After Battle of Hunayn, the main force continued to advance towards Taif. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) decided to besiege it. The Battle of Hunayn was essentially the second phase of the Siege of Taif. For the first time in this war, a sling was thrown. It was a type of sling that could basically crack the walls of a fort, but a woman, man, or child could die from the impact of this sling. The Muslims began this slinging ritual at night. Women and children were killed in a Muslim ambush, but the attack was unintentional because killing someone intentionally is against Islamic teachings. The Prophet (peace be upon him) besieged the fort of Taif very tightly, so the inhabitants did not give up. The inhabitants of Taif climbed the fort and started shooting arrows, and many Muslim soldiers were injured by the arrows.
The Muslim army was forced to retreat and move to a safe place due to heavy arrow attacks. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) told Hubab ibn Majis to find a safe place where the Muslims could stay safe. Then he found a high place where the Muslim armies could be seen in silence. There is now a mosque at this location called the Ibn Abbas Mosque. Then the companions made a wooden frame and tried to enter the fort of Taif by entering it. Then the people of Tayeb used another tactic, which was to throw hot iron sheets at the Muslim army, causing the Muslim army to come out of the wooden frame.
Then the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) adopted another strategy and ordered the burning of the vineyards of Taif. This strategy worked to some extent because they depended on the cultivation of these grapes for their livelihood. Then they began to tell the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on the pretext of kinship to refrain from burning trees. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) granted their request.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) adopted another tactic to break the morale of the people of Ta’if. He announced that all slaves who came out of the fort would be set free, and upon hearing this announcement, 23 slaves came out of the fort.
The siege of Taif lasted for 15 days, but during these 15 days there were no signs of surrender among them. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) announced the lifting of the siege, but many people disliked this announcement and said to Sosailam, “O Messenger of Allah, we will return without fighting.” Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to them, “It is okay to continue fighting.” So they went out to fight again the next day. But they were unable to win the battle. The next day, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) announced the lifting of the siege again. The companions remained silent and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) returned to Medina smiling.
We will discuss the distribution of war Battle of Hunayn. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) distributed the spoils of war between the Quraysh and the Arabs tribute.
