~Shawwal, a few weeks after the deaths of Khadijah RA and Abu Talib (c. 620 CE) · 2 BH
Details differ across the sources
Accounts differ on whether the Prophet ﷺ left Ta'if immediately after the three brothers' rejection or remained about a week preaching to the common people before the mob attack; the more authentic reports support the week-long stay.
A few weeks after the deaths of Khadijah RA and Abu Talib, and after Abu Lahab retracted the protection he had briefly offered, the Prophet ﷺ and Zayd ibn Harithah RA walked on foot to Ta'if, the nearest major city to Makkah, to seek support and a new base for the message. The Prophet ﷺ presented Islam privately to the three chieftains of Thaqif who jointly led the city (Abd Yalil, Mas'ud, and Habib, the sons of Amr) and each mocked him ﷺ in turn. He ﷺ then spent about a week preaching to the common people in Ta'if's marketplace; no one responded except one person who showed interest. When this reached the Thaqif leaders, they grew alarmed and sent a mob to stone the Prophet ﷺ and Zayd out of the city, pelting them until his ﷺ sandals were soaked in blood and Zayd was injured head to toe, finally letting them go at Qarn al-Manazil / Qarn al-Tha'alib outside the city.
Outcome: Rejected and driven out by Ta'if's leadership and a mob; the Prophet ﷺ returned toward Makkah and, roughly ten days later, re-entered under the protection of Mut'im ibn Adi. Ta'if itself embraced Islam peacefully about a decade later, after the Battle of Hunayn.
Aisha RA later asked the Prophet ﷺ whether any day had been harder than the Day of Uhud; he ﷺ said the worst was the Day of Aqaba (the Incident of Ta'if), worse psychologically even though Uhud was worse physically. It illustrates that a believer may feel shock after trauma but must regain composure, and that the Prophet ﷺ did not seek sympathy by dwelling on his own suffering.
The Year of Sorrow to the Night Journey·Chapter 4 of 9Ta'if
See the whole storyOther events recorded in 2 BH. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
Has Allah not found anyone better than you?
One of three mocking replies to the Prophet ﷺ's presentation of Islam.
If Allah has sent you as a prophet, I might as well tear down the curtains of the Ka'bah, in remorse.
One of three mocking replies to the Prophet ﷺ's presentation of Islam.
Very well, if you have rejected my Message, then at least do not tell the Quraysh of my visit.
Said as he ﷺ stood to leave, after the three brothers mocked him.
I cannot speak to you, because if you really are a prophet, then you are too holy for me. And if you are a liar, then you are too beneath my dignity that I respond to you.
One of three mocking replies to the Prophet ﷺ's presentation of Islam.
Was there any day more difficult for you than the Day of Uhud?
Yes. Indeed, your people have hurt me a lot. And the worst I got was on the Day of Aqaba. On that day, I presented myself to Abd Yalil, Mas'ud, and Habib the sons of Amr, and they didn't respond the way I wanted them to. So I found myself in grief and sadness. And I didn't notice where I was until I reached Qarn al-Tha'alib.
وَقَالُوا لَوْلَا نُزِّلَ هَٰذَا الْقُرْآنُ عَلَىٰ رَجُلٍ مِّنَ الْقَرْيَتَيْنِ عَظِيمٍ
“And they said, "Why was this Quran not sent down upon a great man from [one of] the two major cities (Makkah or Ta'if)?"”
Cited as background on why Ta'if, alongside Makkah, was known as one of the "two great cities."