The Life of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq

Chapter 1: Muhammad in Mecca

The holy city of Mecca: Muhammad’s birthplace
According to Islamic tradition, the apostle Muhammad was born in Mecca, into the Hashim clan of the Quyrash tribe, around the year 570CE.

Mecca was at the time little more than a collection of mud-brick dwellings, in a desolate region of barren desert inhabited by nomadic warring tribes of Bedouin. In the centre of Mecca was the Kabah or holy sanctuary, a small cube-shaped stone building with a sacred Black Stone in one corner, a meteorite associated with ancient fertility rites. 

When the tribes of the Quraysh conquered Mecca, they installed the idol of their chief god, Hubal, and constructed permanent buildings around the Kabah. They established a zone where violence was forbidden, and where all the tribes were invited to place the stone effigies of their own particular deities, amounting to 360 totems in all. Pilgrims were attracted to the Kabah and also to the Zamzam well, an ancient water source said to have been re-discovered by Muhammad’s grandfather Abdul-Muttalib. 

The most important and ancient deities were Al-Lah (the Creator God, associated with the Moon) and three principal female deities: Al-Lat (Goddess of Fertility associated with the Sun), Al-Uzza (Venus, the Evening Star, Goddess of Glory and Victory) and Manat (Goddess of Fate). The statue of Hubal, made of red agate, was a relatively new god brought by one of the Quraysh to Mecca. The priests of the Kabah practised the ancient art of belomancy [divination by arrows] in front of Hubal’s statue. 

The yearly cycle of souks or trade fairs ended just before the month of the hajj, the traditional pilgrimage to Mecca and the Kabah. Pilgrims, who prayed towards Mecca five times a day, came from near and far to enact fertility rites and rituals: shaving their heads, running seven times between the mounts of Safa and Marwa, circling the Kabah anti-clockwise seven times to reflect the sacred movement of the celestial bodies, making an all-night vigil beside Mount Arafat, and hurling pebbles at three pillars in the valley of Mina before sacrificing their most precious female camels to the gods. This pilgrim trade provided a valuable source of income for the Meccans. 

Here begins an abridged version of ‘The Life of Muhammad, Apostle of God’ as told by the first authentic Muslim biographer of the prophet, Ibn Ishaq:

Muhammad’s birth and early years

Muhammad’s father, who was named Abdullah (meaning slave or servant of Al-Lah), died aged twenty-five, soon after marrying Amina d. Wahb, and Amina was with child at the time of his death. When Muhammad was born, Amina sent word to the child’s grandfather, Abdul-Muttalib, that she had given birth to a boy, and told him that she had named the child ‘Muhammad’, meaning ‘The Praiseworthy.’ 

The infant Muhammad was then given over to Halima of the Beni Sa’d tribe, who nursed and raised him in the desert for the first five years of his life. This is why Muhammad later used to say to his companions, ‘I am the truest Arab of you all. I was born into the Quraysh and nursed by the Beni Sa’d.’

When Muhammad was six years old, his mother Amina took him to Medina to visit his maternal uncles, but she died in Abwa during the return journey to Mecca, leaving him in his grandfather Abdul-Muttalib’s care. When Muhammad was eight years old, his grandfather died also, and his uncle Abu Talib raised the orphan boy as part of his own family. At the age of twelve, Muhammad begged piteously to be allowed to accompany his uncle on a merchant caravan voyage to Syria, a Christian country at that time, where a Christian monk called Bahira recognized, so it is said, that the boy bore the seal of prophecy.  

Muhammad’s marriage at the age of twenty-five

The apostle of God grew up to be the finest and noblest of his tribe, so kind, truthful and dependable that he became known as Al-Amin, the Trustworthy. There was a wealthy widow, a noble merchant woman named Khadija, who engaged men to transport her goods abroad on a profit-sharing arrangement, and when she learned of Muhammad’s honorable character, she sent for him and suggested that he take some of her merchandise to Syria and trade on her behalf, and that she would pay him more money than anyone else.

When Muhammad returned and brought Khadija the goods he had traded for her, she sold them for almost double, and praising his honesty and good character, she made him a proposal of marriage which he accepted. Khadija was to be the mother of all the apostle’s children, except Ibrahim. She was to bear Muhammad two sons, Al-Qasim and Abdullah, who both died in infancy, and four daughters: Zaynab, Ruqayya, Umm Kulthum, and Fatima.

The rebuilding of the Ka’ba when the apostle acted as umpire

When the apostle was thirty-five years old, the Quraysh decided to rebuild the Kabah. The tribes went out and gathered stones for the building, each tribe accumulating them and building separately until the construction reached the sacred Black Stone. A quarrel arose, each tribe wanting to lift the stone into place, until they were at swords drawn. Such was the situation for four or five nights. Then they agreed to choose as arbitrator the first man to enter the gate of the Kabah courtyard, and the first to come in was Muhammad. When they saw him, they said, ‘This is Al-Amin, the Trustworthy. We are content.’ 

When Muhammad was informed of the problem, he said, ‘Fetch me a cloak!’ 

Then he took the Black Stone and placed it on the cloak, and told each tribe to take hold of one edge of the cloak and lift it together. This they did, and when the stone was in position, Muhammad placed it with his own hand, and they continued building above it. 

Muhammad receives the first revelation of the Holy Quran
Muhammad used to spend one month each year in religious retreat in a cave on Mount Hira, two or three miles north of Mecca, praying for revelation and divine truth. Then, when he reached the age of forty, during his yearly retreat in a cave on the mountain, in the month of Ramadan, the Angel Gabriel came to him with the gift of God’s grace. 

The angel came to him as he slept, and, holding up a piece of brocade with writing on it, he bade the apostle, ‘Read!’

‘I cannot read,’ replied Muhammad. The angel gripped him so tightly that he thought he was going to die. 

Then the angel released him and bade him ‘Read!’ for the second time, again gripping him tightly. 

Again Muhammad said that he could not read, and again the angel gripped him so tightly that he thought he was going to die.

Three times the angel pressed him to read before saying: ‘Read! In the name of your Lord the Creator, who created Man from nought but a clot of blood! Read! Your Lord is the most Bountiful One, who by the pen taught Man what he did not know. No! Man transgresses in thinking himself his own master. For to your Lord all shall return.’ (Sura 96) 

So then Muhammad read the verses and the angel departed from him. 

Muhammad goes to commit suicide and encounters Gabriel

When Muhammad awoke from his sleep, it was as though the words were inscribed upon his heart. ‘Woe is me!’ he thought, ‘I am either a poet, or a madman! I cannot bear the Quraysh to say that of me! I will kill myself by climbing to the top of the mountain and throwing myself down to my death in order to be at peace!’ 

Then as he was halfway up the mountainside, he heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘O Muhammad, you are the apostle of Allah and I am Gabriel!’ and when he looked up he saw Gabriel in the form of a man with feet astride the horizon. 

Muhammad stood transfixed, gazing at the angel, then he began to turn his face away, but wherever he looked, he saw the apparition of the angel as before. Muhammad remained standing there, rooted to the spot, until Khadija sent her messengers in search of him and they gained the high ground above Mecca and returned to her while Muhammad was still standing in the same place. Then the angel departed from him, and Muhammad left and returned to his family. 

When he came to Khadija, he sat down beside her, and drew her close. She asked where he had been, saying, ‘O Abul-Qasim, I sent my messengers in search of you and they reached the high ground above Mecca and returned to me.’ 

Muhammad told her what he had seen, saying, ‘Woe is me, poet or possessed!’ 

‘This cannot be, my dear,’ said Khadija. ‘Rejoice and be of good heart, for I truly believe that you have come as a prophet to our people.’

Waraqa declares Muhammad to be a prophet

Khadija then rose and went to her elderly cousin Waraqa b. Nauful, a Christian who had read and studied the scriptures with those who followed both the Torah and the Gospel [i.e. a Judeo-Christian of the Nazarene or Ebionite sect.] 

And when she related to him all that the apostle had told her that he had seen and heard, Waraqa cried, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy! If what you say is true, O Khadija, Muhammad has been visited by the greatest Namus [Spirit] who previously came to Moses! Lo! This means that Muhammad is a prophet sent by God to his people. So bid him be of good heart!’

And when the apostle had finished his period of retreat and returned to Mecca, and was performing his usual seven circuits of the Kabah, Waraqa came to him and said, ‘You will be called a liar and they will treat you badly, and cast you out and fight against you. Truly, if I live to see that day, I will help God in whatever way I can.’ 

Then he kissed Muhammad on the forehead; and the apostle returned home. 

Muhammad is ordered by Allah to proclaim His message

Khadija had faith in the apostle. She was the first to believe in the truth of the message that Allah alone should be worshipped, and she helped the apostle in his mission.

Whenever he became depressed at being met with contradiction and charges of falsehood, he was comforted by her when he returned home. She encouraged him, lightened his burden, proclaimed his truth and disparaged any opposition. When the revelations ceased for a time, the apostle became despondent and distressed. Then Gabriel revealed to him the Sura of the Daylight, in which Allah, who had so honoured him, promised that He had not abandoned him, and did not abhor him.

Allah said: ‘By the light of the day, and by the night when it is darkest, your Lord has not forsaken you, nor does he abhor you. Truly, the life to come will be better for you than this present life. The Lord will give you victory in this world and reward in the next. Proclaim the goodness of your Lord in giving you prophecy, mention it and call men to it.’(Sura 93) 

So Muhammad began to preach in secret to those of his family whom he could trust and taught them about the goodness of the Lord in bestowing on him and them the gift of revelation.

The first converts to Islam

The apostle’s next converts were his ten-year-old cousin Ali, and his freed slave and beloved adopted son, Zayd. Then Abu Bakr, a wealthy merchant of high character, and well-liked, became a Muslim. He professed his faith openly and invited others to believe in Allah and His apostle. Then three years after Muhammad’s first calling, Allah commanded him to turn aside from the idolators and warn his people clearly of the Day of Judgement ‘when those who did not believe in Allah the Most Great shall be bound and burned in the Fire of Hell.’ (Sura 69. 1-35)

The first blood to be shed in the cause of Islam

The apostle’s companions used to go out into the valleys to pray so as not to be seen by their fellow tribesmen. One day, while they were praying in a valley near Mecca, a group of unbelievers chanced upon them, rudely interrupted them and rebuked the believers for what they were doing. Then fighting broke out, and one of the Muslims, Sa’d b. Abu Waqqas, struck one of the unbelievers on the head with the jawbone of a camel and wounded him. This was the first blood to be shed in the cause of Islam.

Abu Talib defends the apostle against the Quraysh

People began to accept Islam, both men and women in large numbers, and no one turned against Muhammad until he spoke disparagingly of their gods. The leading men went to Abu Talib, Muhammad’s uncle, and said, ‘By God, we cannot bear to hear your nephew continue to revile our fathers, mock our customs and insult our gods. Get rid of him or we will fight the pair of you!’ 

Abu Talib was deeply distressed. He sent for his nephew and said, ‘Spare me and yourself this unbearable burden.’ 

Muhammad answered, ‘Uncle, by Allah, if they placed the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left, I would not abandon this mission.’ 

Then he burst into tears and got up. As he turned to leave, his uncle called him back and said, ‘Nephew, go and preach as you wish, for by God, I will never give you up, for any reason!’ 

So the situation deteriorated, hostility grew, the community became deeply divided and each side showed open animosity to the other. 

Muhammad threatens the Quraysh with slaughter

One day, when the leaders of the Quraysh had gathered near the Kabah, talking about what they had suffered from this individual who had mocked their way of life, spoken ill of their ancestors, condemned their religion, maligned their gods and caused such division amongst them, Muhammad arrived, kissed the Black Stone, and did his customary seven circuits of the Kabah. 

As he passed by them for the first, second and third times, they hurled insults at him. Muhammad stopped and said, ‘Listen to me, Quraysh, I swear by He who holds my life in His hand that I bring you – dhabh [slaughter]!’ 

The men were dumbstruck by his words. They all fell silent, and even those who had previously spoken most violently against him said in the most conciliatory manner possible, ‘Depart in peace, O Abul-Qasim, for by God you are not a man given to violence.’ 

Even so, when the apostle appeared again the next day, they leapt upon him as one man and surrounded him, shouting, ‘Are you the one who has been speaking against our gods and our religion?’ 

‘Indeed, I am,’ the apostle replied. 

One of the men [said to be Uqba b. Abu Muayt], grabbed Muhammad’s cloak as if to throttle him. 

Then Abu Bakr intervened, weeping, and said, ‘Are you going to kill a man for saying Allah is my Lord?’ 

Then they left Muhammad alone and turned on Abu Bakr instead, beating him and dragging him along by his beard.  

Hamza’s conversion to Islam

One day, Amir b. Hisham, walked past the apostle at al-Safa and behaved most insultingly towards him. [Amir was a wise leader known to the Quraysh as Abu Hakam, Father of Wisdom, but Muhammad nicknamed him Abu Jahl, Father of Ignorance, when he rejected Muhammad’s teachings.]

The apostle said not a word in reply. Then Abu Jahl went and sat with the council of the Quraysh by the Kabah. A little while later, Hamza b. Abdul-Muttalib, uncle and foster-brother of Muhammad, returned from hunting with his bow slung over his shoulder and was informed of Abu Jahl’s treatment of his nephew. Hamza was enraged. He went to the Kabah, where Abu Jahl was sitting with the others, stood over him, and gave him a violent blow over the head with his bow.

‘Are you going to insult my nephew Muhammad, when I believe what he believes, and agree with what he says?’ Hamza shouted. ‘Now hit me back if you can!’ 

Some men got up to go to Abu Jahl’s aid, but he said, ‘Let Hamza alone, for, by God, I insulted his nephew most gravely.’ 

When Hamza converted to Islam, the Quraysh realized that the apostle was in a stronger position, with a protector, so after this, they curbed some of their attacks on him.  

Utba b. Rabia’s negotiations with Muhammad

After Hamza’s conversion, Utba b. Rabia noticed the apostle sitting alone by the Kabah and said, ‘Why don’t I go over to Muhammad and make him some proposals? If we give him what he wants, hopefully he will leave us in peace.’

So Utba went to the apostle said, ‘Nephew, you are one of our kinsman with a noble ancestry. If it is money, honour or sovereignty that you want, we will give it to you, and if you are unable to deal with this spirit that comes to you in visions, we will find you a physician to cure you,’ or words to that effect. 

Muhammad listened quietly and then recited from Sura 41 of the Qur’an: ‘Allah is the Lord of the Universe. He created the Earth in two days. He it is who created the Seven Heavens and adorned the lowest heaven with lamps and set guard over it. Warn the unbelievers of the Day when the enemies of Allah will be herded into the Fire. The Fire shall be their everlasting home, a punishment because they have denied Our Revelations. But for those who say, ‘Allah is Our Lord and then follow the straight path, the angels shall come down to them and say, ‘Have no fear, and do not grieve, but rejoice in the Paradise you have been promised.’

When Utba went back to his companions, he said, ‘It was not poetry, spells or witchcraft. Take my advice and steer clear of this man. The words I heard today will spread far and wide. If the Arabs kill him, we will be rid of him, but if he conquers the Arabs, his sovereignty will become our sovereignty, his power will become our power, and through him we will prosper mightily.’ 

‘He has bewitched you with his words,’ said the Quraysh.  

To which Utba replied, ‘That is just my personal opinion. Do as you see fit.’

Muhammad’s rejection of the Quraysh

As Islam spread in Mecca, the leading men from every clan assembled by the Kabah after sunset and decided to summon Muhammad in order to negotiate and remonstrate with him, asking him to perform signs and miracles by which he could confirm his position with Allah. 

Muhammad claimed to be ‘naught but a mortal messenger’ (Sura 25.22) and repeated his warning from Allah: ‘The day when the Trumpet sounds shall be a day of woe and anguish for the unbelievers.’ (Sura 74.8-10)

The Quraysh replied, ‘We know all about this individual in al-Yamama, called al-Rahman who has been instructing you, and by God, we will never have trust in him. Our consciences are clear. We will not leave you alone or stop persecuting you, until either we destroy you, or you destroy us.’ [Here the Quraysh refer to Maslama of the Beni Hanifa, who was attracting a great following in the Yemen and whose teachings, a mix of Judaism and Christianity, prefigured those of Muhammad.]

Al-Nadr b. al-Harith cursed in the Koran

Now Al-Nadr b. al-Harith, who had been to al-Hira and was acquainted with the legends of ancient Persia, constantly mocked the apostle. Whenever the apostle held gatherings of people to preach about Allah, to recite the Qur’an and warn them of what had happened to past generations who had incurred God’s wrath, Al-Nadr would get up and say, ‘By God, I can tell you better stories than that! Muhammad is only reciting legends of the ancients which he has learnt, as I have. So listen to me instead!’ 

Then he would recount tales of Rostum and Esfandiyar and the ancient kings of Persia and say, ‘How is Muhammad a better story-teller than me?’ 

The Qur’an came down about Al-Nadr: ‘Pay no heed to the wretch of many oaths, who when our Revelations are recited to him, says, ‘Legends of the ancients!’ Soon shall he be branded on the snout!’ (Sura 68.10-16)  

It is said that, in total, eight verses of the Qur’an came down in reference to Al-Nadr, including all those passages in the Qur’an where ‘legends of the ancients’ are mentioned.

Al-Nadr and Uqba seek to test Muhammad

Then the Quraysh sent Al-Nadr and Uqba b. Abu Muayt to the Jews of Medina, saying, ‘Ask them about Muhammad, and tell them what he says. They were the first to receive the scriptures and have knowledge of the prophets that we do not possess.’ 

The rabbis said, ‘Ask Muhammad about these three subjects to see if he is a prophet or a charlatan. Firstly, the young men who disappeared in ancient days. Secondly, the mighty traveler who reached the confines of both East and West, and thirdly, the nature of the soul.’  

Al-Nadr and Uqba then went to Muhammad and called upon him to answer the three questions. He replied, ‘I will give you your answer tomorrow,’ but he failed to say, ‘God willing.’ 

Muhammad then reportedly spent fifteen days without receiving a revelation from Allah, and nor did Gabriel appear to him. The Meccans began spreading evil rumours about him, saying, ‘Muhammad promised us an answer the next day, but after fifteen days we still have no answer!’ 

The apostle became greatly distressed by the delay, until Gabriel brought him the Sura of the Cave, which gave him the answers about the youths [the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus), the mighty traveller [Dhul-Qarnayn or Alexander the Great] and about [the unknown nature of] the soul. 

The first Muslim emigration to Abyssinia

The leaders of the Quraysh continued to revile Muhammad, claiming he was being instructed in religion by ‘that individual from al-Yamama’ [Maslama, prophet of the Beni Hanifa] and that many of his Quranic revelations were merely repetitions of ‘myths and legends of the ancients.’

They became hostile to Muhammad’s followers, assaulting them, confining them, beating them, depriving them of food and drink, and exposing them to the fiery heat of Mecca, to make them renounce their faith. Abu Bakr saved several slaves by buying them from their masters and freeing them. 

The apostle escaped some of the persecution because he was under the protection of both Allah and his uncle Abu Talib, but when he saw that he was unable to help his companions, he advised them to go to Abyssinia, saying, ‘You will be welcome there. The ruler, the Negus, will not tolerate persecution, so go and stay there until Allah delivers you from your suffering.’

So began the first Islamic hijra (migration). More than eighty Muslims with their families migrated to Abyssinia, where the Negus, [a Nestorian Christian], received them with every kindness and where, under his protection, they were able to worship Allah without fear of persecution. 

The Quraysh send a delegation to the Negus

When the Quraysh learned that the Muslims had found safety in Abyssinia, they decided to send two ambassadors, Abdullah b. Abu Rabia and Amr b. al-As, to the Negus to present him with the choicest wares of Mecca, and to ask for the return of the Muslims.  

The Negus ordered his bishops to attend him with their holy scriptures open all around him. He then summoned the Muslims to ask about this new religion for the sake of which they had abandoned their own tribesmen whilst not converting to Christianity or any other religion. 

Jafar’s presentation to the Negus

It was Jafar b. Abu Talib, Muhammad’s first cousin, who answered for the Muslims, ‘Your Majesty, we used to worship idols, eat carrion, disregard family ties and the laws of hospitality, and commit all manner of lewd acts, whilst the strong preyed on the weak. Then Allah sent us a noble apostle who called us to accept the existence of the one true God, to worship Allah alone, to renounce the stones and images which we and our forefathers venerated, and to instruct us in prayer, fasting and almsgiving.’ 

The Negus then asked if the Muslims had any kind of scripture from Allah, so Jafar recited a passage from Sura 19 of the Qur’an [an apocryphal story about the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus in the desert]. 

And as they listened to Jafar, the Negus wept until his beard was wet and the bishops wept until their scrolls were wet. Then the Negus said, ‘Truly, this revelation proceeds from the same source as the teachings of Jesus himself.’

He then dismissed the two ambassadors, saying that he would never betray the Muslims by giving them up to the Quraysh. 

The Negus refuses to give up the Muslims

The next morning, Amr went to the Negus, who was a Christian, and said, ‘You do know that the Muslims claim that Jesus, son of Mary, is merely a mortal man?’

The Muslims were again summoned before the Negus and Jafar [skilfully avoiding the question] said, ‘We declare that Jesus is a servant of God, His apostle, His spirit, and His word, which he cast into Mary the Blessed Virgin.’

On hearing this, the Negus picked up a stick from the ground, saying, ‘By God, Jesus, son of Mary, does not exceed what you have said by the length of this stick!’ [The Negus clearly did not grasp the significance of the Islamic denial of the divinity of Jesus, that: ‘Those who claim that Jesus Christ is God, defy Allah and hell shall be their home. (Sura 5.72-75)]  

The courtiers who surrounded him snorted with derision. [They had recognized the skilful deception of Jafar’s reply.]

‘You may snort,’ said the Negus, ‘but by God, not for a mountain of gold will I permit a single Muslim to be harmed. They are safe here in my country. Give the Quraysh back their gifts. I have no use for them.’ 

The conversion of Omar

When Amr b. al-As and Abdullah b. Abu Rabia returned crestfallen to Mecca, having failed in their mission to bring back the apostle’s companions, Omar b. al-Khattab, a nephew of Abu Jahl, who had been one of the most zealous persecutors of the Muslims, overheard the prophet standing in prayer and reciting the Quran and became a convert to Islam. 

Omar’s first act as a convert was to go to the Kabah, announce his conversion, and fight the Quraysh to a standstill until he forced them to permit the Muslims to worship at the [still pagan] Kabah. 

The Quraysh boycott Muhammad’s family clans

When the Quraysh saw that the apostle’s followers had settled in Abyssinia and that great warriors Hamza and Omar had become believers, they held a meeting and drew up a document that prohibited all contact with the family clans of the apostle, the Beni Hashim and the Beni al-Muttalib, and forbade anyone to intermarry with them or trade with them. Once this was agreed, they wrote it up as a formal Deed and hung it up in the centre of the Kabah as a reminder of their commitment. 

Muhammad’s family tribes took refuge in Abu Talib’s stronghold, all except for Abu Lahab, one of Muhammad’s uncles, who sided with the rest of the Quraysh, saying, ‘Muhammad promises us all these invisible rewards that we will be given after death. So, tell me, what will he put in my hands after death?’ 

Then he would blow on his hands and say, ‘Curse you, I can’t see any sign of the rewards that Muhammad promises!’ 

So Allah sent down the Sura of the Palm-Fibre about Abu Lahab: ‘Cursed be the hands of Abu Lahab! And may he himself be cursed! His wealth and gains shall naught avail him. He will burn in the flaming fire, and his wife laden with firewood will have a rope of palm-fibre round her neck!’ (Sura 111) 

During this time, the Qur’an also began to come down about the wickedness of the Quraysh generally, saying: ‘Verily you and all your idols shall be the Fuel of Hell. You will all go down to Hell!’ (Sura 21. 98) 

Abu Jahl came to the apostle and said, ‘By God, Muhammad, if you do not stop cursing our gods, we will start cursing yours!’ 

So Allah revealed in the Qur’an: ‘Believers, curse not the gods to whom they pray besides Allah, lest they, in their ignorance, wrongfully curse Allah.’ (Sura 6.108)  

Muhammad again rejects the overtures of the Quraysh

Eventually, four men of good standing among the Quraysh approached the apostle as he was circling the Kabah and said, ‘Muhammad, come let us worship what you worship, and you worship what we worship. Let us agree on this. If what you worship turns out to be better than what we worship, we will take a share of it, and if what we worship turns out to be better than what you worship, you can take a share of that.’ 

But Allah revealed concerning them: ‘Say, O unbelievers, I do not worship what you worship, and you do not worship what I worship! I will never worship what you worship, nor will you ever worship what I worship. You have your religion, and I have mine!’ (Sura 109) 

The Satanic verses

When the apostle saw that his own people were turning away from him, he was hurt by their estrangement and longed for a message from Allah that would reconcile them to him. Then Allah sent down: ‘Have you thought of Al-Lat and Al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other?’ (Sura 53.19-20)7

And when the apostle was meditating upon these verses, Satan put these words into his mouth: ‘These are the exalted Gharaniq (cranes) whose intercession (with Allah) is approved.’ 

When the Quraysh heard Muhammad’s acknowledgement of their deities, they were very pleased, and not suspecting that there had been any kind of error, prostrated themselves along with him. Then all the Quraysh prostrated themselves likewise, so that the whole assembly in the Kabah, believers and unbelievers alike, prostrated themselves with one accord. 

Muhammad retracts the Satanic verses

News that the Quraysh had accepted Islam reached the apostle’s companions in Abyssinia, so some of them started to return, whilst others remained behind. Then Gabriel came to the apostle and said, ‘Muhammad, what have you done? You have openly recited words that I did not bring you from Allah, and you have said what Allah did not tell you to say!’

The apostle was much grieved and in great fear of Allah’s wrath. But Allah in his mercy comforted him, saying: ‘We have not sent a prophet or a messenger before you but when he desired, Satan cast suggestions into his desires. But Allah abolishes what Satan proposes and Allah confirms His Revelations. Allah is all-knowing and wise.’ (Sura 22.51)

Then Allah confirmed the true Revelation to Muhammad: ‘Have you thought of Al-Lat and Al-Uzza and Manat, the third, the other? They are nothing but names which you and your forefathers have invented and for which Allah has revealed no warrant.’ (Sura 53.23) 

When Muhammad proclaimed Allah’s annulment of the words that Satan had put into his mouth, the Quraysh became even more violently hostile to the Muslims. When the companions returning from Abyssinia approached Mecca they heard that the reports of a reconciliation were false, and were only able to enter the city by stealth, or by obtaining a promise of protection. 

The ending of the boycott 

The boycott remained in force for several years until the members of Muhammad’s family clans were dying of starvation, with nothing reaching them except what their friends were able to smuggle in secretly. 

Eventually a group of Quraysh leaders decided to end the boycott.    They went to the usual meeting place by the Kabah, and stepped forward saying, ‘O people of Mecca, how can we go on eating and clothing ourselves while the Beni Hashim die of starvation, forbidden to buy or sell? By God, we will not rest until this wicked prohibition order is torn up!’

And it is said that when they went to tear the document to pieces, they found that termites had already destroyed it except for the opening words, ‘In Thy name, O Allah,’ with which the Quraysh prefaced all their documents.    

The death of Khadija and Abu Talib

In 619, the apostle’s wife, Khadija, died, and with her death, troubles came thick and fast, for she had always faithfully supported him in his mission and he used to share all his problems with her. 

Shortly afterwards, Abu Talib died, and the death of his uncle meant that the apostle lost support and comfort in his personal life as well as protection and defence against his tribe.