AFFIRMATION OF PROPHETHOOD

Affirmation of Prophethood ~ 270 ~ forced to seek refuge in one of the hilly areas on the outskirts of Makkah. In their isolation, they suffered all kinds of privations often going without food and water. During this period, no one was allowed to buy from or sell to Muhammad or his family, not even eatables. The leaves of wild bushes had to serve as their food. One day one of them came upon a piece of dried leather. He picked it up, washed it, baked it on a fire and then ate it with water. This boycott went on for three long years. In the face of such hardness on heart on the part of the Makkans, the Prophet (when the boycott was finally revoked) chose to turn his attention to Taif, a city located three miles away from Makkah, where he hoped to call the tribe of Thaqif to Islam, and to solicit their support. The people of Taif not only refused to hear him, but repudiated him and his teaching outright. They made such insulting remarks as, “Couldn’t God find anyone but you for prophethood?” And that was not all. They incited the street urchins to jeer at him in the public thoroughfares. They pelted him with so many stones that his shoes were