Prophet Muhammad in Makkah

Islamic Religious Studies · WAEC and JAMB · SS2 and SS3

The Makkan period covers the Prophet's birth, his call, thirteen years of patient preaching under persecution, and the migration to Madinah. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is examined here through narration questions on episodes such as the first revelation, the boycott, the journey to Ta'if and the Hijrah, each with lessons attached.

What you need to know

The Prophet was born in Makkah into the clan of Banu Hashim of Quraysh in the Year of the Elephant, commonly placed around 570 CE. His father Abdullah died before his birth and his mother Aminah bint Wahb died when he was about six years old.
He was nursed in the desert by Halimah as-Sa'diyyah, then cared for by his grandfather Abdul Muttalib, and after his grandfather's death by his uncle Abu Talib, who protected him for the rest of his life though he did not accept Islam.
As a young man he worked as a shepherd and travelled on trading journeys to Syria with his uncle, on one of which the monk Bahira is said to have recognised signs of prophethood in him. He joined Hilf al-Fudul, a pact among Makkan clans to defend the oppressed, and was so trusted that the Makkans called him Al-Amin, the trustworthy. When Quraysh rebuilt the Ka'bah and quarrelled over who would replace the Black Stone, they accepted his arbitration: he spread his cloak, placed the stone on it, had a leader of each clan lift a corner, and then set the stone in place himself, satisfying everyone.
He married Khadijah bint Khuwaylid, a respected widow and trader who had employed him, when he was about twenty-five and she about forty. Their children were Qasim and Abdullah, who died young, and Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum and Fatimah.
He took to retreating in the Cave of Hira on Jabal an-Nur, and there, at about the age of forty, Jibril came to him with the command to read. Shaken, he returned to Khadijah, who comforted him and took him to her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, who recognised that what had come to him was the same revelation that came to Musa.
The call was private for about three years, during which the earliest Muslims accepted Islam: Khadijah, Abu Bakr, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Zayd ibn Harithah, and through Abu Bakr men such as Uthman ibn Affan, Talhah, az-Zubayr and Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf. Believers met at the house of al-Arqam, known as Dar al-Arqam.
Commanded to warn his near relatives, he climbed Mount Safa and called the clans of Quraysh, asking whether they would believe him if he said an army was behind the hill. They said they had never known him to lie, and when he then warned them of the punishment to come, Abu Lahab abused him and told him he had gathered them for nothing.
Persecution followed. Those with no clan protection suffered most: Bilal ibn Rabah was laid on the hot sand with a rock on his chest until Abu Bakr bought and freed him, and the family of Yasir was tortured, Sumayyah being killed and becoming the first martyr in Islam. Abu Jahl, Abu Lahab and Umm Jamil are remembered among the chief persecutors.
To escape this the Prophet sent a group of Muslims to Abyssinia, and a larger second group followed. The Negus received them, and when Quraysh sent Amr ibn al-As to demand their return, Ja'far ibn Abi Talib explained Islam before the king and recited from Surah Maryam, after which the Negus refused to hand them over.
Quraysh then imposed a boycott on Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib, suspending trade, marriage and social dealings, and confined them to a valley for about three years of severe hardship. The boycott ended when sympathetic Makkans moved against it and the document of agreement was found to have been eaten away.
Soon afterwards came the Year of Sorrow, in which both Abu Talib, his protector, and Khadijah, his first supporter, died. Losing his protection in Makkah, he went to Ta'if to seek a hearing, but the leaders rejected him and set youths to drive him out with stones; he withdrew bleeding and prayed, declining the offer of the angel of the mountains to crush the town, and the slave Addas accepted Islam after offering him grapes.
The night journey and ascension, the Isra and Mi'raj, took him from the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to Al-Aqsa and then through the heavens, where the five daily prayers were prescribed. The event strengthened the believers and became a test of faith for others, with Abu Bakr affirming it at once.
A turning point came when men from Yathrib accepted Islam at the pilgrimage season. At the First Pledge of Aqabah they promised to worship none but Allah and to avoid named sins, and Mus'ab ibn Umayr was sent to teach them; at the Second Pledge of Aqabah a much larger group pledged to protect the Prophet as they would their own families.
Quraysh then plotted to kill him by having a young man from each clan strike together. He left Ali in his bed, departed with Abu Bakr, hid three days in the Cave of Thawr while Quraysh searched, and reached Yathrib, stopping first at Quba. The migration, around 622 CE, later became the starting point of the Hijri calendar under Caliph Umar.

Key terms

Al-Amin: The trustworthy; the title given to the Prophet by the Makkans before his call because of his honesty.
Hira: The cave on Jabal an-Nur outside Makkah where the Prophet used to retreat and where the first revelation came.
Dar al-Arqam: The house of al-Arqam ibn Abi al-Arqam, the secret meeting place of the early Muslims in Makkah.
Hijrah: The migration of the Prophet and his followers from Makkah to Madinah, from which the Islamic calendar is dated.
Isra and Mi'raj: The night journey from Makkah to Al-Aqsa and the ascension through the heavens, during which the five daily prayers were prescribed.
Muhajirun: The Muslims who migrated from Makkah to Madinah for the sake of their faith.
Year of Sorrow: The year in which the Prophet lost both his uncle Abu Talib and his wife Khadijah, leaving him without protection in Makkah.

Worked example

Narrate the Prophet's journey to Ta'if and state four lessons from it.

Explain why he went: the deaths of Abu Talib and Khadijah, the loss of protection, the hardening of Makkah.
Narrate the visit itself, who he met, how they responded and how he was driven out.
Include his prayer and his refusal to have the town destroyed, and the incident with Addas.
Give the lessons, drawing each from something that actually happened in the narration.

Answer: After the boycott ended, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) suffered the Year of Sorrow, in which his uncle Abu Talib, who had shielded him from Quraysh, and his wife Khadijah, his first believer and support, both died. With his protection gone and Makkah closed against the message, he travelled to Ta'if, about sixty miles away, accompanied by Zayd ibn Harithah, hoping that the tribe of Thaqif would listen. He approached their chiefs, three brothers of the leading family, and invited them to Islam. They answered him with mockery, one saying that Allah could have found a better messenger, another asking whether he had found no one else to send. They refused him a hearing and set the slaves and youths of the town in two lines to drive him out, pelting him with stones until his feet bled and Zayd was injured shielding him. He took refuge in an orchard and prayed, complaining of his weakness and helplessness before people, and saying that if Allah was not angry with him he did not care, asking only for His pleasure. The angel of the mountains then came and offered to crush the town between the two hills, and he declined, saying he hoped that Allah would bring from their descendants people who would worship Him alone. The owners of the orchard sent their Christian slave Addas with a tray of grapes; when the Prophet said Bismillah before eating and spoke with him about the prophet Yunus, Addas kissed his head and hands and accepted him. Lessons: (i) calling people to the truth brings rejection, and a caller must not be discouraged by it; (ii) patience and forgiveness are stronger than revenge, since the Prophet refused the destruction of a town that had just injured him; (iii) in distress a believer turns to Allah rather than to despair, as the Prophet's prayer at Ta'if shows; (iv) no effort in the path of Allah is wasted, since Addas accepted the message even when the leaders refused, and Ta'if later became Muslim; and (v) genuine leadership shows concern for the future of even those who reject it.

The mistake to avoid

Candidates give over-precise dates and get them wrong, for example stating the exact year of the boycott or the Prophet's exact age at each event. The safe approach is to say 'about forty years of age', 'about three years' and 'around 622 CE'. Another frequent mistake is saying Abu Talib accepted Islam; he protected his nephew but did not become a Muslim. Candidates also confuse the two migrations to Abyssinia with the Hijrah to Madinah.

In the exam

Narration questions here are marked on sequence and on names, so learn Halimah, Abdul Muttalib, Abu Talib, Khadijah, Waraqah, al-Arqam, Bilal, Sumayyah, Ja'far, the Negus, Mus'ab ibn Umayr and the Cave of Thawr. Always end with lessons even when the question does not seem to ask, because most Makkan-period questions carry a 'what lessons' part. Keep the narration in order and resist adding later Madinan events.