There were three brothers, ‘Abd Yaaleel, Mas‘ood and Habeeb, who were among the leaders of Taa’if. On arriving in Taa’if, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) went to them and invited them to Islam. However, instead of listening to his message of the truth, they responded with extreme harshness.
One of them said, “Did Allah make you His prophet to rip off the cloth covering the Ka’bah?” Another said, “Could Allah not find someone better than you to appoint as His prophet?” The third said, “I take an oath that I will not speak to you at all. If Allah really has appointed you as His prophet, then to reject your message will be extremely dangerous and detrimental (however, this fool did not realize that mocking the prophet of Allah Ta‘ala is even more dangerous and detrimental). Conversely, if you are not the true prophet of Allah then there is no need for me to listen to you and you are not worthy of my attention.”
Thereafter, they incited and spurred the immoral vagrants and other uncouth youngsters to pelt Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) with stones and mock him. These ruthless oppressors stoned Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) to such an extent that his blessed body was wounded and injured. When Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) would try to sit and rest, due to the pain of the wounds, then they would not even allow him to do so. Rather, they would hold his arm and pull him, forcing him to stand. They would then stone him further while laughing and jeering at him.
Hazrat Zaid bin Haarithah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), who accompanied Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) on this journey, was attempting to protect Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). He was trying to shield Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) with his own body so that the stones would hit him instead of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). As a result, the entire head of Hazrat Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) became injured and wounded. The blessed feet of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) were also wounded to the extent that they began to bleed.
Thereafter, while returning from Taa’if, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) sought refuge in an orchard belonging to ‘Utbah bin Rabee‘ah and Shaibah bin Rabee‘ah.
(Extracted from Seeratul Mustafa 1/274-275)