Saying
Ya Rasulullah, how are we going to enter Makkah now that you have been expelled from it?
O Zayd, Allah will make a way out for us. And Allah will help His Prophet and make His Message supreme.
~About ten days after being driven out of Ta'if (c. 620 CE) · 2 BH
Having left Makkah for Ta'if, the Prophet ﷺ found himself unable to freely re-enter the city. Zayd ibn Harithah RA asked him how they would do so; the Prophet ﷺ replied that Allah would make a way. He ﷺ then sent requests for protection (jiwar) to several Quraysh notables. Al-Akhnas ibn Shurayq declined, citing his tribe's weak position; Suhayl ibn Amr declined on behalf of Banu Amir ibn Lu'ayy, saying they had never given protection to anyone of Banu Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy. Mut'im ibn Adi, chief of Banu Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf, agreed, and sent his four armed sons to escort the Prophet ﷺ back into Makkah. Mut'im then received him ﷺ at the Ka'bah and, after the Prophet ﷺ performed tawaf under armed guard, stood and publicly announced before the Quraysh, including Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, that he had given Muhammad ﷺ his protection, as a civic grant, not as a follower of the message.
The Prophet ﷺ remained under Mut'im's protection for about a year and a half to two years, until the Hijrah. In recognition of this protection and of Mut'im's earlier role in breaking the boycott of Banu Hashim, the Prophet ﷺ later honored him highly after the Battle of Badr, and cited the episode as an example that Allah aids this religion even through a man who does not believe in it.
The Year of Sorrow to the Night Journey·Chapter 7 of 9Back into Makkah
See the whole storyOther events recorded in 2 BH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Ya Rasulullah, how are we going to enter Makkah now that you have been expelled from it?
O Zayd, Allah will make a way out for us. And Allah will help His Prophet and make His Message supreme.
We are in a weak position. We cannot give you protection.
In reply to the Prophet ﷺ's request for protection after Ta'if.
Will you give me your protection?
Message sent to Mut'im ibn Adi.
Go arm yourselves and bring Muhammad ﷺ back. Protect him and bring him straight back to me.
Said to his four sons.
O people of Makkah! I have given my protection to Muhammad ﷺ.
Announced publicly at the Ka'bah after receiving the Prophet ﷺ and accompanying him in tawaf under armed guard.
Are you his follower, or are you just giving protection?
No, I am not his follower, I am just giving protection.
In that case, we shall accept it.
I am from Banu Amir ibn Lu'ayy. And Banu Amir ibn Lu'ayy have never given protection for somebody from Banu Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy, and I don't want to start a precedent.
In reply to the Prophet ﷺ's request for protection after Ta'if.
Indeed, Allah helps this religion, even through a disbelieving man.
A general teaching illustrated by Mut'im ibn Adi's example.