out an existence. Even when foreigners came, Abu Jahal would say, "Don't sell to these people; I will pay double whatever they are offering." Even though foreigners are not barred like the Quraysh, but Abu Jahal would still prevent them from selling to the Banu Hashim/Banu Muttalib.
Even during this 2-3 years, the Prophet PBUH continued to give dawah during the Hajj season. He would go out of the valley and meet with the tribes and find converts to Islam.
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Incidents That Brought About the End to the Boycott
A number of incidents happened that finally brought about the boycott to end.
1. The first of these is that the Prophet PBUH made a du'a against them, "O Allah, send upon them a drought and famine like the famine of Yusuf AS." And so Allah accepted this du'a and the famine became so bad for Makkans that they were forced to eat carcasses and chew on dead animal skin. And they realized this was because of the du'a of the Prophet PBUH, so they sent some messengers to try to bring about some reconciliation.
2. The second incident is that some of those people of Quraysh with softer hearts decided that they should do something to break the pact. One of the main people was Hisham ibn Amr (هشام بن عمرو). Hisham called his friend Zuhayr ibn Abi Umayya (زهير بن أبي أمية) (whose mother is Atikah, the sister of Abdullah, the father of the Prophet PBUH i.e Zuhayr is Abdul Muttalib's grandson), and they said, "What can we do to bring about an end to this boycott?" They said first thing is to build some strength together. So they gathered all those who had the same views as them. This included of course Mut'im ibn Adi, along with Abu al-Bukhturi ibn Hisham (أبو البختري بن هشام) and a few more. And then they planned to speak up when all of the people are gathered in the Nadi (parliament) the next day. So the next day they went to the Ka'bah and they all seated where they usually sit - everyone goes to his place in this corner, that corner, etc. Then Zuhayr stood up and said, "For how long are we going to starve our own kith and kin to death? This is an evil thing!" Abu Jahal became furious and shouted out, "Who do you think you are? We all agreed to this treaty!" When he said this, Hisham stood up and said, "No - I didn't agree, you agreed. This is your idea!" Abu Jahal said, "What do you mean my idea? We had a meeting and agreed!" Mut'im stood up, "No we didn't - you forced this on us." Abu Jahal said, "No I didn't force it!" Then Abu al-Bukhturi stood up. So one by one, every single person publicly challenged Abu Jahal and he had no one to support him. When Abu Jahal saw all this happening, he said, "This is certainly a plan all of you have hatched." But of course they didn't confess. And it seemed from this that the public support had shifted against Abu Jahal.
3. And then the final thing happened which completely turned the tide. One day the Prophet PBUH went to Abu Talib and said, "O my uncle, Allah has told me that the treaty they wrote has been eaten up by termites and ants except for the phrase بسمك اللهم (in the name of Allah)." And of course this treaty was in a sealed pouch in the Ka'bah, which is locked up where no one could enter, so it was impossible for the Prophet PBUH to know such a thing. It was Allah who told him this. Abu Talib asked, "Your Lord has told you this?" "Yes." "I will stake my whole case on this." "Yes, stake it on this." And so Abu Talib for the first time since the enactment of the treaty marched to the cities with a group of non-Muslim fellow tribesmen. (Note, this again shows the strength of Jahiliyyah kinship that even though they weren't all Muslim, the whole Banu Hashim tried suffered through this boycott in defense of the Prophet PBUH. Except for one coward, Abu Lahab, who basically publicly denounced, "I don't have anything to do with the Banu Hashim anymore.") Abu Talib went to the Haram and said, "O my people, let's forget about everything and let's bring out this treaty and see if we can come to a deal." So they became happy that maybe he will hand over the Prophet PBUH. So they took out the treaty from the Ka'bah in its cloth. And Abu Talib said, "My nephew has told me that his Lord has told him that the treaty is no longer in existence; and everything has been eaten except for the phrase 'in the name of Allah.' So my challenge to you is, if that's the case, let us be and we will return to Makkah. And if it's not, I will hand him over to you." (Notice how Abu Talib steaks it all on his 'iman' in the Prophet PBUH telling the truth.) They said, "Of course!" and so they opened up the cloth and lo and behold there was no treaty except for the phrase 'in the name of Allah.' Subhan'Allah! And they were furiated, "This is of the sihr he's done!" etc. but they couldn't do anything because the promise had been given. And this is what nullified the treaty and so the Banu Hashim & Banu Muttalib returned to Makkah.
One of the most interesting thing that happened during this time is that Abu Talib wrote what is considered to be the most eloquent Arabic poetry in existence. It's called the "Lamiyah of Abi Talib" (لامية أبي طالب) because every single verse ends with the letter lam (ل). It's around 100 lines of poetry and universally known as the pinnacle of poetry of that era. Ibn Kathir says this one poem beats all of the Seven Hanging Poems in Makkah at the time - in its style, content and rhythm. It's absolutely powerful. But it's so advanced and beautiful that it's near impossible now to even understand it.
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Lesson From the Incident of the Boycott
Some of the benefits we gain from the incident of the boycott is that it's amazing to see the kinship between tribes. Indeed many people in Banu Hashim & Banu Muttalib weren't Muslim, but they underwent the hardship of the boycott for the sake of the Prophet PBUH. Every nation has some people that are mean and some people that are nice. So we take the good when people offer it and we use it against the bad. Indeed this is what the Prophet PBUH did. He took the good of Mut'im and the like to help them during the boycott. And we too should reach out to those who want to support freedom and are open minded in our times.
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The Prophet PBUH and the sahaba returned back to Makkah after ~2.5 years of the boycott, which means it's the 10th year of the dawah now, and the Prophet PBUH is roughly 49 years old. After this, Allah will test the Prophet PBUH with even greater tragedies: the death of Abu Talib, Khadija and then the incident of Ta'if. One low after the other. This was the lowest period of the seerah of the Prophet PBUH. And this would all be a precursor to the Hijrah to Madinah.