وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ
“And We have not sent you, [O Muḥammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.”
[Qur’an, Surah Al-Anbiya’ 21, Ayah 107]
If it had not been for our Prophet’s ﷺ heart that chose to show kindness on the disbelievers of Taif, though they stoned, cursed, scorned, spew and showed the worst kind of hatred, so much that his shoes were soaked in his blood, the people of Taif would have been destroyed. When Allah sent angels to make the mountains of Taif collapse and crush the people of the tribe of Saqeef (the inhabitants of the city of Taif in those times), it was he ﷺ who told angel Jibril AS to not harm them, saying:
“No! Rather, I pray that Allah blesses their children to be Muslims and worship Allah Subawanata’ala alone. Even if they have rejected Islam, I pray that Allah blesses their progeny to be Muslim.” [Bukhari]
I remembered this du’a of our Prophet ﷺ during my vacation to Taif. I happened to explore a volcanic crater at a very far-off deserted place, and there I found an old man sitting alone amidst the mountains and listening to the recitation of the Qur’an. When the time for salah came, he gave a heartwarming adhan, and offered his prayers, SubhanAllah!
Would this sincere worshipper or all the pilgrims coming from other parts of Saudi, for Umrah and Hajj, who stop at Taif as it is a Meqat point, would any of it exist if not for our Prophet’s ﷺ indisputable generosity?
Bruised and rejected from the inhabitants of Taif, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ made the this heart reviving du’a:
“O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources, and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favour is of a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descends upon me. I desire Your pleasure and satisfaction until You are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You.”
