~7th to 10th year of the dawah (c. 617-620 CE) · 5 BH
Details differ across the sources
One report says Abu Talib and the two tribes were forced into the Valley of Abu Talib; most accounts say the move was voluntary self-exile.
In the 7th year of the dawah (the call to Islam), the clans of the Quraysh agreed among themselves that the Prophet ﷺ must be killed. They knew, however, that his own clan, Banu Hashim, would never hand him over. So they went one last time to his uncle Abu Talib. They offered him whatever blood money he wanted if he gave the Prophet ﷺ up. If he refused, they threatened to cut off all trade, marriage and social ties with Banu Hashim and their cousin clan, Banu al-Muttalib.
Abu Talib refused. The two clans left Makkah and moved to the Valley of Abu Talib, just outside the city. The Quraysh wrote the terms of the boycott in a treaty and hung it inside the Ka'bah. For about two to three years, the clans endured severe hardship and survived on leaves and shrubs. A few sympathisers secretly sent them food, most famously Mut'im ibn Adi and Hakim ibn Hizam. Throughout this time, the Prophet ﷺ still went out in the hajj seasons to call the visiting tribes to Islam.
Three things brought the boycott to an end. First, the Prophet ﷺ prayed for a famine to strike the Quraysh, and it did. Second, a group of Quraysh with softer hearts, led by Hisham ibn Amr and Zuhayr ibn Abi Umayya, spoke out against the boycott at a public gathering and turned opinion against Abu Jahal. Finally, the Prophet ﷺ told Abu Talib that Allah had informed him that termites had eaten the treaty, leaving only the words "In the name of Allah". When the Quraysh opened it, they found this was true, and the pact was void.
Outcome: The Banu Hashim & Banu al-Muttalib returned to Makkah after about 2.5 years when the boycott treaty was nullified.
Its end closed one of the most difficult periods of the Seerah. The clans returned to Makkah after roughly two and a half years, in the 10th year of the dawah. This was shortly before the deaths of Abu Talib and Khadija and the Prophet ﷺ's journey to Ta'if.
From Abyssinia to the Boycott·Chapter 8 of 8The boycott
See the whole storyThe conversions of Hamzah and Umar, with the emigration, made the Quraysh feel threatened enough to cut off the Banu Hashim.
Two of Makkah's strongest men gone over in three days, on top of the flight to Abyssinia, drove the Quraysh to the boycott.
Other events recorded in 5 BH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Do as you please. I will never hand my nephew over to you.
Abu Talib's answer when the Quraysh threatened to boycott Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib unless he handed the Prophet ﷺ over to them.
Do not sell to these people; I will pay double whatever they are offering.
Said to foreign traders during the Boycott, forbidding them from selling supplies to Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib.
We began defecating like goats defecate. Our droppings were indistinguishable from the goats'.
For how long are we going to starve our own kith and kin to death? This is an evil thing!
Said to the Quraysh gathered at the Ka'bah, urging them to end the Boycott of Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib.
Who do you think you are? We all agreed to this treaty!
O my uncle, Allah has informed me that the treaty they wrote has been eaten up by termites, except for the phrase 'In the name of Allah.'
Your Lord has told you this? ... Then I will stake my whole case on this.
The Prophet ﷺ confirmed it was so.
O Allah, send upon them a drought and famine like the famine of Yusuf.
Du'a made against the Quraysh for imposing the Boycott on Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib.
O my people, let us forget about everything and bring out this treaty. My nephew has informed me that his Lord has told him it is no longer in existence, except for the phrase 'In the name of Allah.' If that is the case, let us be and we will return to Makkah; if it is not, I will hand over my nephew to you.
Marched to the Haram with the Banu Hashim to negotiate; the treaty was found exactly as foretold, nullifying the pact.
No, we didn't: you forced this on us.
Abu al-Bukhturi ibn Hisham then stood and likewise publicly challenged Abu Jahal.
What do you mean my idea? We had a meeting and agreed!
No, I didn't agree; you agreed. This is your idea!
No, I didn't force it!