The journey to Ta'if
:
After Abu Talib's death, the Messenger of Allah suffered more than ever before. The Quraysh had been restrained during the lifetime of Abu Talib but now they stepped up their
victimization campaign. One even accosted him and showered dust on his head.
When the insults from the Quraysh became unbearable and they refused to have anything to do with Islam, the Messenger of Allah went to Ta'if to ask help of the Ta'if people and to call them to Islam. He hoped they would be sympathetic to his call.
On arriving in Ta'if, he went to the leaders and nobles of Ta'if, talked with them and called them to Allah. They, however, were rude to him and ridiculed him. They incited the town's riff-raff to shout insults at him and stone him. He retired, distressed, to the shade of a palm-tree where he sat down. Nowhere had he encountered worse treatment than that which he received at the hands of the idol-worshippers in Ta'if.
The townspeople formed a line on either side of his path. When he passed they stoned him until he was bleeding. His feet were streaming with blood. He was so dejected that he complained to Allah of his helplessness and pitiable state. He sought refuge with Allah, pleading:
O Allah, I complain to you of my weakness, lack of resources and humiliation before men. You are the Most Merciful, You are the Lord of the oppressed and You are my Lord. To whom will You entrust me? To someone far away who will frown on me or to an enemy to whom You have given power over me? If You are not angry with me, I do not care, but Your favour is better for me. I seek refuge with the light of Your face which illuminates the darkness, and by which the affairs of this world and the Next are put in order, from having Your anger descend on me or Your wrath fall upon me. I repent to You, seeking Your forgiveness and Your favour until You are well-pleased. There is no power nor strength except by Allah.
Allah sent the angel of the mountains to ask if he wanted him to bring together the two mountains between which Ta'if lay. The Messenger of Allah replied, 'No, for I hope that Allah will bring forth from them those who will worship Allah alone and not associate anything with Him.'
When Utbah ibn Rabi'ah and Shaybah ibn Rabi'ah saw his distress, they were moved with compassion. They called a Christian slave of theirs named Addas and told him to take a bunch of grapes to him. As Addas carried out his orders he noticed the kindness or the Messenger or Allah. He was so impressed that he became a Muslim.
The Messenger of Allah returned from Ta'if to Makkah where his people were even more opposed to him than they had been previously.