The Three-Year Boycott in the Valley

Frustrated by Islam's endurance, Quraysh hung a solemn parchment inside the Ka'bah declaring a total social and economic boycott against Banu Hashim and Banu al-Muttalib. They were forced into the barren valley of Shi'b Abi Talib for three agonizing years. No one could trade, marry, or speak with them. Muslims ate tree leaves and boiled leather to survive, while babies cried from hunger. The boycott finally collapsed when noble-minded men among Quraysh felt moral shame and moved to tear down the document, discovering that termites had eaten the entire boycott text except the phrase: 'Bismika Allahumma' (In Your Name, O Allah).