Holy Prophet Muhammad and His Teachings — Page 27
27. Prophet, the members of his family and all the. Muslim. People were forbidden to sell articles of food or clothing to them; and intermarriages and every other kind of intercourse with them was prohibited, unless they agreed to hand over the Holy Prophet to the Meccans to be dealt with by the latter as they pleased. Mecca is a lonely town in the desert. There is no other town witnin forty miles of it. It, may, therefore, be imagined what hardships the Muslims and the relatives of the Holy Prophet had to undergo as the result of this boycott. Pickets were posted to prevent any person from supplying them with food or drink, and this state of affairs lasted for three years. The beleagured had to watch for favourable oppertunities at night to bring in provisions, which were very often completely exhausted, and they had to subsist for days on the leaves and barks of trees. . A companion of the Holy Prophet relates that the Muslims looked haggard and emaciated and their health began to suffer. Not for days or for weeks, but for 3 whole years was this greatest benefactor of humanity persecuted in this manner