The Vision of Islam

roots of these trees. Their only respite was during the four sacred months, when the Banu Hashim used to come to Makkah. They would take back animals of sacrifice and live for a few months on the dried meat that they prepared. After three years, in the tenth year of the Prophet’s mission, the pact that the Quraysh had made among themselves to ostracise him came to an end. The Banu Hashim were now able to return to Makkah. But the strain of the time in exile had been too much for Abu Talib, and he died in the same year (620 a.d.). Abdul Uzza, otherwise known as Abu Lahab, became chief of the Banu Hashim. The arch enemy of the Prophet now occupied the seat of the judge. He took the decision that Abu Talib had held back from: he expelled the Prophet from his tribe. Expulsion from the Tribes To expel an Arab from his tribe in those days was like putting him among a pack of wolves. There was no government in those days responsible for the safety of its citizens. There was only the tribal system, and one could only live under the protection of a tribe. In the pilgrims’ tents in Mina the Prophet once preached his message to a certain tribe, but they refused to accept it. Still, one can tell from what one of their number, Maisira ibn Masrooq al-Abbasi, had to say, that the Prophet’s word had made an impact on him. Ibn Kathir explains how the Prophet’s hopes were raised with regard to Maisira when he said, ‘How well you have spoken, and how enlightening your words are. But my tribe is opposed to your message, and one cannot go against one’s tribe.’ What a grave matter it must have been, then, to be expelled from one’s tribe. The Prophet now had nowhere to go in his own land. There was no other option but to seek the protection of some other tribe. To make his first attempt in this direction, he journeyed to Taif. Later on he explained the whole episode to his wife Aishah, saying that he had ‘presented himself before ‘Ibn