Islam Rediscovered
22. The Role of Non-Muslims in Islamic Development
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several phases in the history of Islam which
illustrate this point.
The Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him,
spent his first thirteen years of prophethood in
Makkah. At that time in Makkah, there existed a
tribal system. There was no organized state in the
modern sense. It was necessary for everyone to
have protection under one of the tribal chiefs. So,
according to this prevalent custom, the Prophet
availed himself of the protection of two of the local
chieftains—Abu Talib and Mut’im bin Adi
alternatively, both of whom happened to be non-
Muslims.
After spending thirteen years in Makkah, the
Prophet migrated to Madinah. It was a very risky
journey because his opponents had announced a
reward of a hundred camels to anyone who would
bring them the Prophet’s head. In spite of this, the
Prophet chose a member of the rival group to be his
guide for the journey, because this guide was
known to be an honest person in his profession. He
is known in Islamic history as Abdullah bin
