Ta'if
Coordinates: 21 ° 16 ′ 0 ″ N , 40 ° 25 ′ 0 ″ E
Ta'if ( Arabic الطائف at-Tā'if , DMG aṭ-Ṭāʾif , also Taif ) is a city in western Saudi Arabia with 665,000 inhabitants (2017). The city is located in the Hejaz , 70 kilometers southeast of Mecca , at an altitude of 1680 meters above sea level. Due to the favorable climate, the region is a center of agriculture for fruit , vegetables and grain .
Climate table
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Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Ta'if
Source: wetterkontor.de
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history
In pre-Islamic times, Ta'if was an important trading center and site of a shrine to the goddess Allāt . In contrast to Mecca, which was still insignificant at the time, Ta'if is therefore also mentioned in Byzantine documents. Most of the city's residents were from the Thaqīf tribe. When Mohammed had lost the support of his clan in 619 through the death of his uncle Abū Tālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib , he tried to form an alliance with members of the Thaqīf, but his efforts were unsuccessful. After his capture of Mecca in January 630, the Thaqīf formed an army against him and the Meccans in association with the Hawāzin. In the valley of Hunain there was a battle in which Mohammed's troops were victorious. After the battle, Mohammed and his troops besieged the city, but could not take it. Only after the former Bedouin allies of the Thaqīf had blocked the city for a long time on his behalf, they sent a delegation to Medina and negotiated a peace with Mohammed. In this way Taif came under Islamic rule.
Because of the pleasant climate, Ta'if was later the residence of the Hashimite Grand Shepherds who ruled Mecca . In 1924 the city was conquered by the Saudis. An agreement was signed in Ta'if in 1934 with which Saudi Arabia and Yemen ended the Saudi-Yemeni war for the province of Asir . In addition, the negotiations to end the Lebanon War took place here in 1989 ; the second Taif Agreement agreed on denominational parity for Lebanon between Christians and Muslims .
Population development of the agglomeration according to the UN
| year | population |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 30,000 |
| 1960 | 66,000 |
| 1970 | 147,000 |
| 1980 | 257,000 |
| 1990 | 381,000 |
| 2000 | 482,000 |
| 2010 | 582,000 |
| 2017 | 665,000 |
literature
- Heinz Gaube : Taif. Development, structure and traditional architecture of an Arab city in upheaval . Wiesbaden 1993.
- MJ Kister: "Some reports concerning al-Ṭāʾif", in: Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 1 (1979) 1-18.
- Henri Lammen : "La Cité arabe de Taif à la veille de l'Hégire" in Mélanges Univ. Saint-Joseph, Beyrouth, Syrie . Beirut 1922.
- M. Lecker: Art. "Al-Ṭāʾif", in: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition , Vol. X, pp. 115-116.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gaube: Taif. Development, structure and traditional architecture of an Arab city . 1993, p. 4.
- ↑ Patricia Crone: Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam, Princeton University Press 1987 p. 29
- ↑ See W. Montgomery Watt: Muhammad at Mecca . Oxford 1953. pp. 138-140.
- ↑ See Kister 11-18.
- ↑ World Urbanization Prospects - Population Division - United Nations. Retrieved July 23, 2018 .