After victory against Banu Thaqif at Hunayn, Prophet Muhammad marched his army to Ta’if, where Banu Thaqif had retreated to and barricated themselves inside with enough food and water to last them for a year.
The Prophet declared any slaves who joined Islam and left the fortress would be granted freedom, and many took him up on the offer.
As the siege extended, the prophet decided a military victory there wasn’t necessary. Thaif was isolated from all allies and would eventually realize it’s advantageous to join Islam.
Banu Thaqif had been long standing rivals of the Quraysh. They saw the Quraysh’s defeated as an opportunity to attack and seize control of Mecca for themselves.
In response, Prophet Muhammad called all Muslims to battle and led an army of 12,000 against them. Banu Thaqif’s side had over 20,000.
Banu Thaqif setup an ambush in the Valley of Hunain, making most Muslims flee. However, Prophet Muhammad was able to rally the troops and counter the assault.
During the battle, some tribes had begun killing women and children, and were later strongly rebuked for it by Prophet Muhammad, formalizing the prohibition against killing non-combatants and civilian rights.
After the conquest of Mecca, hundreds of thousands of Arabs came to the prophet to convert and pledge their allegiance. This lecture covers why they joined now and reflects the verses of Surah An-Nasr which predicted this.
The Prophet also sent various small expiditions to the surrounding tribes to invite them to Islam.
The last of the pagan tribes decided to attack the Muslims in a final stand, setting the stage for the Battle of Hunayn.
Prophet Muhammad destroys all the idols in the Kaaba with Imam Ali’s help and washes the images that had been drawn inside.
He then introduced Islam to the Meccans, discarding their ideas of nationalism and tribalism, and offered a general amnesty regardless of if they convert to Islam.
Prophet Muhammad told Bilal to climb on top of the Kaaba to give the Azaan. Ikrima bin Abu Jahl saw that and made disparraging remarks about it, with a couple other pagans agreeing. They were soon shokced when Prophet Muhammad came over and said “I know what you said about Bilal” and repeated their words verbatim, revealing his miraculous knowledge.
The Prophet stayed in Mecca for 19 more days and during that time many prominent Meccans who had initially resisted conversion would end up converting instead of fleeing, including Ikrimah bin Abu Jahl, Suhayl ibn Amr, and Safwan ibn Umayyah.
Prophet Muhammad had promised safety to any Meccan who either remined in their own home during the invasion or went to Abu Sufyan’s home.
After seeing the Muslim’s strenght, Abu Sufyan saw the futility of struggle and urged the Meccans to surrender. Some Meccans remained defiant, notably his wife Hind and Ikrimah, the son of Abu Jahl.
After taking over Mecca, Prophet Muhammad granted general amnesty to all Meccans save for about a dozen who had been the most defiant.
The Prophet then went to the Ka’bah and destroyed all the idols there.
Prophet Muhammad kept the attack on Mecca a closely guarded secret. However Hatib ibn Abi Balta’ah sent a letter to the Quraysh warning them of the attack. The Prophet was informed of this by revelation and he sent Ali and Zubayr to retrieve it.
The Muslim army eventually marched to Mecca, where they were instructed to spread out and display their numbers. Under the cover of night, Abu Sufyan and two other senior leaders of Quraysh were brought to the Prophet to surrender and were granted amnesty.
The Treaty of Hudaybiyya had included a vow of there being no fighting between the Quraysh and the Muslims. However, when the tribe of Banu Bakr asked the leaders of Quraysh for help in a raid against their long time foe Banu Khuza’ah, a tribe with many Muslims and who were longtime allies of Prophet Muhammad, the Quraysh joined in.
The raiders killed 23 members of Banu Khuza’ah. The tribe went to Prophet Muhammad for help and the Prophet pledged to attack Mecca in resopnse.
Meanwhile Abu Sufyan learned about the raid and panicked realzing that it meant the Quraysh had violated the treaty. He went to Medina, to try to apologize. The same Abu Sufyan who used to be relentless in persecuting the Muslims was now begging for protection.
But the deaths and the violated treaty could not be taken back.
The Campaign of Dhat Al-Salasil occurred soon after “defeat” at the Battle of Mu’tah, when various Ghassanid affiliated tribes sensed an opportunity to invade Medina. They thought the Muslims would be weak and demoralized.
A bedouin learned about the gathering army and informed Prophed Muhammad, who designated an army and commander to go fight them.
From here the Shia and Sunni narratives diverge sharply. Sheikh Azhar Nassers explains both the different views and shares ideas for why they may have ended up with such drastically different versions.
The Roman army, with 10,000 soliders, outnumbered the Muslims 3:1 at the Battle of Mutah. Some of the Muslims feared the large army and wanted to retreat, but the senior companions bolstered their courage.
Prophet Muhammad had appointed a leader for the army, with two backup leaders in case the first one was martyred.
This was a hard battle. Jaffer ibn Abi Talib was the first leader, and he was martyred in the battle. Zayd ibn Haritha was the second leader, and he also became martyred. Abdullah ibn Rawaha was the final designated leader, and fell as well. Overall, about 11 Muslims were martyred in the battle, and the Muslims eventually ended up retreating.
Back in Medina, the prophet was witnessing the battle through his ilm ul ghayb (knowledge of the unseen) and narrated the battle in realtime, both the heroics and the shahadats.
The final verdict on the battle is mixed. Some historians called it a defeat since the Muslims retreated, others call it a draw due to the insignificant numer of casualties, where neither side took over the other’s land, and some historians called it a strategic victory since fighting a non-arab army put htem on the map on a global stage and gave them experience to fighting non-arab armies.
The Battle of Mu’tah was triggered when a messenger Prophet Muhammad sent to Ghassani Shurahbil was murdered. This was a declaration of war.
While Prophte Muhammad himself didn’t participate in this battle, thanks to the treaty of Hudaybiyya he was able to send 3000 Muslims to fight without compromising the securit of Medina.
As the army departed, the Prophet reminded them to maintain taqwa, keep to treaties kept, and to not attack women or children. He also insturcted them to offer the enemy three different surrender conditions
As they marched closer to the enemy, the Muslims realized that despite their large numbers, the opposing army outnumbered them more than 3 to 1.