19. GHAZWAH AT-TA’IF
‘Urwah and Moosa Ibn ‘Uqbah related from Az-Zuhri that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, fought the Battle of Hunain and besieged Ta’if in Shawwal of the 8th year. ‘Urwah narrated: Afterward, Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, marched to Ta’if and left the captives at Al-Ji‘ranah and their number filled the entrepot of Makkah. He dismounted at the hill by the fort of Ta’if and fought them for about 10 days while they also fought back from behind their fortress. None of them ventured out except Abu Bakrah Ibn Masrooh, Ziyad’s half-brother from his mother. Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, manumitted him. There were a considerable number of injured. They cut some of their vineyards to infuriate them. The Thaqeef protested: “Do not destroy the property for it is either for us or for you.”
‘Urwah added: Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, commanded each man to cut down five date-palm trees. Then he dispatched someone to announce: “Whoever comes out to us is free.” A group of them broke through among whom was Abu Bakrah Ibn Masrooh, Ziyad Ibn Abi Sufyan’s half- brother from his mother. So he freed them and put each of them under the charge of one Muslim, both for sustenance and Care.
Muhammad Ibn Ishaq related: Two of the wives of Allah Messenger were with him; one was Umm Salamah. A tent was erected for each of them and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would take turns praying in them. He besieged (the fort) and fought against them (the inhabitants) a grim battle. They pelted one another with hail of arrows. Ibn Hisham added: They also shot at them with a ballista. Someone whom I trust narrated to me from the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, that the first person to shoot with a ballista in Islam was against the people of Ta’if.
Ibn Ishaq mentioned that a group of the Companions ducked under a wooden tank and then crept toward the wall of the people of Ta’if intent on burning it. Unfortunately, the people of Thaqeef poured molten hot iron down on them and they scampered out from under the tank and again they were pelted with a flurry of arrows; a number of them were killed.
At that point, in order to force the enemy to surrender, Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, ordered that their crops be cut. The Muslims swarmed in on their vineyards in order to cut their vines. Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb and Al-Mugheerah Ibn Shu‘bah stepped forward and requested Thaqeef to agree to a cease-fire so that he could talk to them. They granted the cease- fire and requested that some women from Quraish and Banu Kinanah be sent to them (as pawns). Both of them feared that they could be taken hostage in the event of the downfall of the fortress so they refused the request. Abul-Aswad Ibn Mas‘ood said to both of them: “Should I not direct you to what is better than what has brought you both? The property of Abul-Aswad is located where you two are aware of and Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has camped at a valley called ‘Al-Aqeeq’ which is between the property of Banu Al-Aswad and that of Ta’if. The people of Ta’if do not have a property to which they are more attached or which is more valuable to them than that. If Muhammad were to cut that, then they will never prosper again forever. So speak with him and let him take it for himself or leave it (for them) for the sake of Allah and out of the ties of kinship.” They claimed that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, left it for them.
Al-Waqidi also related a similar narration on the authority of his Shaikh, saying in his narration that it was Salman Al-Farisi who suggested the idea of the ballista and he himself operated it. It is also said that he was presented with it and two wooden tanks. And Allah (SWT) knows best.
Umm Salamah narrated: “Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, came to visit me while an eunuch was with me and he heard him say to ‘Abdullah Ibn Abu Umayyah: If Allah grants you victory in Ta’if the next day, I will show you the daughter of Ghailan for she has four folds (upon her body) on the front side of her stomach and eight folds on the back. Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: ‘Such (people) should not visit you’.”
On the authority of ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Amr who narrated: When Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, besieged Ta’if and could not conquer it, he said: “We will return, if Allah wills.” That distressed the Companions (of the Prophet) and they said: “Shall we go away without conquering it (i.e. the fort of Ta’if) ?” The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, then said (to them): “Fight tomorrow.” They fought and (many of them) were wounded, whereupon the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “We will return tomorrow, if Allah wills.” That delighted them, whereupon the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, smiled. The sub-narrator, Sufyan said once: “ (The Prophet) smiled.”
Following is a list of the Muslims who were martyred in the campaign of Ta’if as related by Ibn Ishaq. Among the Quraish were: Sa’eed Ibn Sa’eed Ibn Al‘As Ibn Umayyah, Urfutah Ibn Janab, an ally of Banu Umayyah from Al-Asad Ibn Al-Ghawth, ‘Abdullah Ibn Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, who was shot with an arrow and later died in Madinah from the injury after the death of Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. It also included ‘Abdullah Ibn Abu Umayyah Ibn Al-Mugheerah Al- Makhzoomi who was among the casualties of the hails of arrows. Among them were also ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Amir Ibn Rabee‘ah, an ally of Banu ‘Adiyy; As-Sa’ib Ibn Al-Harith Ibn Qais Ibn ‘Adiyy As-Sahmi and his brother ‘Abdullah; Julaihah Ibn ‘Abdullah from Banu Sa’d Ibn Laith.
The martyrs from the Ansar and the Khazraj were: Thabit Ibn Al- Jidh’ AsSulami, Al-Harith Ibn Sahl Ibn Abi Sa‘sa‘ah Al-Mazini and Al-Mundhir Ibn ‘Abdullah from Banu Sa‘idah. Only Ruqaim Ibn Thabit Ibn Tha‘labah Ibn Zaid Ibn Lawdhan Ibn Muawiyah was martyred from the Aws. Thus, the aggregate number of those who were martyred on that day were twelve: seven from Quraish, four from Ansar and a man from Banu Laith. May Allah be pleased with them all.
I say: Divine wisdom dictates that perhaps the victory was delayed that year so as to prevent a large number of casualties from them. It has been mentioned earlier that Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had gone to Ta’if to invite them to Allah and to grant him protection so that he could deliver the Message of his Lord, the Exalted. This incident occurred after the death of his uncle, Abu Talib. The people of Ta’if rejected and bullied him. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, returned with distress. He had not gone beyond Qarn Tha‘alib when he saw Jibraeel in the clouds and the two angels in charge of the mountain called out to him saying: “o Muhammad, your Lord conveys His greetings of peace, and He has heard what your people have said to you and their response to your call. Do you desire that the two mountains be overturned on them?” Allah’s Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: “No, grant them respite instead, perhaps Allah will bring from their loins those who would worship Him alone without associating any partner with Him whatsoever.” Thus, in harmony with the statement of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, “No, grant them respite instead,” Allah prevented the conquest of their fortress so that they may not be killed (cutting short their progeny whom the Prophet hoped would practice Islam). Thus Allah delayed their conquest so that they may declare their Islam in Ramadan of the following year, as shall be related shortly, if Allah willing.
By: Ibn Katheer
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