The Journey to al-Ṭāʾif

Now that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had lost the protection of his uncle Abū Ṭālib, and his efforts of daʿwah in Makkah were being blocked, he tried to search for other alternatives. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) made the journey to al-Ṭāʾif, accompanied by Zayd ibn Ḥārithah (may Allah be pleased with him). They went to al-Ṭāʾif, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went to the leaders there — that was his method, to go to the leaders of a community, entering a house from its gate. He went to meet the leaders of al-Ṭāʾif, the tribe of Thaqīf, and these were three brothers; he presented the message to them and asked them for support and help. Now, these three men responded in a miserable way. The first of them said: "I'm going to tear apart the clothing of the Kaʿbah, if Allah has sent you as a prophet" — the clothing of the Kaʿbah was sacred to them, so he was saying he would tear it apart, if Allah had sent him as a prophet. The second of them said: "Did God not find anyone better than you to send? Is there not anybody out there better than you?" And the third one said: "I can't speak to you. I just can't speak to you — because if you are a messenger from Allah, as you claim, then you are such an important person that I don't think I am qualified to speak to you; and if Allah has not sent you as a messenger and you are lying, then it is not appropriate for me to speak to a liar."

When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) heard their response, he said: "Well, if you don't want to accept my message, at least keep this conversation between us secret — keep it private." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not want the news to reach Makkah that he had been turned down by the people of Quraysh, because it would only add to the persecution of the Muslims by Quraysh. But they were such evil, rude men: what they did was go to the fools among them, and their slaves and servants, and ask them to go and revile Muhammad (peace be upon him) and scream at him. This crowd surrounded Muhammad (peace be upon him), pelting Muhammad (peace be upon him) and Zayd ibn Ḥārithah with rocks, screaming at them, yelling, chasing them away. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and Zayd ibn Ḥārithah had to run out of al-Ṭāʾif; Zayd ibn Ḥārithah was protecting the body of Muhammad (peace be upon him), shielding him from the rocks that the people of Thaqīf were throwing. They took refuge, took shelter, in a farm that belonged to two men from Quraysh, the sons of Rabīʿah. They went into this farm, and finally got away from the fools of Thaqīf, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was exhausted: his feet were bleeding, and he was hurt because of the way he had been treated by the people of Thaqīf.

SubḥānAllāh, Allah (swt) sent down help on Muhammad (peace be upon him): he was very hungry at the time. The two owners of the farm, who belonged to Makkah, told their servant ʿAddās, who was a Christian: "Go and take some grapes and give them to Muhammad (peace be upon him)." They felt sympathy for Muhammad (peace be upon him), even though they were two of his staunchest enemies; but now, in a foreign land, in different territory, they felt sympathy towards Muhammad (peace be upon him) and decided they should stand up for their tribesman, so at least let them give him these grapes. So they sent ʿAddās, and told him: "Take this plate of grapes and give it to Muhammad (peace be upon him)." ʿAddās carried the grapes, and went to Muhammad (peace be upon him), and presented it to him. Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, Bismillāh, in the name of Allah, and he said it loudly. ʿAddās was surprised, and he asked Muhammad (peace be upon him): "These words aren't said by people in this land" — the Arabs, the people of this area, do not speak these words. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), from these words of ʿAddās, was able to gather that he was a foreigner, and that he might be following a different religion. So he asked ʿAddās: "Where are you from, and what is your religion?" — for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) used to ask anyone he met, "Where are you from, and what is your religion?" ʿAddās answered: "I am a Christian man from Nineveh, in Iraq." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "So you are from the village of the pious man Yūnus ibn Mattā" — Jonah, son of Amittai, a prophet of Allah. ʿAddās said: "And how do you know of Jonah, son of Amittai?" Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "He is my brother — he was a prophet, and I am a prophet." When ʿAddās heard that, he immediately bent down and started kissing the feet of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and then he kissed his hands and his head.

Now the two owners of the farm from Quraysh, when they saw that, looked at one another and said: "Look, he has already corrupted our slave." Muhammad (peace be upon him) would carry out daʿwah wherever he was, and these two men who had felt sympathy towards Muhammad (peace be upon him) now regretted it — "We sent in our slave to take some fruit to him, and he has corrupted our slave." When ʿAddās came back, they asked him: "What's wrong with you? How is it that you were kissing his feet, hands and head?" He said: "On all the earth, there is no man finer than him. He told me something that no one other than a prophet could know." They told him: "Don't let this man make you leave your religion, for your religion is better than his." Now, what did the two sons of Rabīʿah know about Christianity? But it is the disbelief in their hearts that makes people say whatever would deceive others.