In the south of Makkah lived a clan known as Hawazin. It had various branches, which spread over a vast area from the south of Makkah to the borders of Yemen. The clan of Hawazin and the Quraysh had battled several times against each other. Hawazin would even attack the Quraysh in the sacred months. Battles that were fought in the sacred months were called "Eijar".

Both tribes had been age-old rivals. Khadijah^R.A’s father was killed in one such battle. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) himself in his childhood, had participated along with his uncle in one such battle against the Hawazin.

One of the tribes of Hawazin consisting mainly of nomads dwelt in the area between the Red Sea and the Arabian desert, known as "Hajjaz". Another tribe of Hawazin, known as "Thaqif", dwelt at Ta’if. One of the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) governess, who weaned him, belonged to a Hawazin tribe called "Banu Sa’ad". After Makkah was conquered, Banu Bakr, Banu Salim, Banu Saad and many other tribes of Hawazin continued their enmity against Islam.

On the third day of the Conquest of Makkah, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) sent some Muslims to the outskirts and surroundings of Makkah to break the idols. Khalid bin Walid was given the order to strike down idols at Nakhla where the famous idol of Arabia "Uza" was fixed.

The Hawazin tribes could not bear this, therefore they summoned their men to the battlefield. Soon twenty thousand warriors, accompanied by their women, children, and cattle left for the battlefield to face the Muslims. They brought their families and even cattle along so that they would either be victorious or lose everything they had.

On receiving the news that Hawazin were moving towards Makkah, the Quraysh of Makkah decided to confront them and clean the last signs of resentment against the Muslims. They unanimously decided to join the Muslims to face their time-old enemy. Safwan bin Umayyah, the famous Chief of Makkah, presented the Muslim army with one hundred chain-mails and five thousand Dirhams in cash. He also supplied weapons and money to the Muslims so that they could be fully armed to face the enemy.

To face Hawazin, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) arranged an army of twelve thousand soldiers, two thousand of which included the new Muslims of Makkah. The Islamic army reached the valley of Hunayn on the evening of the 30^th of January 631 AD. This valley of Hunayn, stretched across the land between Makkah and Ta’if. Some of its portions consisted of rugged mountains with difficult passes in between. The leader of the Muslim army erred by not commanding his watchmen to climb the upper mountainous region and check for the enemy. If he had, the Muslims would have seen the enemy lurking in wait for them.

The Hawazin army was being led by Malik bin Auf Nasri. He proved himself a veteran marshal. He employed his soldiers in such a way on both sides of the pass that the Islamic vanguard was unaware of their presence. When it was crossing the pass, Malik bin Auf saw them but did not attack, as he knew it was only an advance-guard and the rest of the army was following behind. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that day was at the end of the army. He was riding the white mule, called "Sheeba" which had been sent to him as a present by the king of Abyssinia. A companion of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), Harith bin Herth was moving in front.

The Chief of the Hawazin army, Malik bin Auf was very shrewd. He waited for the whole Muslim army to gather in the pass. When the rear section of the army (which included the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)) stepped in the pass, Malik bin Auf beckoned his soldiers to attack. Within seconds, thousands of soldiers appeared from behind the mountain and showered the Muslims with arrows and stones.

The Muslim army was passing through difficult terrain. They were also devoid of battle-formations and discipline. They were caught un-aware, so they became un-nerved. The cavalrymen pulled up the reins and tried to turn back the way they had come. Seeing this situation of the cavalry, the remaining soldiers also lost courage and recklessly rushed back. Allah has mentioned this incident in the 9th Surah, in this way:

Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) participated in eighty battles that included both major and minor. In all these battles the only factor contributing to the Muslim victory was the help and assistance of Allah and not the number of soldiers. At the time of the Battle of Hunayn, the Muslims had been arrogantly feeling that no one could rout them because of their numbers. Thus, although this was the largest Muslim army that had gathered for battle, they were hard pressed for victory in the very early moments of the battle. In the 9^th Surah Tauba, Allah has mentioned His succour for the Muslims in the following words;

The Muslims re-grouped and were able to make the Hawazin tribes retreat. Some of the members of the Hawazin tribes were killed while the rest ran away to save their lives. Their families, wealth and uncountable cattle were left to the Muslims. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) ordered that all the booty be shifted to "Jakrana", a place situated fifteen kilometres to the north of Makkah and the prisoners be provided with proper food and clothing.

This advancement of the Muslim army discouraged the Hawazin and they took refuge in the city of Ta’if. At this the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) decided to invade Ta’if. On seeing the Muslim army advancing, the citizens of Ta’if shut their gates and prepared for battle. The Muslims used catapults to break down the gates. At the suggestion of Salman Farsi^R.A, they built up used carriages into armoured vehicles to reach the walls of the city. These vehicles also protected the Muslims from arrows and stones of the enemy.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) sent a message to the people of Ta’if that they would be granted security if they surrendered. In answer to this invitation, eighty people left Ta’if to enter Faith. When Ta’if remained besieged for forty days without surrendering, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) handed over the charge of the army to someone else, and left for Jakrana to distribute war-gains among the Muslims. All gains, including six thousand prisoners, were distributed among the Muslims.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied, "O Shima, would you like to lead a free life by becoming a Muslim?"

She said, "For me freedom means to return to the desert to lead a nomadic life".

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "I cannot set you free, except by a condition that you come in my share of war-gains". The same happened. She was included in the Prophet’s (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) share Shima regained her freedom.

When she had been set free, she went to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said that her husband was also in custody. According to the laws of battle, he was also the slave of Muslims. She requested the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to also set him free. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) once again desired that her husband be included in his share. When it was done, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) also freed her husband.

When the other prisoners saw Shima and her husband had been freed, they also sent some persons to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and asserted that his governess belonged to the Hawazin tribe, thus they were all his foster brothers and sisters, so they should be set free and allowed to return to their homes for a free life. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied that he could not do so as they all had been distributed among the Muslims. The representatives of the prisoners said, "Would you like that the people of Halimah’s tribe be driven from pillar to post as slaves?" the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, "What I can do is to free the women slaves of my share, but I can neither take the responsibility of others nor can I force them. It rests to their will whether they want to free their slaves or not".

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) fulfilled his promise and set free all the women slaves of his share. Abu Bakr^R.A, and Umar^R.A were also present there, they also announced freedom of prisoners of their respective shares. Ali^R.A did the same. When other Muslims observed the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and his most pious followers setting their slaves free, they followed suit. However, they kept their properties in their possession. On the other hand when the people of Hawazin observed the Prophet’s generosity and the obedience of the followers, they all entered faith.

Among the freed prisoners was Malik bin Auf, the Chief of the Hawazin army. All of his wealth and property was returned as it had come under the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)’s share. Malik bin Auf became Muslim at the very moment. He rendered great services to Islam later on. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) once again expressed his intention to visit Ta’if and review the situation himself.

The siege of Ta’if was unchanged. The Hawazin tribes had now entered Faith, Ta’if could not have presented any danger to the Muslims. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) knew if this siege continued, the city would be compelled to surrender. Leaving a small army under Abu Sufyan’s charge to continue the siege, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) left for Makkah accompanied by other Muslims.

When Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) returned to Makkah, the Ansar, expressed their displeasure and said that the Quraysh had received more share as compared to theirs from the gains of Hawazin tribe.

This complaint was not unfounded as at the time of distribution of booty, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) had given more shares to the new Muslims of Quraysh. He had not done so from the share of Ansar. It was the custom, that one-fifth of war-gains was reserved for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and his family. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to grant his own share to others, this time he had divided his share among new Muslims in Quraysh.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) thought it necessary to treat the Quraysh with relatively more affection so that they would become devoted to Islam. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) explained to Ansar, "You should not be dejected or angered that the Quraysh received more share than you, because the Quraysh will remain in Makkah while I shall accompany you to Madinah, where we shall live together".

"Is it more important to you to have one more camel or a few sheep than the Prophet’s company? You do not know how fortunate you are to live with the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of Allah. Not only will Allah’s benevolence be with you but your future generations will also receive divine beneficence".

Listening this, the Ansar were taken over by regret. Choked with emotion, they said, "O Prophet of Allah, we are sorry for what we said. We are repentant". After saying this, the Ansar started weeping at their folly. After a few days when Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) left for Madinah in the company of the Ansar, they were so joyous that they raised Halhalah and hummed verses, while others were tearful with joy.

The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) appointed a young man of thirty from Banu Umayyah as the ruler of Makkah. After handing over the administration of the city to him, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) left for Madinah. Soon after reaching Madinah, a delegation from Ta’if arrived to meet the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Its members told the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that people of Ta’if were willing to become Muslim, provided they were allowed to practice, in continuation of past: impropriety, atheism, usury and drinking. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not accept this demand and said that there was absolutely no room for impropriety, usury and intoxication in Islam.

The members of the delegation came back after talking to the people of Ta’if and said that the people of Ta’if were willing to repent (from the above mentioned evils) but requested the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that they be exempted from participating in Jihad, fasting and giving of Zakat.

It should be clear that in the capital of Islam all the Muslim men, irrespective of status, had always participated in the battlefield. Even today Jihad is obligatory upon every male Muslim. The only exception is, too weak because of age or sickness to participate. However, this time the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) accepted their request, at which the Muslims asked in wonder, "O Prophet of Allah! How have you exempted the people of Ta’if from participating in Jihad, fasting and paying of Zakat? Are not these obligatory in Islam?" the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) replied, "First let them enter Faith, they will soon become aware of importance and necessity of the Islamic injunctions, and carry them out". The same happened. After some days, the people of Ta’if were impressed by the teachings of Islam. They presented themselves before the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and declared, "O prophet of Allah! we are ready by our heart and souls to pay Zakat, observe fasting and participate in Jihad".