The Keeper of the Keys 47its economy. After all, if religion and trade were inseparable in Mecca,
no one could so brazenly deny the former and still expect to partici-
pate in the latter.
As intended, the boycott was devastating to the Companions,
most of whom, including Muhammad, were still making their living
from trade. In fact, the boycott was so destructive that it was protested
by prominent members of the Quraysh who had rejected Muhammad
but who could no longer bear to “eat food, drink drink, and wear
clothes, while the Banu Hashim were perishing.” After some months,
the boycott was lifted, and the Banu Hashim were once again allowed
to join in the commerce of the city. But just as he seemed to be regain-
ing ground in Mecca, tragedy struck Muhammad in the form of the
nearly simultaneous deaths of his uncle and protector, Abu Talib, and
his wife and confidante, Khadija.
The significance of losing Abu Talib is obvious: Muhammad
could no longer rely on his uncle’s unwavering protection to keep him
from harm. The new Shaykh of Banu Hashim, Abu Lahab, loathed
Muhammad personally and made a formal withdrawal of his protec-
tion. The results were immediate. Muhammad was openly abused on
the streets of Mecca. He could no longer preach or pray in public.
When he tried to do so, one person poured dirt over his head, and
another threw a sheep’s uterus at him.
The loss of Abu Talib may have placed Muhammad in a precari-
ous situation, but the death of Khadija left him absolutely devastated.
She was, after all, not only his wife, but also his support and comfort,
the person who had lifted him out of his poverty, who had quite liter-
ally saved his life. In a polygamous society, in which both men and
women were allowed an unlimited number of spouses, Muhammad’s
monogamous relationship with a woman fifteen years his elder was
remarkable, to say the least. Maxime Rodinson’s assertion that it is
unlikely Muhammad would have felt any physical passion for Khadija,
given her age, is both unsubstantiated and offensive. The loss of Abu
Talib’s protection was certainly demoralizing, if not detrimental to
Muhammad’s physical security. But returning home after one of his
painfully violent revelatory experiences, or after suffering another
indignity from the Quraysh—his head covered in dirt, his tunic
defiled with blood—and not having Khadija there to wrap him in her