Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 95
95 Stea dfast ness Having met with disappointment and frustration in every direction, the Holy Prophet, peace be on him, made up his mind to proceed to Taif and invite its people to Islam. Taif is a well - known city, distant about forty miles from Mecca to the southeast. It w as the home of Banu Thaqeef. It was a rival city to Mecca and many influential and wealthy persons lived in it. Meccans also acknowledged its importance. This is affirmed by the Holy Quran, where it is said: ‘They ask: Why was not this Quran sent down to s ome great man of the two cities, meaning Mecca or Taif?’ (43:32) In his journey to Taif, the Holy Prophet was accompanied by Zaid bin Harith. He called on the leading men of the city, one after the other, but all of them rejected him and made fun of him. He stayed in Taif for about ten days. In the end, he called on the most prominent chief of the city, Abd Yaleel, and invited him to embrace Islam. He also rejected him and put him off with the cynical observation, ‘If you are true, I dare not converse with you; if you are false, it is no use talking with you. ’ He advised him to leave the city, as no one was ready to pay attention to him. Thereafter, he incited the rabble of the city to chase him out of the town. They started pelting him and Zaid with stones and