The Ravine of Abū Ṭālib and the Written Pact

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, said: They then intensified their assault on the Muslims more than ever before, until the believers were pushed to the limits of endurance and the trial grew severe. The Quraysh convened, scheming to kill the Messenger of Allah ﷺ openly. When Abū Ṭālib learned of their plan, he gathered the sons of his father and ordered them to take the Messenger of Allah ﷺ into their mountain ravine and protect him from anyone who wished to kill him. They all complied—both the Muslim among them and the idolater: some out of family loyalty, others out of faith.

When Quraysh realized that his clan had placed him under their protection, they unanimously resolved neither to sit with the Banū Hāshim nor to engage in trade with them until they surrendered the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to be killed. In pursuit of this plot they drafted a document—pacts and covenants—declaring that they would never accept any truce from the Banū Hāshim, nor would compassion move them toward those clans, until they handed him over for execution.

The Banū Hāshim remained confined in their ravine for three years, and the ordeal became extreme; the marketplaces were closed to them. Whenever night fell and the people slept, Abū Ṭālib would have the Messenger of Allah ﷺ lie down on his own bed so that anyone plotting against him or seeking his life would think he was there. Once the people had fallen asleep, he would order one of his sons or brothers to take the Prophet’s place, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would go to another bed and sleep there.

At the beginning of the third year, men from the Banū ʿAbd Manāf, men from the Banū Quṣayy, and men whose mothers