Al-HUDAIBIYAH TREATY (Dhul Qadah 6 A.H.

):
When Arabia began to witness the large impressive sweep in favour of the Muslims, the forerunners of the great conquest and success of the Islamic Call started gradually to loom on the demographic horizon, and the true believers restored their undisputed right to observe worship in the sacred sanctuary. It was about the si th year !i"ri when the #rophet $#eace be upon him% saw in a dream, while he was still in Madinah, that he had entered the sacred sanctuary in Ma&&ah in security with his followers, and was performing the ceremonies of '(mrah $lesser pilgrimage%. )heir heads were being shaved and hair cut off. As soon as he informed some of his Companions the contents of his dream, their hearts leapt up with "oy since they found in it the actualization of their deep longing to ta&e part in pilgrimage and its hallowed rites after an e ile of si years. )he #rophet $#eace be upon him% had his clothes washed, mounted his camel and marched out towards Ma&&ah at the head of fifteen hundred Muslims including his wife (mm *alamah. *ome desert bedouins whose +aith was lu&ewarm hung bac& and made e cuses. )hey carried no weapons with them e cept sheathed swords because they had no intention of fighting. Ibn (mm Ma&tum was mandated to dispose the affairs of Madinah during the #rophet,s absence. As they approached Ma&&ah, and in a place called -hi !ulaifa, he ordered that the sacrificial animals be garlanded, and all believers donned Al. Ihr/m, the pilgrim,s garb. !e despatched a reconnoiterer to hunt around for news of the enemy. )he man came bac& to tell the #rophet $#eace be upon him% that a large number of slaves, as well as a huge army, were gathered to oppose him, and that the road to Ma&&ah was completely bloc&ed. )he #rophet $#eace be upon him% consulted his Companions, who were of the opinion that they would fight none unless they were debarredfrom performing their pilgrimage. )he 0uraishites, on their part, held a meeting during which they considered the whole s ituation and decided to resist the #rophet,s mission at all costs. )wo hundred horsemen led by 1halid bin Al. Waleed were despatched to ta&e the Muslims by surprise during 2uhr $the afternoon% prayer. !owever, the rules of prayer of fear were revealed meanwhile and thus 1halid and his men missed the chance. )he Muslims avoided marching on that way and decided to follow a rugged roc&y one. !ere, 1halid ran bac& to 0uraish to brief them on the latest situation. When the Muslims reached a spot called )haniyat Al.Marar, the #rophet,s camel stumbled and &nelt down and was too stubborn to move. Muhammad $#eace be upon him% swore he would willingly accede to any plan they put forward that would glorify All/h,s sanctities. !e then reprovingly spurred his camel and it leapt up. )hey resumed their march and came to pitch their tents at the furthest part of Al.!udaibiyah beside a well of scanty water. )he Muslims reported thirst to the #rophet $#eace be upon him%, who too& an arrow out of his quiver, and placed it in the ditch. Water immediately gushed forth, and his followers dran& to their fill. When the #rophet $#eace be upon him% had rested, 3udail bin Warqa, Al.1huza'i with some celebrities of 1huza'ah tribe, the #rophet,s confidants, came and as&ed him what he had come for. )he #rophet $#eace be upon him% replied that it was not for war that he had

come forth4 5I have no other design,6 he said, 5but to perform '(mrah $the lesser pilgrimage% in the !oly *anctuary. *hould 0uraish embrace the new religion, as some people have done, they are most welcome, but if they stand in my way or debar the Muslims from pilgrimage, I will surely fight them to the last man, and All/h,s 7rder must be fulfilled.6 )he envoy carried the message bac& to 0uraish, who sent another one called Mi&raz bin !afs. 7n seeing him, the #rophet $#eace be upon him% said that that was a treacherous man. !e was given the same message to communicate to his people. !e was followed by another ambassador &nown as Al.!ulais bin 'Alqamah. !e was very much impressed by the spirit of devotion that the Muslims had for the *acred 1a'bah. !e went bac& to his men and warned them against debarring Muhammad $#eace be upon him% and his Companions from doing honour to All/h,s house on the peril of brea&ing his alliance with them. !ulais was succeeded by '(rwa bin Mas'ud Ath.)haqafi to negotiate with Muhammad $#eace be upon him%. In the course of discussion he said to the #rophet $#eace be upon him%4 5Muhammad8 !ave you gathered around yourself mi ed people and then brought them against your &ith and &in in order to destroy them. 3y All/h I thin& I see you deserted by these people tomorrow.6 At this point Abu 3a&r stood up and e pressed his resentment at this imputation. Al.Mugheerah bin *hu'bah e pressed the same attitude and reprovingly forbade him from touching the #rophet,s beard. !ere, 0uraish,s envoy remar&ed indignantly and alluded to the latter,s treacherous act of &illing his companions and looting them before he embraced Islam. Meanwhile, '(rwah, during his stay in the Muslim camp, had been closely watching the unfathomable love and profound respect that the followers of Muhammad $#eace be upon him% showed him. !e returned and conveyed to 0uraish his impression that those people could not forsa&e the #rophet $#eace be upon him% under any circumstances. !e e pressed his feelings in the following words4 5I have been to Chosroes, Caesar and 9egus in their &ingdoms, but never have I seen a &ing among a people li&e Muhammad $#eace be upon him% among his Companions. If he performs his ablution, they would not let the water thereof fall on the ground: if he e pectorates, they would have the mucus to rub their faces with: if he spea&s, they would lower their voices. )hey will not abandon him for anything in any case. !e, now, offers you a reasonable plan, so do what you please.6 )ime passed. 9egotiations went on but with no results. )hen the #rophet $#eace be upon him% desired '(mar to see the nobles of 0uraish on his behalf. '(mar e cused himself on account of the personal enmity of 0uraish: he had, moreover, no influential relatives in the city who could shield him from danger: and he pointed to '(thman bin 'Affan, who belonged to one of the most powerful families in Ma&&ah, as the suitable envoy. '(thman went to Abu *ufyan and other chiefs and told them that the Muslims had come only to visit and pay their homage to the *acred !ouse, to do worship there, and that they had no intention to fight. !e was also as&ed to call them to Islam, and give glad tidings to the believers in Ma&&ah, women and men, that the conquest was approaching and Islam was surely to prevail because All/h would verily establish !is religion in Ma&&ah. '(thman also assured them that after the performance of ceremonies they would soon depart peacefully, but the 0uraishites were adamant and not prepared to grant them the permission to visit Al.1a'bah. )hey, however, offered '(thman the permission to

perform the pilgrimage, if he so desired in his individual capacity, but '(thman declined the offer saying4 5!ow is it possible that I avail myself of this opportunity, when the #rophet $#eace be upon him% is denied of it;6 )he Muslims an iously waited for the arrival of '(thman with mingled feelings of fear and an iety. 3ut his arrival was considerably delayed and a foul play was suspected on the part of 0uraish. )he Muslims were greatly worried and too& a solemn pledge at the hand of the #rophet $#eace be upon him% that they would sacrifice their lives to avenge the death of their Companion and stand firmly by their master, Muhammad $#eace be upon him%, under all conditions. )his pledge goes by the name of 3ay'at Ar. <idwan $a covenant of fealty%. )he first men to ta&e a pledge were Abu *inan Al.Asadi and *alamah bin Al.A&wa', who gave a solemn promise to die in the cause of )ruth three times, at the front of the army, in the middle and in the rear. )he #rophet $#eace be upon him% caught his left hand on behalf of '(thman. )his fealty was sworn under a tree, with '(mar holding the #rophet,s hand and Ma'qil =asar holding a branch of the tree up. )he 9oble 0ur,/n has referred to this pledge in the following words4 > 5Indeed, All/h was pleased with the believers when they gave their 3ai'a $pledge% to you ?7 Muhammad $#eace be upon him%@ under the tree.6 ?AB4CB@ When 0uraish saw the firm determination of the Muslims to shed the last drop of blood for the defence of their +aith, they came to their senses and realized that Muhammad,s followers could not be cowed down by these tactics. After some further interchange of messages they agreed to conclude a treaty of reconciliation and peace with the Muslims. )he clauses of the said treaty go as follows4 C. )he Muslims shall return this time and come bac& ne t year, but they shall not stay in Ma&&ah for more than three days. D. )hey shall not come bac& armed but can bring with them swords only sheathed in scabbards and these shall be &ept in bags. E. War activities shall be suspended for ten years, during which both parties will live in full security and neither will raise sword against the other. A. If anyone from 0uraish goes over to Muhammad $#eace be upon him% without his guardian,s permission, he should be sent bac& to 0uraish, but should any of Muhammad,s followers to 0uraish, he shall not be sent bac&. F. Whosoever to "oin Muhammad $#eace be upon him%, or enter into treaty with him, should have the liberty to do so: and li&ewise whosoever wishes to "oin 0uraish, or enter into treaty with them, should be allowed to do so. *ome dispute arose with regard to the preamble. +or e ample, when the agreement was to be committed to writing, 'Ali bin Abi )alib, who acted as a scribe began with the words4 3ismill/h ir. <ahman ir.<aheem, i.e., 5In the 9ame of All/h, the Most 3eneficent, the Most Merciful6 but the Ma&&an plenipotentiary, *uhail bin 'Amr declared that he &new nothing about Ar.<ahman and insisted upon the customary formula 3i.ismi&a All/humma, i.e., 5In =our 9ame, 7 All/h86 )he Muslims grumbled with uneasiness but the #rophet $#eace be upon him% agreed. !e then went on to dictate, 5)his is what Muhammad, the Messenger of All/h has agreed to with *uhail bin 'Amr.6 (pon this *uhail again protested4 5!ad we ac&nowledged you as #rophet, we would not have debarred you from the *acred !ouse, nor fought against you. Write your own name

and the name of your father.6 )he Muslims grumbled as before and refused to consent to the change. )he #rophet $#eace be upon him%, however, in the larger interest of Islam, attached no importance to such an insignificant detail, erased the words himself, and dictated instead4 5Muhammad, the son of 'Abdullah.6 *oon after this treaty, 1huza'a clan, a former ally of 3anu !ashim, "oined the ran&s of Muhammad $#eace be upon him%, and 3anu 3a&r sided with 0uraish. It was during this time while the treaty was being written that Abu Gandal, *uhail,s son, appeared on the scene. !e was brutally chained and was staggering with privation and fatigue. )he #rophet $#eace be upon him% and his Companions were moved to pity and tried to secure his release but *uhail was adamant and said4 5)o signify that you are faithful to your contract, an opportunity has "ust arrived.6 )he #rophet $#eace be upon him% said4 53ut the treaty was not signed when your son entered the camp.6 (pon this, he burst forth and said, 5but the terms of the treaty were agreed upon.6 It was indeed an an ious moment. 7n the one hand, Abu Gandal was lamenting at the top of his voice, 5Am I to be returned to the polytheists that they might entice me from my religion, 7 Muslims86 but, on the other hand, the faithful engagement was also considered to be necessary, above all other considerations. )he #rophet,s heart welled up with sympathy, but he wanted to honour his word at all costs. !e consoled Abu Gandal and said, 53e patient, resign yourself to the Will of All/h. All/h is going to provide for you and your helpless companions relief and means of escape. We have concluded a treaty of peace with them and w e have ta&en the pledge in the 9ame of All/h. We are, therefore, under no circumstances prepared to brea& it.6 '(mar bin Al.1hattab could not help giving vent to the deep.seated agony of his heart. !e rose to his feet uttering words implying deep hatred and e treme indignation and requested Abu Gandal to ta&e his sword and &ill *uhail, but the son spared his father. !owever, in silent resignation was therefore, Abu Gandal borne away with his chains. Meanwhile some believing women emigrated to Madinah and as&ed the #rophet $#eace be upon him% for refuge which they were granted. When their families demanded their return, he would not hand them bac& because the following verse was revealed4 > 57 you who believe8 When believing women come to you as emigrants, e amine them, All/h &nows best as to their +aith, then if you &now them for true believers, send them not bac& to the disbelievers, they are not lawful $wives% for the disbelievers nor are the disbelievers lawful $husbands% for them. 3ut give the disbelievers that $amount of money% which they have spent ?as their Mahr@ to them. And there will be no sin on you to marry them if you have paid their Mahr to them. Hi&ewise hold not the disbelieving women as wives I6 ?JK4CK@ )he reason why the believing women were not handed bac& was either because they were not originally included in the terms of the treaty, which mentioned only men, or because the 0ur,/n abrogated any terms dealing with women in the verse4 > 57 #rophet8 When believing women come to you to give you the 3ai'a $#ledge%, that they will not associate anything in worship with All/h I6 ?JK4CD@ )his is the verse which forbade Muslim women from marrying disbelieving men. Hi&ewise, Muslim men were commanded to terminate their marriages to disbelieving women. In compliance with this in"unction, '(mar bin Al.1hattab divorced two wives he

had married before he embraced Islam: Mu'awiyah married the first woman, and *afwan bin 7maiyah married the second.

ALHUDAIBIYAH TREATY: SOCIO-POLITICAL IMPACT:

A series of events confirmed the profound wisdom and splendid results of the peace treaty which All/h called 5a manifest victory6. !ow could it be otherwise when 0uraish had recognized the legitimate Muslims, e istence on the scene of political life in Arabia, and began to deal with the believers on equal terms. 0uraish in the light of the articles of the treaty, had indirectly relinquished its claim to religious leadership, and admitted that they were no longer interested in people other than 0uraish, and washed their hands of any sort of intervention in the religious future of theArabian #eninsula. )he Muslims did not have in mind to seize people,s property or &ill them through bloody wars, nor did they ever thin& of pursuing any coercive approaches in their endeavours to propagate Islam, on the contrary, their sole target was to provide an atmosphere of freedom as regards ideology or religion4 > 5)hen whosoever wills, let him believe, and whosoever wills, let him disbelieve.6 ?CB4DL@ )he Muslims, on the other hand, had the opportunity to spread Islam over areas not then e plored. When there was armistice, war was abolished, and men met and consulted together, none tal&ed about Islam intelligently without entering it: within the two years following the conclusion of the treaty double as many entered Islam as ever before. )his is supported by the fact that the #rophet $#eace be upon him% went out to Al. !udaibiyah with only C,AKK men, but when he set out to liberate Ma&&ah, two years later, he had CK,KKK men with him. )he article of the treaty pertaining to cessation of hostilities for ten years points directly to the utter failure of political haughtiness e ercised by 0uraish and its allies, and functions as evidence of the collapse and impotence of the war instigator. 0had been obliged to lose those advantages in return for one seemingly in its favour but does not actually bear any harm against the Muslims, i.e., the article that spea&s of handing over believing men who see& refuge with the Muslims without their guardians, consent to 0uraish. At first glance, it was a most distressing clause and was considered ob"ectionable in the Muslim camp. !owever, in the course of events, it proved to be a great blessing. )he Muslims sent bac& to Ma&&ah were not li&ely to renounce the blessings of Islam: contrariwise, those very Muslims turned out to be centres of influence for Islam. It was impossible to thin& that they would become apostates or renegades. )he wisdom behind this truce assumed its full dimensions in some subsequent events. After the #rophet $#eace be upon him% had reached Madinah, Abu 3aseer, who had escaped from 0uraish, came to him as a Muslim: 0uraish sent two men demanding his return, so the #rophet $#eace be upon him% handed him over to them. 7n the way to Ma&&ah, Abu 3aseer managed to &ill one of them, and the other one fled to Madinah with Abu 3aseer in pursuit. When he reached the #rophet $#eace be upon him%, he said,

5=our obligation is over and All/h has freed you from it. =ou duly handed me over to the men, and All/h has rescued me from them.6 )he #rophet $#eace be upon him% said, 5Woe is his mother, he would have &indled a war if there had been others with him.6 When he heard that, he &new that he would be handed bac& to them, so he fled from Madinah and went as far as *aif Al.3ahr. )he other Muslims who were oppressed in Ma&&ah began to escape to Abu 3aseer. !e was "oined by Abu Gandal and others until a fair.sized colony was forme d and soon sought revenge on 0uraish and started to intercept their caravans. )he pagans of Ma&&ah finding themselves unable to control those e iled colonists, begged the #rophet $#eace be upon him% to do away with the clause which governed the e tradition. )hey implored him by All/h and by their ties of &inship to send for the group, saying that whoever "oined the Muslims in Madinah would be safe from them. *o the #rophet $#eace be upon him% sent for the group and they responded, as e pected, positively. )hese are the realities of the clauses of the truce treaty and as it seems they all function in favour of the nascent Islamic state. !owever, two points in the treaty made it distasteful to some Muslims, namely they were not given access to the !oly *anctuary that year, and the seemingly humiliating attitude as regards reconciliation with the pagans of 0uraish. '(mar, unable to contain himself for the distress ta&ing full grasp of his heart, went to the #rophet $#eace be upon him% and said4 5Aren,t you the true Messenger of All/h;6 )he #rophet $#eace be upon him% replied calmly, 5Why not;6 '(mar again spo&e and as&ed4 5Aren,t we on the path of righteousness and our enemies in the wrong;6 Without showing any resentment, the #rophet $#eace be upon him% replied that it was so. 7n getting this reply he further urged4 5)hen we should not suffer any humiliation in the matter of +aith.6 )he #rophet $#eace be upon him% was unruffled and with perfect confidence said4 5I am the true Messenger of All/h, I never disobey !im, !e shall help me.6 5-id you not tell us,6 re"oined '(mar, 5that we shall perform pilgrimage;6 53ut I have never told you,6 replied the #rophet $#eace be upon him%, 5that we shall do so this very year.6 '(mar was silenced. 3ut his mind was disturbed. !e went to Abu 3a&r and e pressed his feelings before him. Abu 3a&r who had never been in doubt as regards the #rophet,s truthfulness and veracity confirmed what the #rophet $#eace be upon him% had told him. In due course the Chapter of Mictory $ABth% was revealed saying4 > 5Merily, We have given you ?7 Muhammad $#eace be upon him%@ a manifest victory.6 ?AB4C@ )he Messenger of All/h$#eace be upon him% summoned '(mar and imported to him the happy tidings. '(mar was over"oyed, and greatly regretted his former attitude. !e used to spend in charity, observe fasting and prayer and free as many slaves as possible in e piation for that rec&less attitude he had assumed. )he early part of the year N A.!. witnessed the Islamization of three prominent men of Ma&&ah, 'Amr bin Al.'As, 1halid bin Al.Waleed and '(thman bin )alhah. 7n their arrival and entrance into the fold of Islam, the #rophet $#eace be upon him% said, 50uraish has given us its own blood.6