We continue from last time.

We discussed how the prophet PBUH's uncle and wife p

assed away. With this, Abu Lahab first offered protection to the prophet PBUH bu
t then retracted it after asking "where will my father be?". As a result after t
his, life in Mecca became almost impossible and this is when the prophet PBUH be
gan thinking of leaving Mecca. Notice though for the last 10 years he didn't thi
nk of leaving. Only when politically he had no protection and it became almost i
mpossible to remain there, he though of moving. This shows the general ruling is
that we should remain in the society we live in as the prophet PBUH did. Nuh AS
too - he lived with his people for 950 years. He didn't just throw in the towel
and give up. This is a huge lesson for us: even if life gets difficult, we have
a responsiblity still in our own communities. Thus when we look at the seerah w
e see a person should stay in his society for as long as its feasible. Indeed th
e prophet PBUH only did Hijra when life became impossible to remain living there
.
So the first thing the prophet PBUH tried was to go to Ta'if. Why? For many reas
ons:
1. The closest city to Mecca (that is large) was Ta'if. Ta'if and Mecca were ver
y close cities. There was constant rivalry and peace treaties between them. Inde
ed Waleed ibn Mugira called it one of the 'two major cities'.
2. Because Ta'if was so close, the people of Mecca knew the people of MEcca fami
ly by family. There was a very strong relationship between them. In fact so much
so one of the chiefton of Ta'if is married to a distant aunt of the prophet PBU
H. So there's even a blood relationship.
And so the prophet PBUH decided to try giving dawah in Ta'if - this happened in
the month of Shawwal, basically the same month Khadija dies, and only a few week
s after Abu Talib dies. Thus Abu Lahab only gave the prophet PBUH protection for
20 days. As soon as it was withdrawn the prophet PBUH decided he had to move as
he was basically a stranger in Mecca. So the prophet PBUH tried a secret attemp
t, along with Zaid ibn Harithah, his 'adopted son', ventured on foot to Ta'if. T
hey didn't take a horse or a donkey so as not to arise any suspicion. In our tim
es it takes an hour and a half by car. To walk up would take a day/two days; tak
ing a horse would be significantly easier but still the prophet PBUH chose not t
o. This also shows the tactics and plannning of the prophet PBUH. Yes he had tru
st in Allah, but this dosen't mean he acted foolishly. Indeed putting your trust
in Allah dosen't mean you be rash. But rather you plan perfectly; everything pe
rfectly and then in your heart you realise its up to Allah. And so him and Zaid
leave town by foot arousing no suspicion. Indeed if they knew what he was doing
they might harm him then and there. Also, this signified him cutting off any and
all ties with the Quraysh. For him to take any move is a sign that the prophet
PBUH's has accepted the status he is in and that he's cut off all ties with Qura
ysh.
We have a beautiful narration reported by Aisha RA in Bhukari. She doesn't know
about the Meccan seerah. So she asked him "was there any day worse than the batt
le of uhud?". And the prophet PBUH immediately says "Yes. Your people have hurt
and irritated me alot. And the worst irritation I got was on the day of akaba (m
eaning Ta'if). On that day I presented myself (to the leader of Ta'if) and they
didn't respond the way I wanted them to". Note the prophet PBUH leaves it generi
c. He didn't go into details as he didn't want Aisha's pity. And the prophet PBU
H said "and they caused me grief and sadness". We learn that even though Uhud wa
s worse physically, Ta'if was worse psychologically. Indeed the prophet PBUH sai
d Ta'if was worse than Uhud. Also, the prophet PBUH said "I didn't know where I
was until I reached Kurna'Thaaib". Thus this indicates after the stoning, he was
in a state of shock. Therefore when something traumatic happens its natural to
act in this manner, but its important we get over it. Also the prophet PBUH didn
't say any other details about this. Moreover were it not for the fact Aisha RA

asked him he would not even have mentioned Ta'if. This shows the strength of min
d of the prophet PBUH. A muslim is not someone who whines for sympathy. He dosen
't victimise himself. The muslim is strong and has honour for ourself. The proph
et PBUH suffered worse than us yet he didn't grovel for sympathy in front of oth
ers.
Ibn Ishaaq provides us many more details. Its a well known and authenticated sto
ry. The prophet PBUH walked to Ta'if and presented himself to the leaders of Ta'
if, who were three brothers. Their father was the cheifton of Ta'if - but these
three brothers made a pact that they would govern Ta'if together with no fightin
g. Taif was the tribe of Takeef. Mecca was the tribe of Quraysh. And Takeef and
Quraysh are big rivals. So the prophet PBUH sets up a meeting with these three b
rothers and presents the message of Islam to them and asks them to convert. But
all three rejected in the utmost sarcastic manner. One said "If Allah has sent y
ou, I might as well tear down the curtains of the ka'bah". The second said "Has
Allah not found anyone better than you?" The third said "I cannot speak to you,
because if you really are a prophet, you're too holy. And if you're a liar then
you are too beneath my dignity that I respond to you". So all three of them mock
ed him and the prophet PBUH said "ok I will leave but please don't tell the Qura
ysh I came". And they agreed and respected this and Quraysh did not hear about t
his visit from them at least. Once again this shows the prophet PBUH had a plan
right to the very end. You do what you can and then you put your trust in Allah.
Now according to the more authentic reports, he didn't leave Ta'if right then a
nd there but rather he stayed for a week trying to give dawah to the individuals
. Ibn Ishaaq reported this as did later converts to Islam as they reported they
remembered the prophet PBUH preaching in the marketplace in Ta'if. And that no-o
ne responded to him. He was rejected by almost everyone. In one such instance th
ough, when someone appeared to convert, this is what sparked the big incident we
know about it. This is again a sign of wisdom that you approach those with stat
us and power first; but don't ignore the masses either. Note we don't have the f
ull story in precise detail as only Zaid was with the prophet PBUH, and he died
later on. So what we know is that there was a potential of some people convertin
g, and that was when the leaders of Ta'if panicked and they send a mob against t
he prophet PBUH. And they told this mob to stone and kick the prophet PBUH out o
f the city. And Zaid tried his best to protect him; he himself was injured from
head to toe. And this is when the prophet PBUH bled so much that his sandles wer
e full of blood. And this is what the prophet PBUH referred to when he said he w
as in a state of shock. This is where the prophet PBUH saw some shelter and sat
under a tree that was next to a garden wall. But he didn't know this garden belo
nged to Utbah and Shaybah bin Rabia; a distant cousin of the prophet PBUH's fath
er. Note many quraysh had gardens in Ta'if as it was a beautiful city, with lush
gardens and the perfect climate for growing greenery. To this day Ta'if is a de
sert resort. And there's plenty of water; thus there are lots of fruits and vege
tations unheard of in Mecca or Yathrib. And so this is where the prophet PBUH sa
t down and said the famous dua. The scholars say even though this dua is not in
Bhukari or Muslim and that it has some missing links we don't need an isnaad sin
ce this dua can only come from the heart of a prophet. It's so perfect and movin
g it dosen't need an isnaad. And this dua was:
"Oh Allah to you I complain of my weakness of strength, and my helplessness and
lolyness before men. You are the most merciful and the Lord of those who are hum
ble and weak, and you are my Lord. To whom do you leave me with? To somebody who
is a stranger that will treat me harshly? Or to a close relative who You have g
iven ultimate power over me? As long as you are not angry with me, I don't care.
Except for the fact that Your protection from tribulation, Your ease and comfor
t is more easy for me. Oh Allah I seek refuge in Your Face that is the source of
the light that gets rid of the darkness because of which this world is guided.
And I seek refuge in Your Face that your anger comes down. It's your right to cr
iticise until you are content. And there is no power or change except with you a
nd through you".

And this dua is really one of the gems of the surah. That the prophet PBUH said
"to you I complain". Thus its legitimate to complain to Allah. Its apart of our
Islam. Indeed Ya'qub complained to Allah in the Qur'an. Complaints to Allah is o
f two types. The first type is to reject the decree and qadr of Allah. "Why are
you doing this Allah? Why? I don't deserve this". This type of complaining is no
t just a sin but it's kufr. And Iblees is the prime example of this who said to
Allah "Its your fault. You let me go astray". The oppisite of this is the essenc
e of tawheed. That you complain to Allah seeking refuging in Allah from Allah tu
rning to Allah for His sympathy. A complaining to Allah to get His mercy. The be
st example is the prophet PBUH. The prophet PBUH himself complained to Allah. Th
e arabic is 'shakwa' - where the prophet PBUH "Ya Allah look at me and help me".
Notice there's an element of "Oh Allah I am worried - are you angry with me?" A
fter all the stoning and pain, the prophet PBUH's main fear is "Have I done some
thing wrong? Are you angry with me?" So what's causing him distress is not the p
ain of the body, but the possibility he has done something to cause Allah's ange
r. The prophet PBUH basically is saying "As long as this isn't your punsihment I
am happy". He is basically saying "I don't care what state you leave me in - as
long as you're not angry with me". Note also the prophet PBUH said "If you give
me something better its easier for me". So its allowed to ask Allah to protect
us from trails and give us something easier. We don't challenge Allah's decree b
ut you DO ask for something easy. Also notice the prophet PBUH concludes with "A
nd there is no power or change except with you and through you". And this is amo
ng the treasures of Jannah. And its a perfect conclusion that "Only You can chan
ge my condition - only You have the power". Also notice that dua is the weapon o
f the believer. In this state he is literally alone with no one other than Zaid.
He dosen't have a city to go back to i.e. Mecca, and the sister city, Ta'if, co
mpletely rejected him. He has no money or food or shelter. And so he makes dua.
As long as we have dua, we will find a way out of our problems. Dua grants what
nothing else grants. The only thing that changed qadr is dua as the prophet PBUH
said.
So the prophet PBUH says this dua under a tree, next to a wall. And little does
he know this wall belongs to Utbah and Shaybah. And they had seen the prophet PB
UH being stoned out of Ta'if so they felt pity for the prophet PBUH. And they al
so felt a sense of pride for Quraysh - that "how can they do this to one of our
own?". And so they decided to gift them some of their fruits. And they sent thei
r servant Adaas with a bowl of grapes to him. And notice these fruits are of the
most soothing, comforting and lush fruits. And Allah gifts it to him right then
and there. So he accepted the gift and said "In the name of Allah". Adaas was s
hocked and said "what is this phrase?" And so the prophet PBUH said "this is som
ething my Lord has taught me, and where are you from oh Adaas?". Adaas said "I a
m from Niniva". So the prophet PBUH smiled and said "Younus ibn Matah" i.e. Jona
h son of Matthew. Adaas was shocked and said "how do you know Younus ibn Matah?
Nobody has heard of him at all?" At the prophet PBUH said "he is my brother; and
I as his. We are both prophets of Allah". And this is a miracle that the prophe
t PBUH knows this. And Adaas is the only christian for hundreds of miles. Here h
e meets a man who knows what Niniva is, and who Younus is. And so Adaas instantl
y began kissing the feet of the prophet PBUH. And he believed in the prophet PBU
H right then and there. The two masters are staring at shock, so when he comes b
ack they tell him "Woe to you, why are you kissing his hands and feet?" Adaas sa
id "oh my masters there is no one on Earth better than him since he is a prophet
as he told me things only a prophet can know". Later on they tried to force Ada
as to fight against the prophet PBUH in the Battle of Badr but he refused to obe
y his own masters which was unheard of. And after this Bhukari narrates: "when I
reached Kharnal Minaazi, I looked up and there was a cloud that had given me sh
elter, and in this cloud there was Jibraeel AS. And he said to me "Oh Muhammad Y
our Lord has heard what your people have said to you, and their rejection of you
and He has sent me with the angel of the Mountain to put at your disposal". The
n the prophet PBUH heard another voice who said "I am the angel of the Mountain.

Say what you want; I am at your disposal. If you want I can squeeze this city i
n between the two mountains." So the prophet PBUH said "No - rather I hope Allah
will extract from their children those who will eventually worship him without
associating partners".
We can learn so many lessons from the story of Ta'if:
1. The harsh trials our prophet PBUH was inflicted with. All so Allah could rais
e the ranks of the prophet PBUH and that Allah is telling us that the comfort of
this world is NOT what we are living for.
2. The dua of the prophet PBUH - his main worry that Ta'if might have been a pun
ishment. That he did something wrong. As long as he didn't do something wrong he
is satisfied. And he would be more satisfied if Allah gave him ease. His main c
oncern was the pleasure of Allah and not the suffering of his body. This is the
perfection of tawheed.
3. The effects of being firm to tawheed. When Adaas comes the prophet PBUH didn'
t hide his identity. Before eating the prophet PBUH said "In the name of Allah".
And this simple act led to the conversion of Adaas. Thus obeying Islam and not
being embarrased will give you good in this world and the hereafter. Being proud
and practicing is the hounour of a muslim.
Look aswell how Allah responded to what happened. First by sending the prophet P
BUH someone from Iraq. There is symobolism here: that "know you are on the truth
, and even a person from the further corner of the land will recognize this trut
h". That even if the near have rejected you now, the far shall accept you soon.
See aswell how immediately Allah responded. Physically by sending fruits and gra
pes, sheltering him with the clouds. And then sending down Jibraeel AS down to a
sk him "what do you want; here is the angel of the mountain etc". And again see
also the perfection of the character of the prophet PBUH. The miracle isn't that
Allah sent down an angel to destroy the nation. The miracle is that even after
all the trouble he went to; those responses he got is still ringing in his hears
, the blood is still pouring down, yet the prophet PBUH said "NO - don't do this
, perhaps not then but their offspring will convert to Islam". This is truly a m
iracle that after all this physical and mental stress the prophet PBUH still has
the mercy in his heart to save the people of Ta'if. If this is not the 'mercy o
f mankind' then what is? What kind of man is this that can do this? Walahai if s
omeone says one mockery or joke we remember it for years. Imagine the prophet PB
UH suffering in such a severe manner but still he was merciful and forgiving of
the people of Ta'if. And indeed our prophet PBUH himself conquered to Ta'if bare
ly 10 years later. And to this day, Ta'if is one of the most visited tourist res
orts by muslim. It's a stunning city. If the prophet PBUH had willed, there woul
d be no Ta'if. The very place where the prophet PBUH was stoned, that place has
been into a masjid where Allah is worshipped. This is the dua of a prophet being
accepted. Now the whole Ta'if is full of masjids and muslims where Allah is wor
shipped day and night. And this incident also shows one shouldn't react emotiona
lly. We should react like the prophet PBUH which is calmly, collected and thinki
ng long term.
Also in this there is a role model in how to react to a trail or tribulation, as
shown by the prophet PBUH. The incident of Ta'if was a huge spiritual success i
n this light. Also, it resulted in the conversion of Adaas - as the prophet PBUH
said the conversion of one person is better than 100 camels. Further on the way
back to Mecca, the prophet PBUH camped in the valley of Nakla and as was his ha
bit he prayed tahajjud. No matter how tired he was; the scars had not yet healed
, the wounds were freshed, he didn't even have a bath. There is nobody there, it
's a cold desert and yet he never forgets tahajjud. Even when he was bleeding, i
njured. If that was the case with his tahajjud, look at how we can barely make o
ut 5x a day fardh salah. And Allah told us what happened next. What happened is

a miracle the eyes of men cannot witness - Allah says "when we caused a group of
jinn to come pass by you". So Allah is saying these jinn didn't come from anywh
ere. Allah caused them to pass the prophet PBUH as he is standing praying and re
citing Qur'an. "When they were in your presence, they all said 'quiet, listen'".
If the world of men rejected him, the world of jinn said stop and listen. And t
hey listened to the whole of the tahajjud of the prophet PBUH, and "they were tr
ansformed" not only into muslims, but mini-messengers. They became scholars and
teachers. They said to their people "Oh our people, we've heard of a book that h
as come after the book of Musa AS and its calling to rightesnous. Oh our people
respond to the call of truth and believe in him". We see from this these were je
wish jinns. Therefore there is a huge symbolism. That "even if the people of Mec
ca have rejected you, the people of jinn will accept you". And this was the firs
t batch of jinn converts to Islam. And these jinn people converted to Islam - an
d they came back to Mecca and learnt Islam from him. We know this from Ibn Masud
: "did anyone witness the laylatul jinn?" He said "No nobody. One night we were
with the prophet PBUH and then he dissapeared. And we looked for him everywhere.
And we could not find him. And we thought he had been kidnapped or assissinated
. And we spent the worst night of our lives until the morning broke and we saw h
im coming from the direction of Gari Hira. So we said "Ya Rasulallah where were
you?" The prophet PBUH said "one of the callers of the jinn came to me telling m
e there is a congregation waiting for me. So I went out to meet and recited Qura
n". He walked with us and showed us their campsite - the fires they had lit and
the after effects of that." This is the version is Sahih Muslim. Another version
is that the prophet PBUH said "Whoever wants to come with me to be with the mat
ter of the jinn can come". So in this report Ibn Masud went with him. "And we st
arted walking until we came to a valley outside Mecca and he said 'sit here and
do not move until I come back'. So the prophet PBUH continued walking and recite
d Quran and black clouds appeared around him. Until he dissapeared, until I coul
dn't see him but I could hear him. And there was a gathering of clouds until the
y disspeared with the prophet PBUH. When he came back he gave bones and cow dung
to another group of jinn". We learn here muslim jinns eat the bones of meat tha
t have been purified with 'bismillah'. The shaytaan eat bones over which 'bismil
lah' has not been said. So the muslim jinns basically said to the prophet PBUH "
now we've accepted Islam, where will our food come from?" So the prophet PBUH ga
ve them this counter that from now on "any muslim that eats anything; that food
will become food for you. And that the dung of our animals will be the food for
your animals". Again this shows that even jinn have animals. Another symbolism i
s Mecca and Ta'if might chain up people and prevent the dawah; but no one can pr
event the spread of the truth to the jinn, and beyond.
So as explained, by walking out of Mecca and dissapearing for 10 days, the proph
et PBUH's fate is sealed. He is officially cut off from Mecca. And he put his tr
ust in Allah but Ta'if also turned out to be nothing. So now he is basically in
limbo. Zaid asked him "how can we enter Mecca now that you have been expelled fr
om it?" The prophet PBUH said "Allah will make a way out for us. And Allah will
help his prophet and make the truth supreme". SubhanAllah. There is no MEcca or
Ta'if - he is literally camped in the desert but he has ultimate tawaqul. So the
prophet PBUH sent allies to two/three allies in Quraysh that he though could he
lp. The first was Al Aklaas but he sent a message back saying "we are not in a p
osition to give you permission". Indeed the Banu Hashim and Abu Lahab rejected h
im, the Banu Makhzum definately rejected him, but there were at least 15 other s
ub tribes of the Quraysh. So the prophet PBUH first sent for help to one subtrib
e (Al Aklaas); the response came back and said "we cannot do this". The prophet
PBUH then sent the request to another subtribe, Suhayl ibn Amr. Note both Suhayl
and Al Aklaas both eventually accept Islam so these are wise choices the prophe
t PBUH is choosing. They both gave flimsy excuses - they could have given him pr
otection but they didn't. But note their replies were 'polite' rejections. Indee
d it was more embarrasing; that they know they should help him but they didn't.
Then the prophet PBUH sent a request to Mut'im ibn Adi. He is the cheif of the B
anu Nawfal and he is the only one who died a pagan in this list of three. Recall

Mut'im was the main one who broke the boycott. He is the one who would send an
entire camel full of food, drinks water etc. all equal to like 50,000 in our time
. So the prophet PBUH asked him "will you give me your protection?" And so Mut'i
m tells his sons "go arm yourselfs and bring Muhammad back and protect him and b
ring him back to me". And Mut'im went to the ka'bah to recieve him. And he said
to the prophet PBUH "do tawaaf I am waiting for you". So the prophet PBUH did ta
waaf and while doing it he is armed with full guards. And he stands up and says
"Oh people of Mecca I am giving protection to him now". Abu Suffyan said "are yo
u a follower or are you just giving protection?" Mut'im said "No I am not a foll
ower". Then Abu Sufyan said "ok thats fine". Notice again had Mut'im converted t
here would be no protection so there is great wisdom in why some didn't convert.
And so after this the prophet PBUH remained under Mut'im's protection for 1.5/2
more years. But he knows its a very difficuly and delicate situation. And the pr
ophet PBUH kept on looking for another way, until Allah finally allowed him to d
o Hijra. And shortly after Mut'im died. But this is why the prophet PBUH praised
Mut'im so highly. That he gave him a huge badge of honour saying "If Mut'im gav
e me one word, I would have freed all these 70 'fliths'". And thus we see great
wisdom in this: that putting religion aside there alot of non muslims who do goo
d for this world. And yes we draw a line - the prophet PBUH didn't pray Mut'im's
janazah or pray for him. But still the prophet PBUH gave him immense honour rig
ht up to the day of judgement. And indeed Allah helps Islam through people that
are evil. Mut'im might have been evil in terms of pagan worshipping, but he was
a good person. Therefore we need to form relations with the Mut'im's of our time
s. When we find them, we praise them and form alliegances. Many of these might b
e athiests or christians. Not a problem at all. We don't praise their religion,
thats where the line is drawn.
One final point: the prophet PBUH is all alone outside of Mecca. He already had
2 rejections so he could have tried another city; immigrated to Abbysinia where
Najashi would definately have accepted him; but he still wanted to live in Mecca
, the land of persectuion. Why? Because despite the pain or suffering, there's n
o other place he calls home. And he only leaves when it becomes a matter of life
or death. Thus there is nothing haraam for us to wanting to remain here. We are
living in luxury. There are clerics who say "you should move to a muslim countr
y". But no - this is not right. Our home is our land, our people etc. Its where
we feel the most comfortable. We can't be anywhere else. There's nothing wrong;
its not unislamic to have a sense of loyalty with your own people.