7.2 Journey to Ta’if

Setting Out after a Year of Pain

The journey to Ta’if took place after one of the most painful periods in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, a time known as ‘Ām al-Huzn, the Year of Sorrow. His uncle Abu Talib, who had protected him politically, and his beloved wife Khadijah رضي الله عنها, who had supported him emotionally and financially, had both passed away. The Quraysh in Makkah felt emboldened, and their opposition increased. With protection weakened and the doors in Makkah seeming closed, the Prophet ﷺ began to look for a new place where the message of Islam could be received and where he could find support and safety for the Muslims.

In this context he ﷺ turned his attention to the nearby city of Ta’if. Ta’if lay to the southeast of Makkah in the mountains, with a cooler climate and fertile land. It was inhabited mainly by the tribe of Thaqīf, who were respected among the Arabs. The Prophet ﷺ hoped they might respond more positively than Quraysh, or at least offer him protection and allow him to convey the message of Allah freely.

He did not travel as a political refugee fleeing without a plan, but as a Messenger seeking hearts that would accept guidance. He took with him his adopted son Zayd ibn Hārithah رضي الله عنه. This shows that even in such a difficult moment, he did not give up his mission. Instead, he actively sought new opportunities for da‘wah and protection, trusting in Allah while using the means available to him.

The Invitation to Islam in Ta’if

When the Prophet ﷺ reached Ta’if, he approached the leaders of Thaqīf with dignity and clarity. According to the authentic seerah reports, he first spoke to three brothers who were leading men of the tribe. He presented to them the message of Islam, called them to worship Allah alone, and invited them to support him against his own people who were rejecting him.

He spoke to them as he spoke to others, with the same core message of tawhid and accountability before Allah, and with the same concern for their salvation. Although the detailed wording of his address is not fully recorded with exact chains like Qur’an and hadith, the seerah sources agree that his invitation was honest, gentle, and sincere, reflecting his consistent way of calling people to Allah.

The leaders of Thaqīf, however, responded with arrogance and mockery. Each of them refused in a hurtful way. One reportedly said that if Allah had really sent a Messenger, it could not possibly be this man from Makkah. Another said something to the effect that he would tear up the covering of the Ka‘bah if Allah had truly sent him. A third is reported to have mocked that he would not even speak to the Prophet ﷺ, fearing that argument might expose him if he were truly a Messenger, or humiliate him if he were not.

Their words showed not only rejection but also contempt. Instead of simply saying “no,” they chose to humiliate. The Prophet ﷺ could have been harsh in return, but his consistent character was to remain calm, to leave the matter to Allah, and to avoid personal retaliation. His mission was to convey, not to force belief.

Collective Abuse and Physical Harm

After this harsh verbal rejection, the leaders of Thaqīf did something even worse. They incited the foolish and lowly people of the city, especially the slaves and street boys, to attack the Prophet ﷺ and Zayd. They formed lines on either side of the path as the Prophet ﷺ was leaving, and pelted him with stones and insults.

The stones injured him ﷺ so much that his noble feet bled. Zayd ibn Hārithah رضي الله عنه tried to shield him with his own body, and he was also wounded. The Prophet ﷺ, who had come to them with nothing but good and concern for their salvation, now walked out of the city with blood flowing from his body, chased by mockery and stones.

This was not a normal kind of worldly hardship. It came after years of ridicule in Makkah, the boycott, the loss of his closest supporters, and now the humiliation of being violently driven out of a city he had approached with hope. Some reports mention that he was so exhausted and hurt that he did not realize where he was going until he found himself at a place called Qarn al-Tha‘ālib or in the gardens near Nakhlah, outside Ta’if.

The pain was intense, but he remained patient. He did not curse them, did not pray for their immediate destruction, and did not abandon his trust in Allah. His focus stayed on the mission, not on personal anger.

The Supplication of Deep Sorrow and Reliance

At this moment of physical and emotional exhaustion, when human means had apparently failed him, the Prophet ﷺ turned fully to Allah with one of the most moving supplications reported in the seerah. While the exact wording differs between narrations and its chains are not as rigorously established as the canonical hadith collections, scholars have accepted its overall meaning as consistent with his state.

He is reported to have said words to this effect:

«اللَّهُمَّ إِلَيْكَ أَشْكُو ضَعْفَ قُوَّتِي، وَقِلَّةَ حِيلَتِي، وَهَوَانِي عَلَى النَّاسِ. يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِينَ، أَنْتَ رَبُّ الْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ، وَأَنْتَ رَبِّي. إِلَى مَنْ تَكِلُنِي؟ إِلَى بَعِيدٍ يَتَجَهَّمُنِي، أَمْ إِلَى عَدُوٍّ مَلَّكْتَهُ أَمْرِي؟ إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ بِكَ غَضَبٌ عَلَيَّ فَلَا أُبَالِي، وَلَكِنَّ عَافِيَتَكَ هِيَ أَوْسَعُ لِي. أَعُوذُ بِنُورِ وَجْهِكَ الَّذِي أَشْرَقَتْ لَهُ الظُّلُمَاتُ، وَصَلَحَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْرُ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ، أَنْ يَحِلَّ عَلَيَّ غَضَبُكَ، أَوْ يَنْزِلَ بِي سَخَطُكَ. لَكَ الْعُتْبَى حَتَّى تَرْضَى، وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِكَ.»

“In English”:

“O Allah, to You I complain of my weakness, my lack of means, and my insignificance before people. O Most Merciful of those who show mercy, You are the Lord of the weak, and You are my Lord. To whom do You entrust me? To a distant person who shows me hostility, or to an enemy to whom You have given power over my affair? If You are not angry with me, then I do not care, but Your protection is easier for me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which the darknesses are illuminated and by which the affairs of this world and the Hereafter are set right, from Your anger descending upon me or Your displeasure befalling me. To You is all surrender until You are pleased, and there is no power and no might except with You.”

This supplication reveals the inner state of the Prophet ﷺ at Ta’if. He did not complain about Allah, but to Allah. He did not say, “Why did You do this to me?” Instead he asked only: “Is this a sign of Your anger?” His greatest concern was Allah’s pleasure, not personal comfort.

This turning to Allah at the lowest worldly point prepared him spiritually for the immense gift that would follow shortly afterward, the journey of Isra and Mi‘raj, which will be discussed in a separate chapter.

The Angel of the Mountains and a Choice of Mercy

While the Prophet ﷺ was still in this state, a significant event occurred that shows his unique mercy. Authentic narrations in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim mention that after the people of Ta’if had hurt him, Allah sent the Angel Jibril عليه السلام with another angel responsible for the mountains.

In Sahih al-Bukhari, it is reported that Aishah رضي الله عنها once asked the Prophet ﷺ if he had faced a day more difficult than the day of Uhud. He replied that he had suffered a lot from his people, and the hardest moment was the day at Ta’if when he went to ‘Abd Yalīl ibn ‘Abd Kulāl and they rejected him. He said:

«فَانْطَلَقْتُ وَأَنَا مَهْمُومٌ عَلَى وَجْهِي، فَلَمْ أَسْتَفِقْ إِلَّا وَأَنَا بِقَرْنِ الثَّعَالِبِ، فَرَفَعْتُ رَأْسِي، فَإِذَا أَنَا بِسَحَابَةٍ قَدْ أَظَلَّتْنِي، فَنَظَرْتُ فَإِذَا فِيهَا جِبْرِيلُ…»

He continued that Jibril called him and said:

«إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ سَمِعَ قَوْلَ قَوْمِكَ لَكَ، وَمَا رَدُّوا عَلَيْكَ، وَقَدْ بَعَثَ إِلَيْكَ مَلَكَ الْجِبَالِ، لِتَأْمُرَهُ بِمَا شِئْتَ فِيهِمْ.»

“Indeed, Allah has heard what your people have said to you and how they responded to you. And Allah has sent to you the Angel of the Mountains, so that you may command him with whatever you wish regarding them.”

Then the Angel of the Mountains greeted him and said, as reported in the hadith:

«يَا مُحَمَّدُ، إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ سَمِعَ قَوْلَ قَوْمِكَ لَكَ، وَأَنَا مَلَكُ الْجِبَالِ، وَقَدْ بَعَثَنِي رَبُّكَ إِلَيْكَ، لِتَأْمُرَنِي بِأَمْرِكَ، فَمَا شِئْتَ، إِنْ شِئْتَ أَنْ أُطْبِقَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَخْشَبَيْنِ.»

“O Muhammad, Allah has heard what your people have said to you. I am the Angel of the Mountains, and your Lord has sent me to you so that you may command me with whatever you wish. If you like, I will crush them between the two mountains.”

The two mountains, Al-Akhshabayn, refer to the mountains that surround the valley of Makkah, but the meaning here includes both Quraysh and, by analogy, those who had just harmed him in Ta’if. The offer was clear. With one command, a whole people could be destroyed in punishment.

The Prophet ﷺ, however, refused to destroy them. He responded, as in the same hadith:

«بَلْ أَرْجُو أَنْ يُخْرِجَ اللَّهُ مِنْ أَصْلَابِهِمْ مَنْ يَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ وَحْدَهُ، لَا يُشْرِكُ بِهِ شَيْئًا.»

“Rather, I hope that Allah will bring out from their descendants people who will worship Allah alone and not associate anything with Him.”

This answer shows not only self-restraint, but also hope. He looked beyond the present generation to the future. Even after physical abuse and humiliation, he desired that their children and grandchildren would know Allah and be saved from shirk. He did not ask that they be crushed, but that guidance come from their progeny.

This choice is consistent with what Allah later described in the Quran about his mission:

﴿وَمَآ أَرۡسَلۡنَٰكَ إِلَّا رَحۡمَةٗ لِّلۡعَٰلَمِينَ﴾
“And We have not sent you, except as a mercy to the worlds.”
(Surah al-Anbiya 21:107)

Ta’if is one of the clearest practical examples of that mercy.

A Moment of Unexpected Kindness

Although the city as a whole had rejected and abused him, the Prophet ﷺ did experience a small sign of human kindness on his way out. Some seerah reports mention that he took refuge in a garden belonging to two Qurayshi brothers, ‘Utbah and Shaybah, the sons of Rabi‘ah. Seeing his condition, they felt some pity and sent him a plate of grapes through a Christian servant named ‘Addās, who was from Nineveh.

The Prophet ﷺ accepted the grapes and before eating said:

«بِسْمِ اللَّهِ»

“In the Name of Allah.”

This caught the attention of ‘Addās, since it was not a normal phrase among the Arab idol worshippers. A short conversation took place. When the Prophet ﷺ asked him where he was from, he replied that he was from Nineveh. The Prophet ﷺ said to him that he was from the land of the righteous servant Yunus ibn Matta عليه السلام. ‘Addās was surprised and asked how he knew of Yunus. The Prophet ﷺ informed him that Yunus was a prophet, and he was a prophet too.

Hearing this, ‘Addās is reported to have believed in him and kissed his head, hands, or feet in respect. While this incident does not carry the same hadith strength as the main events in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, it is frequently mentioned in seerah literature as a sign that even in a moment of communal rejection, Allah granted some immediate fruit to the Prophet’s da‘wah, through the belief of this one servant.

This also symbolized that the message of Islam was not restricted to the Arabs of Quraysh or Thaqīf, but would reach people from faraway lands like Nineveh in Iraq, and beyond.

Lessons in Patience, Reliance, and Strategy

The journey to Ta’if is not only a story of pain. It is a turning point in the seerah that also prepared the way for new hope. Several key lessons become clear when we reflect on it.

First, Ta’if shows the depth of the Prophet’s patience. He bore rejection from his own tribe in Makkah, then walked to another city and endured abuse there, yet he neither abandoned his mission nor turned against the people in anger. This level of patience is linked to his absolute trust in Allah. He knew that success does not come from human approval alone, but from Allah’s decision.

Second, his supplication at Ta’if teaches the believer how to respond when all visible means seem blocked. The focus is not on complaining about destiny, but on checking one’s relationship with Allah. The main question is: “Is Allah pleased with me?” If He is, then trials become a path of elevation.

Third, Ta’if teaches that da‘wah requires strategic effort, travel, and seeking new audiences, even after failure in one place. The Prophet ﷺ did not wait passively in Makkah for a miracle to occur. He actively went out, looked for allies, and used the routes and cities available to him. The outward attempt at Ta’if seemed to fail, but it prepared the ground for the later acceptance of Islam in another city, Madinah, which will be discussed in later chapters.

Fourth, the refusal to destroy the people through the Angel of the Mountains shows a standard of mercy that goes beyond normal human reactions. The Prophet ﷺ was not just patient, he was hopeful for the guidance of the children of those who hurt him. This approach became a reason that many tribes, once hostile, later embraced Islam when they saw his mercy at moments of power, such as at the Conquest of Makkah.

Finally, Ta’if represents a low point just before a great rise. Very soon after this, Allah honored His Messenger with the miraculous journey of Isra and Mi‘raj, and then opened the hearts of the people of Yathrib, later known as Madinah, to accept Islam and give him protection. This pattern, that difficulty is often followed by ease, is expressed in the Quran:

﴿فَإِنَّ مَعَ ٱلۡعُسۡرِ يُسۡرًا. إِنَّ مَعَ ٱلۡعُسۡرِ يُسۡرٗا﴾
“For indeed, with hardship there is ease. Indeed, with hardship there is ease.”
(Surah al-Sharh 94:5–6)

The journey to Ta’if encapsulates this truth. It was one of the hardest outward experiences of the Prophet’s life, yet in it we see the clearest reflection of his patience, his intimate turning to Allah, and his mercy toward those who wronged him. It stands as a powerful chapter in the seerah that helps us understand both the depth of his suffering and the height of his character.