Quraysh

The Quraysh (Arabic: قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. By 600 CE, the tribe were affluent merchants who dominated commerce between the Indian Ocean and East Africa on one side and the Mediterranean on the other.^[1] They organized caravans that traveled to Gaza and Damascus in the summer and to Yemen in the winter. On those routes, they were also engaged in mining and other enterprises. They were known for their hilm, or "absence of hotheadedness," because, despite their rivalries, they put commercial interests and unity first.^[2]

When Muhammad spread Islam in Mecca, they were unconcerned and offered no serious opposition until he began to attack their polytheistic beliefs.^[3][4][5] As relations with the Quraysh progressively deteriorated, Muhammad took his followers to Yathrib (Medina) after successful negotiations with Banu Aws and Khazraj to mediate their tribal conflict. This migration event is known as the hijrah.^[6][7] In Medina, Muhammad saw a new obstacle appear, as Quraysh banished Muslims from Mecca, consequently banning them from performing the Pilgrimage obligation, and the impossibility of coming to a peaceful conclusion with Quraysh, he saw the only option was to confront them via armed struggle, first by raiding Meccan caravans.^[8] This consequently led to armed conflicts between them, some of which included the battles of Badr, Uhud, and the Trench.^[9] Sometime after the latter battle and after Muhammad had successfully eliminated the three major Jewish tribes from Medina, he reportedly stopped attacking Quraysh caravans, at which time he focused more on the north, raiding Banu Lihyam and Banu Mustaliq, to name a few.^[10]

Over time, as Muhammad's position in Medina became more established, the attitude of the people in his hometown toward him became more approving. The Treaty of al-Hudaybiya was then concluded, which provided for a ten-year truce with the Meccans, and Muhammad was able to perform Umrah the following year in the city. While in Mecca for the Umrah, Muhammad managed to reconcile with his family, the Hashim clan, which was sealed through marriage with Maymuna bint al-Harith. A number of Meccan notables, such as Khalid ibn al-Walid and Amr ibn al-As, eventually recognized him as the man of the future in Arabia and converted to Islam.^[11]

At the end of 629, a belligerent party—against the advice of Abu Sufyan, who was the Quraysh chief at the time—supported one of their client clans against the Khuza'a, who were allies of Muhammad. This could automatically be viewed by both parties as a violation of the aforementioned agreement. As Muhammad brought his army to besiege Mecca, Abu Sufyan, along with a few others, including Muhammad's friend Khuza'i Budayl ibn Warqa, went to meet him to ask for amnesty for all Quraysh who did not put up armed resistance. Muhammad thus managed to enter Mecca unopposed, and almost all of its inhabitants converted to Islam.^[12] Afterwards, leadership of the Muslim community traditionally passed to a member of the Quraysh, as was the case with the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid Caliphates, and purportedly the Fatimids.