Episode 25: The Prophet Goes To Ta’if
The Prophet Travels to Ta’if:
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ went on foot to Ta’if and when he reached the outskirts of the city, he came across three brothers. Abd, Mas’ud and Habib, who were the sons of a man named Amr ibn Ya-layl.
The Prophet ﷺ told them he was from the tribe of Quraysh, informing them about Tawhid and the falsehood of worshipping idols.
Rejection and Abuse in Ta’if:
The brothers became angry when they heard this and one of them said: I will never believe in you until the coverings of the Kabah are ripped apart. Another brother said: I will never speak to you.
The third brother said: if you are truly a Prophet, I will not speak to you as it is dangerous, and even if you are not a Prophet, I will not speak to you because you are a false prophet.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ went into the city of Ta’if to try to give dawah to the residents.
However, the three brothers told the residents of the city that a man had come from Makkah that caused them many problems and now he was trying to cause problems in Ta’if so do not listen to him.
The people of Ta’if did not want to hear what the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had to say and they all started pelting him with stones, to such an extent that his legs and feet were bleeding.
The blood poured so much that the Prophet’s shoes would stick to his feet.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ then decided to leave and go back to Makkah and as he was leaving, he stopped in a garden to rest.
This garden was owned by two of the leaders of the Quraysh, Utbah and Shaybah.
When Utbah and Shaybah saw the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in his bloody state, they had some sympathy for him.
Encounter with Ad-Das:
Utbah and Shaybah had a Christian slave called Ad-Das and they told him to give the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ a plate of grapes to eat.
The Prophet then took a grape and said: Bismillah.
Ad-Das was surprised by this because he knew that the people from this city never used to say this.
The Prophet asked Ad-Das where he was from, and he replied: Nineveh.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: you are from Nineveh, that is the town of Prophet Yunus (AS).
Ad-Das then asked him: How do you know about Yunus? The Prophet ﷺ replied: that is my brother, he was a Prophet and I am a Prophet.
Ad-Das was so amazed by this, he got up and kissed the head, hands and the feet of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
When Ad-Das went back to Shaybah and Utbah, the leaders of the Quraysh were angry because he showed so much respect to the Prophet but Ad-Das told them: Wallahi, there is nobody better on this Earth than that man.
The Angel of the Mountains:
After this, Allah SWT sent Angel Jibril with an angel that controlled the mountains.
Angel Jibril told the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ: this is the angel of the mountains and he will do what you want him to do.
The angel of the mountains said: if you wish, I will crush Ta’if and destroy them all because of what they did to you.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ replied: No, I will be patient with them. Perhaps, even if they do not accept their call, from their descendants there will be people who worship Allah alone.
The Prophet ﷺ made a Dua regarding what happened to him in Ta’if, and he said: Ya Allah, to you I complain about my weakness in front of the people. You are the most Merciful of those who show mercy. You are the Lord of the weak ones and you are my Lord. Who have you sent me to Ya Allah? To a person who is estranged or to an enemy that you have made stronger than me. But as long as You are not angry with me, I am okay. As long as You are not angry with me, it is alright with me. But still Your security and safety is something that I hope for, and I seek Your protection from Your anger.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ asked Allah SWT not to be angry and displeased with him, promising to continue to do what pleases Allah until He is pleased with him, and he affirmed that there is no power except from Allah alone.
Return to Makkah:
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ returned to Makkah but when he reached the outskirts, he realised that the Quraysh prevented him from returning to the city.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ had to request protection from others to enter city that he was born in, and he asked some of the leaders of the Quraysh for protection.
Firstly, he asked Al-Akhnas ibn Shurayq for his protection but he refused. Then, the Prophet asked Suhayl ibn Amr, but he also refused.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ asked Mut’im ibn Adi, and he agreed to give protection to him.
Mut’im knew that the treatment of the Quraysh to the Prophet ﷺ was wrong, so he ordered his six sons to get their weapons ready and they went out of Makkah to escort the Prophet back into the city.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ then went to the Kabah to do tawaf and Mut’im ibn Adi and his six sons followed him with their weapons.
The Quraysh asked Mut’im if he had accepted Islam and he replied: No, I have not accepted his religion but I have given him my protection.