From Mecca to Hunayn, Ta'if and back

The route of the Prophet after the conquest of Mecca, in Shawwal of the 8th year AH: from Mecca to the Wadi Hunayn, where the battle took place; then the pursuit of the remnants of Hawazin and Thaqif to Awtas and al-Taif; then the siege of al-Taif; and then the return by way of al-Ji'rana, with the 'umra, to Medina ¹.

The Prophet set out from Mecca with twelve thousand men on the sixth of Shawwal, and reached Hunayn on the night of Wednesday, the tenth of the month. Malik ibn Awf had gone ahead and had set his ambushes in the valley ². The book does not describe the stages between Mecca and Hunayn, though it mentions the Sidra of Dhat Anwat on the road ³.

After the defeat and the rally, the remnants of the enemy scattered toward al-Taif, Nakhla and Awtas. A group led by Abu Amir al-Ash'ari was sent to Awtas ⁴.

After the spoils were gathered at al-Ji'rana, the Prophet ﷺ marched to al-Taif. He passed the Yamani Nakhla, then Qarn al-Manazil, then Liyya, and he ordered the fortress of Malik ibn Awf there to be demolished. Then he camped near the fortress of al-Taif and besieged it ⁵. The scholars of the sira differ on the length of the siege ⁶.

When the siege dragged on and the fortress resisted, the Prophet decided to leave. He called out the order to depart and said: "We return, repentant, worshipping our Lord and praising Him" ⁷. He then stayed at al-Ji'rana for some fifteen nights, dividing the spoils ⁸.

When the division was complete, he entered ihram for the 'umra from al-Ji'rana and performed it, then turned back to Medina, six nights before the end of Dhu al-Qa'da of the 8th year AH ⁹. The text does not describe the stages of the road from Mecca to Medina.

At al-Ji'rana the Prophet divided the spoils first among those whose hearts were to be reconciled. Some of the Ansar then reproached him, and he gathered them and addressed them ¹⁰. The delegation of Hawazin arrived after the spoils had been distributed ¹¹.