Muhammad was reassured as he saw them return to the battlefront. In the meantime, the whole Hawazin camp had come out of their trenches in the hills and confronted the Muslims face to face in the valley. At that time, too, the darkness was dissipated by sunrise. Around the Prophet a few hundred soldiers stood and repelled the attacks of the Hawazin. Their ranks began to swell as the fleeing Muslims returned. The Ansar began to call to one another, "Rally forth to battle." They quickly reorganized themselves according to tribes and clans while Muhammad watched the progress of the battle. As the Muslim soldiers refilled their ranks and began to march shoulder to shoulder together, the Prophet proclaimed: "Now the battle has begun. God will not fail the Prophet and will fulfill the promise He gave him." Then, turning to al `Abbas and asking for a handful of pebbles, the Prophet threw the pebbles in the face of the enemy with the war cry, "Woe to the enemies of God!" With this, the Muslims charged, throwing themselves upon their enemies. They were convinced that theirs would be the victory and the fate of the martyr would even be greater than that of the surviving victor. The battle raged and men fell on all sides. Soon Hawazin, Thaqif, and their allies realized that their efforts were vain and that they faced annihilation. They turned around and started to flee, leaving behind them their women, children, and all their properties: 22,000 camels, 40,000 goats, and 4,000 ounces of silver. The captives which numbered 6,000, were transported under Muslim protection to the valley of al Ji'ranah where they were held until the Muslims returned from their pursuit of the enemy and from their blockade of Thaqif tribe in the city of al Ta?if.
The Muslims gave their enemy close pursuit, and they were further encouraged by the Prophet's proclamation that whoever killed an associationist would receive his victim's booty. Ibn al Dughunnah overtook a camel carrying an open palanquin which he thought might be carrying a woman whom he could take captive. He brought the camel to its knees, looked into the palanquin and discovered an old man unknown to him. The old man asked his pursuer what he wanted. Ibn al Dughunnah answered, "I wish to kill you," and hit him with his sword. The blow was so light that the old man was not even cut. Aware of the shame that had befallen him and his people, the old man had no desire to live; he addressed his attacker in these words of disdain and pride: "Woe to your mother who taught you how to bear arms! Take my sword from my saddle and strike with it. Hit neither the chest nor the head but apply all your strength to one blow against the neck. In this way I used to kill my own enemies in days gone by. And if your miserable mother should ask you whom you killed in this fashion, tell her that you have killed Durayd ibn al Simmah. By God, it was a wretched day on which I extended my protection to your women and saved them by my arm." When Rabi'ah ibn al Dughannah returned and told the story to his mother, she cried in agonies of conscience and said to her son: "To fire with both your arms! What crime have they perpetrated! Durayd sought to remind posterity of our obligation to him. By God, it was he who granted freedom to three of your own mothers in one day;. myself, my mother, and the mother of your father." The Muslims followed Hawazin all the way to the plain of Awtas where they inflicted upon them the most terrible defeat, capturing all their women and property. Only then did they return to Muhammad. Malik ibn `Awf al Nadri gave the Muslims some resistance but then ran away with his people and some Hawazin tribesmen to Nakhlah. From there he escaped to al Ta'if where he took refuge.
Thus, Muslim victory was complete. The unbelievers were vanquished after they had almost defeated the Muslim army. The advantage they had secured by their surprise attack in pre-dawn darkness was shattered when the Prophet called his men back to their ground. The steadfastness of Muhammad and of the small number of believers that surrounded him turned the tide and proved the Muslims invincible.
The city of al Ta'if, capital of the Thaqif tribe and refuge of Malik ibn 'Awf, loomed before Muhammad and his companions as the next objective. It was a fortified city and, like most Arab towns in that period, had gates which shut out the undesirable intruder. Its people had wide military experience, especially in the art of siege. Their great wealth had enabled them to make their fortifications the strongest in the world. As the Muslims approached al Ta'if, they passed by Liyyah where stood a fortress of Malik ibn `Awf. The fortress as well as a nearby building belonging to a tribesman from Thaqif were destroyed. The army was commanded to put up camp in the vicinity, and the Prophet called his companions together to map out a strategy. Ta'if, on the other hand, learning of their approach, observed . Muslim movements from the top of its fortresses and towers, and showered the Muslims with volleys of deadly arrows. It was not possible for the Muslims to storm these strong fortresses with their old weapons. New means of waging war, destructive and innovative weapons were needed. It was suggested that perhaps they could starve Ta'if into surrender by simply maintaining the siege. Those who favored a frontal attack could not find the necessary means with which to launch it. One immediate decision had to be taken at once, namely, to move the Muslims' camp and forces beyond the reach of al Ta'if's arrows. Once this danger was removed, the Muslims thought they could afford the leisure requisite for a sound decision as to strategy. At the Prophet's command, the Muslims erected their tents at a distance from the fortresses. There they built a mosque which was handed over to the city after its surrender and conversion to Islam. This preliminary measure was unavoidable considering that the arrows of Ta'if had accounted for the deaths of 18 Muslims and the wounding of a great number, including one of the sons of Abu Bakr. In the same locality two red tents were erected for the Prophet's wives, Umm Salmah and Zaynab, who had accompanied him throughout this expedition. It was near his tents that Muhammad used to call men to prayer, and, perhaps, it was precisely in that spot that the mosque of Ta'if was subsequently built.
The Muslims encamped and waited for new orders. Some tribesmen spoke to the Prophet in favor of a prolonged siege, claiming that nothing the Muslims had would help them scale Ta'if's fortifications. Time alone, they argued, would eventually force Ta'if's people out of their safe foxholes. Muhammad, however, found it difficult to return without having achieved a victory over Ta'if. Banu Daws, one of the tribes living to the south of Makkah, were fully acquainted with the use of the catapult and had experience in tank-led assaults upon high fortifications. A1Tufayl, one of its leaders, who had accompanied Muhammad ever since the conquest of Khaybar, stood at the Prophet's side always on the ready to fulfill his wishes. At Muhammad's command, al Tufayl speeded to his tribe with a request for their assistance, and they responded by bringing with them their tools of war. Reaching al Ta'if four days after the Muslim siege began, they put their catapult to immediate use. They also brought their tanks into the battlefield, and sent a number of their men under their cover to the fortified walls. The soldiers of Ta?if, however, were clever enough to force the men of Banu Daws to flee. Having heated pieces of iron to red hot temperatures, they threw these missiles onto the tanks and put them to flame. The Muslim soldiers which the tanks were covering had to flee or be burnt alive. As they emerged from under their tanks, they were shot at with arrows and a number of them were killed. Having failed at this new effort, the Muslims became convinced that there was no way to storm the fortresses of Ta'if.
In a total the siege lasted for one month. And so they saw the new moon which marked the beginning of the holy month where no wars were allowed. So he had to return to Makkah with his army. Where he would resume the war against At Taif after the Holy monthes.