The Siege of Taif

From Hunayn to Taif

Following the decisive Muslim victory at Hunayn in Shawwal of 8 AH (630 CE), the remnants of the Hawazin and Thaqif coalition retreated to the fortified city of Taif. Built on a plateau in the mountains southeast of Makkah, Taif was one of the wealthiest cities in Arabia — famous for its vineyards, orchards, and mild climate. Its inhabitants, the Thaqif tribe, were proud, sophisticated, and well-prepared for siege warfare.

The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) followed the retreating enemy and encamped outside Taif's walls. The city was ringed by formidable fortifications, and the Thaqif had stocked it with provisions sufficient for a year or more. They rained arrows on the besieging Muslims from the walls, killing several companions. The Muslims attempted to use catapults (manjaniq) and a testudo-style covered vehicle (dabbabah) to breach the walls, but the defenders repelled these with fire.

The Course of the Siege

The siege lasted approximately twenty days — sources vary between fifteen and forty. During this period the Prophet (PBUH) and his companions experienced both tactical frustration and spiritual tests. Several companions were killed by the defenders' arrows. The date palms and vineyards surrounding Taif — which the besieging army had cut down in some accounts — represented enormous economic value, and the destruction weighed on both sides.

The Prophet (PBUH) offered freedom to any slave who escaped from Taif and joined the Muslim camp. A number of enslaved people took this opportunity, and the Prophet (PBUH) honored his promise, freeing them. This policy served both a military purpose — weakening the city's interior — and embodied the Islamic principle of liberation from bondage.

The Decision to Withdraw

After concerted effort failed to breach Taif's walls, the Prophet (PBUH) consulted with Nawfal ibn Mu'awiyah, an experienced military leader who had fought at Badr. Nawfal advised withdrawal: "The fox is in his hole; if you leave him, he will not hurt you, and if you reach for him, he will bite you." The Prophet (PBUH) accepted this counsel.

When the order to withdraw was given, some companions were surprised. Umar ibn al-Khattab (RA) reportedly expressed concern that the enemy would mock the Muslims for leaving without victory. The Prophet (PBUH) replied that tomorrow he would say something to divert people from thinking about this — and in the morning he called for the distribution of the Hunayn spoils, which occupied everyone's attention.

The Conversion of Thaqif

The withdrawal from Taif was not a defeat but a deferral. Less than a year later, in Ramadan of 9 AH, a delegation from the Thaqif traveled to Madinah and announced their tribe's acceptance of Islam. The Taif had submitted not through siege but through the irresistible spread of Islam across Arabia — as neighboring tribes converted, the Thaqif found themselves isolated and recognized that the future lay with the Prophet (PBUH).

The delegation requested that the Prophet (PBUH) exempt them from several Islamic obligations: the five daily prayers, zakat, and jihad. He refused to exempt them from prayer, saying that a religion without prayer had no good in it. The negotiations continued, and the Thaqif eventually accepted Islam on its proper terms. Their idol — al-Lat, one of the three great goddesses of pre-Islamic Arabia — was destroyed on the Prophet's (PBUH) orders by a party that included Abu Sufyan (RA).

Lessons from the Siege

The Siege of Taif illustrates several principles of prophetic conduct in warfare. The Prophet (PBUH) pursued military objectives but did not exhaust his army against an impregnable position when withdrawal was the wiser choice. He honored his promises to those who came to him — including the escaped slaves whose freedom he personally guaranteed. And he demonstrated that the ultimate goal was not military conquest but the invitation to Islam, which could be achieved through patience and time as effectively as through force of arms.

The city that resisted the Prophet's (PBUH) army for twenty days would bow before Allah within a year — not at swordpoint, but through the overwhelming spread of the deen that no fortress could ultimately contain.