They agreed to send him an ultimatum.

They agreed to send him an ultimatum..." (The Eternal Message of Muhammad, London, 1964) In the past, the Quraysh had made many attempts to "isolate" Muhammad from his tribe, and they had hoped that they would either coax or bluff Abu Talib into waiving his support to and protection of his nephew and of Islam. If they could "isolate" Muhammad from the Bani Hashim, they were convinced, they would be able to solve the complex and thorny problem by the simple process of "liquidating" him.

But Abu Talib did not let the Quraysh "isolate" Muhammad. Not only he was himself protecting his nephew, he had also rallied the clans of Bani Hashim and Bani al-Muttalib behind him. These two clans were monolithic in their support of Muhammad, and the infidels found themselves powerless before them.

After long debate and deliberation, the Quraysh agreed that the "intractability" and the "intransigence" of the Bani Hashim called for sterner measures against them, and they decided to isolate and to ostracize not only Muhammad but his protector, Abu Talib, and the clans of Bani Hashim and Bani al-Muttalib as well. It would be quite logical to assume that any attempt to ostracize Bani Hashim would lead to a polarization of the groupings in Makka.

Everyone in Makka would have to declare himself for or against the Bani Hashim. But it soon became obvious that in this confrontation, the Bani Hashim would find the whole of Arabia ranged against them. Muhammad Husayn Haykal It is nearly impossible for us to imagine the intensity and extent of the efforts which Quraysh expended in its struggle against Muhammad, or its perseverance during many long years of that struggle. The Quraysh threatened Muhammad and his relatives, especially his uncles.

It ridiculed him and his message, and it insulted him as well as his followers. It commissioned its poets to parody him with their sharp wits and to direct their most caustic stings against his teachings. It inflicted harm and injury on him and on his followers. It offered him bribes of money, of kingdom and power; in fact, of all that which satisfied the most fastidious of men.

It impoverished the Muslims by destroying their commerce and trade, and it banished and dispersed them from their own country. It warned Muhammad and them that war with all its horrors would befall them. As a last resort, it began a boycott of them designed to starve them.