The Incident of Ta'if

After the Year of Sorrow and the loss of his protection in Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ sought a new base in the nearby city of Ta’if — where he was rejected and stoned. He called it, psychologically, the hardest day of his life, worse than Uhud.

Background (EP 020)

Ta’if — Mecca’s “twin city,” home of Thaqif, ~1–2 days’ walk away — was the natural first option once Abu Lahab withdrew protection. The Prophet ﷺ walked there on foot with Zayd ibn Harithah to avoid attention — modelling that tawakkul (trust in Allah) means planning wisely, not acting recklessly. Lesson: one stays in one’s own society as long as it is feasible.

What happened

The three chieftains of Thaqif (the sons of Amr — Abd Yalil, Mas’ud, Habib) rejected him with mockery. He preached to the townsfolk for about a week; when one man showed interest, the leaders set a mob to stone him and Zayd out of the city — the Prophet’s ﷺ sandals filled with blood; Zayd was injured shielding him.

After the rejection

• The du’a of Ta’if — sitting by a garden wall, he made the celebrated supplication: “O Allah, to You I complain of my weakness… so long as You are not angry with me, I do not care…” — a model of shakwa ila Allah (complaint to Allah, the essence of tawhid, versus complaint against Allah, which is kufr).
• Addas — the garden’s Christian servant (from Nineveh) brought grapes; hearing the Prophet ﷺ say “Bismillah” and speak of Yunus (as), he accepted Islam and kissed his feet.
• The Angel of the Mountains (Malak al-Jibal) — Jibril offered to crush the town between the two mountains; the Prophet ﷺ refused: “Rather, I hope Allah will bring from their loins those who worship Him alone” — the true miracle of his mercy (21:107).
• The Night of the Jinn (Laylat al-Jinn) — returning via the Valley of Nakhla, a band of (Jewish) jinn heard his Qur’an recitation and believed, becoming warners to their people (Quran 46:29–31).

Return to Mecca

Unable to re-enter freely, he sought protection: refused by al-Akhnas and Suhayl ibn Amr, then granted by Mut’im ibn Adi, who had his armed sons escort the Prophet ﷺ in — the civic honour for which the Prophet ﷺ so praised Mut’im after Badr.

Cross-references

Muhammad ﷺ · Zayd ibn Harithah (ra) · Mut'im ibn Adi · The Year of Sorrow ('Am al-Huzn) · Abu Lahab (Abd al-Uzza ibn Abd al-Muttalib) · Mecca · Da'wah & Its Five Stages

Sources

• S004 — Yasir Qadhi Seerah EP 020 (Ta’if, the du’a, Addas, the jinn, Mut’im’s protection).