After Hunayn in 8 AH, the survivors of Thaqif took shelter in the high fortress of Ta'if; the Muslims besieged it some twenty nights and used the catapult for the first time in Islam. Seeing the fort unyielding, the Prophet ﷺ lifted the siege and prayed, 'O God, guide Thaqif and bring them to us' — and Thaqif came as Muslims the next year.
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The siege of Ta'if
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The siege of Ta'if (Shawwal 8 AH / 630 CE) followed Hunayn; the survivors of Thaqif sheltered in their strong fort and shot the Muslims with arrows until some were martyred, so the camp moved to the site of Ta'if's mosque. The Muslims set up the mangonel — the first of its use in Islam — and men crawled under a wooden tank to reach the wall, and Thaqif dropped fire-heated iron hooks on it. Then the Prophet ﷺ proclaimed safety for any slave who came down — about a dozen descended, Abu Bakra among them, and he freed them. After the dream of the cup of froth and consulting Abu Bakr — or Nawfal ibn Mu'awiya in al-Raheeq — he lifted the siege, praying 'O God, guide Thaqif and bring them to us'; Thaqif entered Islam willingly the next year. The sira men differ on its length, fifteen to forty days.
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