Thaqif
Nation of the Quran
Thaqifثقيف
Ta'if
The tribe of Ta'if, keepers of the shrine of the goddess al-Lat. In 619 the Prophet ﷺ went to them seeking support; their leaders refused and set boys to stone him until his feet bled. In 630 they fought him at Hunayn and then held out in a siege of Ta'if.
What does the Quran say?
And they said, "Why was this Qur'an not sent down upon a great man from [one of] the two cities?"
Quran 43:31
How did they end?
They were not destroyed. In 631 their delegation came to Madinah and accepted Islam, and the idol of al-Lat was pulled down.
What do historians say?
Ta'if is a living mountain city where little excavation has been done. The goddess al-Lat is known from Nabataean and Palmyrene inscriptions across Arabia and Syria.
The lesson
The town that stoned the Prophet ﷺ became Muslim, because he prayed for its people instead of against them.
Who else is linked?
Everyone and everything in the timeline
People named in the Quran and the hadith, the Prophet's ﷺ family and Companions, scholars, rulers, the nations of the Quran, the world's empires and the places where it all happened. Where scholars differ, each entry says so.
Nations of the Quran
- People of Nuh
- Ad
- Thamud
- People of Lut
- Madyan
- Companions of the Thicket
- Companions of the Rass
- People of Tubba
- Saba (Sheba)
- Bani Israil
- People of Firaun
- People of Yunus
- The city of the Sleepers
- Companions of the Ditch
- Companions of the Elephant
- People of the Sabbath
- Yajuj and Majuj
- Quraysh
- Thaqif
- Hawazin
- Aws and Khazraj (the Ansar)
- The Romans (Rum)
- The Persians
- People of Ibrahim
- Jurhum
- People of Ilyas
- People of the Town (Ya-Sin)
- The Sabians
- The Magians (Majus)