[1] Muhammad, born in 570,[2] at the age of 40 after reportedly being visited by the angel Gabriel in the cave of Hira, began spreading a new religion, Islam, in Mecca.
Three brothers of the Banu Thaqif, namely Habib, Mas'ud and Abd Yalayl were the main chiefs and leaders of the city at that time.
[11] Upon Muhammad’s arrival, he invited them to convert to Islam and asked for their help and protection in his fight against his own tribe, the Quraysh.
And if Allah wished to send a prophet, couldn’t He have found a better person than you, a weak and fatherless orphan?”[13]Aware that his efforts were futile he asked them to at least keep the matter a secret, out of fear that this might deepen the Quraysh's enmity towards him.
But rather than accepting his request, they rallied the people of Ta'if against him and forced him out of the walled city, pelting him with stones and wounding his hands and feet.
The owners, Shayba and Utba ibn Rabi'a from the Meccan tribe of Shams, were in the garden at the time and took pity on him.
"[16] On Muhammad's return journey to Mecca, the news of what had happened in Ta'if had reached the Meccans, and Abu Jahl, one of the Quraysh chiefs, said: “They did not allow him to enter Ta'if, so let us deny him entry to Mecca as well.” Muhammad then rested for the night in a valley called Nakhla, where he was reported to have won converts from some jinns who heard him recite the Qur'an.