| Before Islam | |
| 570 | Birth; Demise of 'Abd Allah (Father) |
| 576 | Demise of Amina bt. Wahb (Mother) |
| 578 | Demise of 'Abd al-Muttalib (Grandfather) |
| 583 | Business Trip to Damascus |
| 595 | Marriage to Khadija bt. Khuwaylid |
| Islam | |
| 610 | Bi'tha and the beginning of Prophethood |
| 613 | Yawm al-Dar and Overt Invitation |
| 614 | Harassment of Muslims by Quraysh |
| 615 | Birth of Lady Fatima (a); Emigration of a Group of Muslims to Abyssinia; Blockade of Banu Hashim in Shi'b Abi Talib |
| 618-9 | End of Blockade of Banu Hashim in Shi'b Abi Talib |
| 619 | The year of sorrow, Demise of Abu Talib and Khadija bt. Khuwaylid |
| 620 | Mi'raj |
| 621 | The First Pledge of al-'Aqaba |
| 622 | The Second Pledge of al-'Aqaba; Emigration of Muslims to Medina |
Shi'b Abi Talib (Arabic: شِعب أبي طالب, Valley of Abu Talib) is a valley between the Mount Abu Qubays and the Mount Khandama in Mecca. Seven years after Bi'tha, polytheists of Mecca declared an economic and social boycott on the Prophet Muhammad (s), Banu Hashim and Muslims. So they lived in Shi'b Abi Talib for three years under blockade.
The valley was owned by 'Abd al-Muttalib and the house of Lady Khadija (a) where she lived with Prophet Muhammad (s), and their children were born in, was located there. The valley is in the east of Ka'ba, next to the place where Sa'y is performed. Because the valley is located close to Ka'ba, it was regarded as the best place in Mecca. As Prophet Muhammad (s) was also born in that region, it is also called as Shi'b al-Mawlid (Arabic: شِعب المولد, the birthplace valley); Lady Fatima (a) was born in this region as well. Today, only a small part of this region, called Suq al-Layl, is left and the other parts were added to al-Masjid al-Haram in different expansions of the mosque.
Concept and Names
A valley,[1] a route on the mountain,[2] and a way between two mountains are called shi'b.[3]
This valley belonged to Banu Hashim and it was called differently in different times including Shi'b Banu Hashim, Shi'b Abi Talib, Shi'b Abi Yusuf,[4] and Shi'b 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a).[5]
Geographical Location
This Shi'b is located near al-Masjid al-Haram and behind Safa and Marwa mountains. It was between Mount Abu Qubays and Mount Khandama.[6] When a person exits al-Masjid al-Haram from Bab al-'Abbas gate, 'Ali gate, or al-Salam gate and passes Mas'a (the place sa'y is performed) an open space can be seen which is located below the Mount Abu Qubays which is the exact location of Shi'b Abi Talib. Today, only a small part of it remains which is called Suq al-Layl located on the mountain opposite from Mas'a. Most of the historical houses and places of Shi'b Abi Talib are currently added to al-Masjid al-Haram in different expansions.[7]
Some have regarded that al-Hajun Cemetery (Al-Ma'lat Cemetery) where Abu Talib is buried as part of Shi'b Abi Talib by mistake, while he was buried in the cemetery of Mecca which was located out the city.[8]
Living Place of Banu Hashim
When Qusayy b. Kilab came to power in Mecca, he settled every tribe of Quraysh in a region in Mecca. He chose Wajh al-Ka'ba which was in front of the door of Ka'ba to his family and his children 'Abd Manaf and 'Abd al-Dar; it included Shi'b Abi Talib toward al-Ma'lat. As this valley was the closest place to Ka'ba, it was regarded as the best region in Mecca. The valley was owned by 'Abd al-Muttalib and he gave it to his children in the last years of his life; 'Abd Allah, Prophet Muhammad's (s) father was also given a part of that land.[9]
In addition, because Prophet Muhammad (s) was born in that Shi'b, then it was also called as Shi'b al-Mawlid (the birthplace valley).[11] The house of Khadija (s) where she and Prophet Muhammad (s) were living was also located in this valley. Also Lady Fatima (s) was born in that house[12] and 'Abd Allah b. al-'Abbas was born and lived there as well.[13]
Boycott of Banu Hashim
The boycott of Banu Hashim was the most important report on the Shi'b Abi Talib. On Muharram 1, 7 BH/September 30, 615[14] a number of clans of Quraysh declared economic and social boycott against Prophet Muhammad (s), Banu Hashim and Banu 'Abd al-Muttalib except for Abu Lahab and his children[15] and they were forced to live with massive difficulties for three years.[16] Finally in the 10th year after Bi'tha when Meccan polytheists went to see the treaty in Ka'ba, they noticed that it was miraculously eaten by termites except for the phrase "Bismik Allahumma" (In your name O Allah) and the boycott ended.[17]
Notes
- ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 1, p. 449.
- ↑ Ṭurayḥī, Majma' l-baḥrayn, vol. 2, p. 90.
- ↑ Jaʿfarīyān, Āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madina, p. 149.
- ↑ Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān, vol. 3, p. 347.
- ↑ Jaʿfarīyān, Āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madina, p. 149; Qāʾidān, Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madina, p. 114.
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawiyya, vol. 1, p. 352.
- ↑ Jaʿfarīyān, Āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madina, p. 151.
- ↑ Qāʾidān, Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madina, p. 114.
- ↑ Ḥamawī, Muʿjam al-buldān, vol. 3, p. 347.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 439.
- ↑ Qāʾidān, Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madina, p. 114.
- ↑ Qāʾidān, Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madina, p. 114.
- ↑ See: Akhbār al-dawla al-ʿAbbāsīyya, p. 25.
- ↑ Maqrizī, Imtāʿ al-asmāʿ, vol. 1, p. 44.
- ↑ Maqrizī, Imtāʿ al-asmāʿ, vol. 1, p. 44.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 1, p. 163.
- ↑ Shahīdī, Tārīkh-i taḥlīlī-yi Islām, p. 53.
References
- Balādhurī, Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-. Ansāb al-ashrāf. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1407 AH.
- Ḥamawī, Yāqūt b. ʿAbd Allah. Muʿjam al-buldān. Third edition. Beirut: Dār al-Ṣādir, 1995.
- Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-Nabawiyya. Edited by Muṣṭafā l-Saqā & Ibrāhīm al-Aybārī & ʿAbd al-Ḥafīẓ al-Shalabī. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, n.d.
- Ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Al-Bidāya wa l-nihāya. Beirut: Dār al- Fikr, 1407 AH.
- Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukarram .Lisān al-ʿArab. Third edition. Beirut: Dār al-Ṣādir, 1414 AH.
- Ibn Saʿd al-Basrī, Muḥammad b. Manīʿ al-Ḥāshimī. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Qādir ʿAṭāʾ. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1410 AH.
- Jaʿfarīyān, Rasūl. Āthār-i Islāmī-yi Makka wa Madina. Ninth edition. Tehran: Nashr-i Mashʿar, 1387 Sh.
- Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Tehtan: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1365 Sh.
- Maqrizī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī al-. Imtāʿ al-asmāʿ bi-mā li-l-Nabīyy min al-aḥwāl wa l-amwāl wa l-ḥafda wa l-amṭāʿ. Edited by Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Namīsī. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1420 AH.
- Qāʾidān, Aṣghar. Tārīkh wa āthār-i Islāmī-yi Mecca wa Medina. Fourth edition. Tehran: Nashr-i Mashʿar, 1381 Sh.
- Akhbār al-dawla al-ʿAbbāsīyya. Edited by ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dawrī & ʿAbd al-Jabbār al-Muṭallibī. Beirut: Dār al-Ṭalīʿa, 1391 AH.
- Shahīdī, Sayyid Jaʿfar. Tārīkh-i taḥlīlī-yi Islām. Tehran: Markaz-i Nashr-i Dānishgāhī, 1390 Sh.
- Shūshtarī, Muḥammad Taqī al-. Bahj al-ṣabāgha fī sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha. Tehran: Muʾassisa-yi Intishārāt-i Amīr Kabīr, 1376 Sh.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Iʿlām al-warā. Translated by ʿAzīz Allāh ʿAṭārudī. Tehran: Intishārāt al-Islāmīyya, 1390 AH.
- Ṭurayḥī, Fakhr al-Dīn b. Muḥammad al-. Majma' l-baḥrayn. Third edition. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Kitābfurūshī-yi Murtaḍawī, 1375 Sh.