After the loss of Abu Talib and Khadijah ﵂ in the Year of Sorrow, the Prophet ﷺ now stood alone in Makkah. Without tribal protection and without his most trusted confidant, he had to search for support elsewhere. His gaze turned to At-Ta’if, the prosperous sister city of Makkah.
At-Ta’if was of great strategic importance to the Quraysh. Its inhabitants, known as Banu Thaqif, had formed alliances with Quraysh and Banu Daws, and many wealthy Makkans had properties in At-Ta’if, where they also spent the hot summer months.
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It was therefore a strategic reason for the Prophet ﷺ to travel to At-Ta’if, about 60 kilometres (as the crow flies) east-south-east of Makkah, to ask for nusrah (support). If they were to provide support, this would be a direct economic and political threat to Quraysh. Moreover, if Banu Thaqif were to support the Prophet ﷺ, Quraysh would become isolated in the Arabian Peninsula. The choice to approach Banu Thaqif in particular supports the idea that the Prophet ﷺ intended to establish Islam at a political level. That is, to found a state so that the message of Islam could best be carried forth. When the Prophet ﷺ approached At-Ta’if, he went directly to the leadership of Banu Thaqif.
The Leadership of Banu Thaqif
At-Ta’if was governed by two clans: Banu Malik and Al-Ahlaf. They had complete political and economic control, but not enough strength to protect At-Ta’if from invasions by outsiders. With its gardens and vineyards, At-Ta’if attracted the attention of other tribes that had the capacity to conquer it. At-Ta’if therefore feared the surrounding tribes that were powerful enough to defeat them. These were: Hawazin, Quraysh and Banu 'Amir.
To protect themselves, the leaders of At-Ta’if formed alliances and peace treaties. Banu Malik had strong ties with Hawazin and Al-Ahlaf had an alliance with Quraysh. The Prophet ﷺ was of course aware of these fragile alliances. At-Ta’if had formed these alliances out of fear, not loyalty. The fact that the leadership of At-Ta’if was divided between two groups on the basis of an agreement between them was another weakness. If the Prophet ﷺ succeeded in convincing one of the two groups, that would upset the balance of power in the entire region; especially if he were to succeed in convincing Al-Ahlaf, who were allied with Quraysh.
For these reasons, the Prophet ﷺ went directly to Al-Ahlaf, also known as Banu Umair. At the time, the leadership consisted of 3 brothers: 'Abd Yalil ibn 'Amr ibn 'Umair, Mas’ud ibn 'Amr bin 'Umair and Habib ibn 'Amr ibn 'Umair. The brothers were very cautious and fearful (of Quraysh and the other tribes) and therefore rejected the invitation of the Prophet ﷺ. They mocked the Prophet ﷺ and treated him in a very disrespectful manner. The Prophet ﷺ had no more hope in Thaqif, stood up and left. He ﷺ said to them:
If you do what you do (not believe in Islam), then keep my matter secret.
The Prophet ﷺ did not want people in Makkah to find out that he had taken the da’wah to At-Ta’if. It is reported that he ﷺ departed from Makkah on foot and that Zayd ﵁ travelled with him. Since Zayd ﵁ was the adopted son of the Prophet ﷺ, no one would find it unusual to see him together with the Prophet ﷺ. Furthermore, the Prophet ﷺ could trust Zayd ﵁ to keep his intention to go to At-Ta’if secret. Finally, Zayd ﵁ was extremely helpful as he would shield the Prophet ﷺ with his body against the stones that were thrown at him ﷺ.
The Supplication of At-Ta’if
The leaders of Thaqif had not kept the da’wah of the Prophet ﷺ secret and they sent a group of people after the Prophet ﷺ who cursed him and pelted him with stones. They continued until the blood of the Prophet ﷺ ran down his legs and they were driven out of the city. Zayd ﵁ tried to shield the Prophet ﷺ with his own body and sustained multiple injuries to his head in the process. For approximately ten days he ﷺ had spent in At-Ta’if, ten days of hope that ended in stones and mockery.
The Prophet ﷺ and Zayd ﵁ tried to take shelter in a nearby orchard belonging to the brothers 'Utbah and Shaibah ibn Rabi’ah, two nobles from Makkah who happened to be present there.
Exhausted and bleeding, the Prophet ﷺ sank down under a grapevine. According to a weak report, at this moment, in complete brokenness, the Prophet ﷺ turned to his Lord with a supplication that laid bare the depth of his pain:
O Allah! To You alone I complain of my weakness, my inadequacy and my insignificance before the people. You are the most Merciful of the Merciful. You are the Lord of the helpless and the weak. O my Lord! Into whose hands would You leave me: in the hands of an unsympathetic, distant relative who frowns angrily at me, or the enemy who has been given control over my affairs? If Your wrath will not descend upon me, then there is nothing for me to worry about. Your forgiveness is sufficient for me. I seek protection in the Light of Your Countenance, which illuminates the darkness and sets right the affairs in both this life and the Hereafter. May it never be that I incur Your wrath. And there is no power nor provision except Yours.
Ibn Ishaq gives this supplication without a chain, and al-Albani ﵀ graded it weak (Silsilat al-Ahadith ad-Da’ifa 2933).
The Story of 'Addas
From the shade of their orchard, 'Utbah and Shaibah ibn Rabi’ah had been watching the scene. Although they were enemies of the da’wah, the sight, it is reported, stirred their sense of kinship, for the Prophet ﷺ was one of their own tribe, Quraysh. They called their Christian servant, 'Addas, and sent him with a plate of grapes. When 'Addas came to the Prophet ﷺ and set down the plate, the Prophet ﷺ picked up a grape and said: ﷽. 'Addas looked up in surprise.
'Addas: “By Allah, the people of this land do not speak as you just spoke.”
The Prophet ﷺ: “From which land do you come, and what is your religion?”
'Addas: “I am a Christian and I come from Nineveh.”
The Prophet ﷺ: “From the city of the righteous man, Yunus ibn Mattah ﵇?”
'Addas: “How do you know about Yunus ﵇?”
The Prophet ﷺ: “He is my brother. He was a Prophet, just like me.”
It is reported that 'Addas honoured the Prophet ﷺ and kissed his head, his hands and his feet. The brothers saw this and one brother said to the other:
“As for your servant, he (i.e. the Prophet ﷺ) has corrupted him against you.”
When 'Addas returned to his masters they said to him:
Brothers: “Woe! O 'Addas! Why did you kiss that man’s head, hands and feet?”
'Addas: “O my masters, there is nothing on earth better than he. He has informed me about a matter that no one except a Prophet would know.”
Brothers: “Woe, O 'Addas! Do not let him turn you away from your religion, for indeed your religion is better than his religion.”
Some reports say that 'Addas became Muslim, but this has not come down with a sound chain.
Return to Makkah
Years later, 'Aisha ﵂ asked the Prophet ﷺ whether any day had been harder for him than the day of Uhud. He ﷺ answered that the hardest he had met from her people was the day he offered himself to Ibn 'Abd Yalil and was turned down, and he described what happened at Qarn ath-Tha’alib, present-day as-Sayl al-Kabir (Sahih al-Bukhari 3231, Sahih Muslim 1795):
I went away grieving, walking without knowing where, and I did not come to myself until I was at Qarn ath-Tha’alib. I raised my head and saw a cloud that was providing me shade. I looked and I saw Jibril ﵇ in the cloud, who called out to me.
Jibril ﵇: “Indeed Allah has heard what your people said to you and how they responded (when you invited them to Islam). Indeed, Allah has sent to you the Angel of the Mountains so that you may command him to do with them whatever you wish.”
The Angel of the Mountains: “O Muhammad. It is as you wish. If you want me to cause Al-Akhshabain (two mountains in Makkah) to crash down upon them, then that is what I will do.”
The Prophet ﷺ: “Rather, I hope that Allah will bring forth from their offspring those who will worship Allah alone without ascribing partners to Him.”
The Prophet ﷺ, however, could not simply return to Makkah, because:
- News of the da’wah activities in At-Ta’if had by now reached the leaders of Quraysh. This would make the already hostile situation in which the Prophet ﷺ found himself even more hostile.
- The Quraysh saw the events in At-Ta’if as a great loss for the Prophet ﷺ and the Muslims, which could result in them becoming even more brazen in their persecution.
For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ went to Hira and sought protection from Al-Akhnas ibn Shariq. He answered:
I am a sworn ally, and an ally cannot grant protection.
The Prophet ﷺ then tried Suhail ibn 'Amr. He answered:
Indeed, the sons of 'Amir cannot grant protection against the sons of Ka’b.
Mut’im ibn 'Adee, the leader of Banu Nawfal ibn 'Abd Manaf, agreed. He was not willing to let a man, however unpopular, go without protection. That night he armed his sons and nephews and gave them the order:
Put on your armour and station yourselves at the corners of the House.
The following morning, Mut’im stood with his armed family at the Ka’bah when the Prophet ﷺ and Zayd ﵁ walked in. Mut’im called out in a loud voice so that all of Makkah could hear:
O people of Quraysh, indeed I have granted my protection to Muhammad, so let none of you harm him.
The Prophet ﷺ performed two rak’ah at the Ka’bah and returned to his house. Mut’im and his sons, swords in hand, escorted him and stood around his house until he was safely inside. The Prophet ﷺ would never forget Mut’im’s generosity. Years later, after the Battle of Badr, he ﷺ said:
If Mut’im ibn 'Adee were still alive and had asked me to release these prisoners, I would have released them for his sake. (Sahih al-Bukhari 3139)