Islam of the people of Taif
Abstract
The city of Taif is located in the Hijaz region of the Arabian Peninsula, on Jabal Ghazwan from the Sarat Mountains, seventy-five miles southeast of Mecca. It is high from the sea level about six thousand feet.Taif enjoys a moderate climate and fresh water was available to help agriculture flourish. Therefore, some sources described Taif as: a small, civilized city, its water is fresh, and its humor is moderate, and its fruits are many, and its losses are continuous ... ).It has been indicated that the location of the city of Taif on the trade caravan route between Yemen and the Levant has given it a commercial importance that makes it close to the city of Makkah in this regard, but the availability of agricultural assistance factors in Taif encouraged a large part of its people to engage in agriculture. Hence, the people of Taif dominated work in agriculture rather than trade.The aforementioned geographical conditions have helped attract people to live in Taif since ancient times, and the last Arab tribes that settled in Taif before the advent of Islam were the Thaqif tribe, which is one of the Adnanian Arab tribes that are related to the lineage of the Quraysh tribe and other northern Arab tribes.It seems from the popularity of the name Taif among the Arabs before Islam and the era of the message that this name appeared long ago. Perhaps the reason for its name by this name was that there was in this city an idol called Al-Lat, and Thaqafa and other polytheistic tribes used to venerate the House of Al-Lat and roam around it, so the name Taif was given to Medina because the people were circumambulating it around the Lat, expressing the sanctity and sanctity of the city. Therefore, the people of Taif were keen to affirm the sanctity and sanctity of their city, as the Quraysh used to do with regard to the city of Makkah.Given the proximity of the distance between the city of Taif and the city of Makkah, and the latters need for Al Taif agricultural products, strong economic relations arose between the two cities, as well as social, political, cultural and religious relations. Therefore, the two cities appeared in the lifetime of the Islamic message, as if they represented one front, especially in the field of fanaticism, creed, polytheism and resistance to the Islamic call.Thus, the people of Taif rushed to fight the Muslims after the conquest of Mecca in the year 8 AH in the Battle of Hunayn in the hope of stopping the spread of Islam in their homes. However, the outcome of the battle came to their disadvantage. Thaqif's steadfastness in the face of the siege prevented this from being achieved ... Therefore, the Messenger (PBUH) preferred to lift the military siege on the city of Taif and began exerting political and economic pressure on it in order to compel it to change its obstinate stance towards Islam.