Treaty of al-Hudaybiya

On the day of al-Hudaybiya12 the Prophet (S) preferred peace to war and he ordered of that as Allah had revealed to him. The benefit of Islam required that treaty of peace but that benefit was unknown by the Prophet’s companions and so some of his companions denied the treaty and resisted the Prophet (S) openly. The Prophet (S) paid no attention to their resistance and he went on carrying what he had ordered by Allah and then the end was of the best ends of the conquerors.

The event in details
The Prophet (S) left Medina on Monday, the first of Thul Qa’da in the sixth year of hijra to offer the minor hajj. He feared that Quraysh might wage a war against him or they might prevent him from offering the hajj in the Kaaba as they had done before. He called out the people to offer the minor hajj with him. One thousand and four hundred men of the Muhajireen, the Ansar and other tribesmen followed him.13 Among them there were two hundred knights.
He took with him (al-hadiy) seventy camels as gift to the Kaaba. He did not take with him weapons except the weapons that travelers might take with them; swords and water-skins. 14 When the Prophet (S) and his companions reached Thul Hulayfa, they marked (al-hadiy) the camels and they became in the state of ritual consecration (ihram) so that the people would know that he and his companions had come as pilgrims and not warriors.
Then he and his companions went on and after he passed some of the way, he knew that Khalid bin al-Waleed was in al-Ghameem (a place near Mecca) with two hundred knights from Quraysh. At the head of them was Akrima bin Abu Jahl. The Prophet (S) told his companions of that and ordered them to take the right way in order to avoid the way of Khalid and his men. They moved around al-Hamdh15 and Khalid did not notice them until he saw the black dust of their army. Khalid and his knights came near to the Prophet (S) and his companions. The Prophet (S) ordered Abbad bin Bishr to be with his knights opposite to Khalid.
The time of Dhuhr prayer came. The Prophet (S) offered the prayer with his companions. The polytheists said: “Muhammad and his companions have given you the opportunity to overcome them.” Khalid said: “Yes, they were in inadvertence. If we had attacked them, we would have overcome them. But after a short time they will have another prayer which is more beloved to them than themselves and their children.”
Then Allah revealed to the Prophet (S): “And when you are among them and keep up the prayer for them, let a party of them stand up with you, and let them take their arms; then when they have prostrated themselves let them go to your rear, and let another party who have not prayed come forward and pray with you, and let them take their precautions and their arms; (for) those who disbelieve desire that you may be careless of your arms and your luggage, so that they may then turn upon you with a sudden united attack, and there is no blame on you, if you are annoyed with rain or if you are sick, that you lay down your arms, and take your precautions; surely Allah has prepared a disgraceful chastisement for the unbelievers.
Then when you have finished the prayer, remember Allah standing and sitting and reclining; but when you are secure (from danger) keep up prayer; surely prayer is a timed ordinance for the believers. And be not weak hearted in pursuit of the enemy; if you suffer pain, then surely they (too) suffer pain as you suffer pain, and you hope from Allah what they do not hope; and Allah is Knowing, Wise” (Qur’an 4:102-104)
Then the Prophet (S) offered Asr prayer with his companions as “fear” prayer which was legislated by these previous verses.
“And Allah turned back the unbelievers in their rage; they did not obtain any advantage” (Qur’an 33:25).

Aggressiveness of Quraysh and the wisdom of the Prophet (S)
When the Prophet (S) came to al-Hudaybiya, he got much harm from the polytheists. He and his companions faced rudeness, disgust, hatred and open enmity from them. Also the polytheists got from the Prophet’s companions like that and more for they did according the saying of Allah: “..and let them find in you hardness..” (Qur’an 9:123)
But the Prophet (S), due to his patience that Allah had granted to him, tolerated the polytheists with his wisdom, which was a part of his nature, and his high morals with which Allah had preferred him to the rest of the prophets and Messengers (S).
The polytheists prevented him from entering Mecca in a rude and offensive way but he did not become angry nor was his patience provoked. He dealt with those harsh people with leniency and indifference. He said humble words about them full of highness that made them see him above the stars and see themselves under the ground. His words were full of pity and advice to them and full of divine wisdom that moved their hearts in spite of their hardness and harshness and also were full of warning and threatening to uproot them if they kept on their way.
Here are some of the Prophet’s sayings to ponder on them and to find out the Prophet’s aims. The Prophet (S) said: “Woe unto Quraysh! The war has exhausted them. What will they lose if they let me alone with the Arabs? If the Arabs kill me, it will be the wish of them (Quraysh) and if Allah makes me prevail over them, they will become Muslims honorably and if they refused (to be Muslims), they will fight me with their full power! What does Quraysh think? By Allah, Whom there is no god but, I will still fight for the sake of what my God has sent me to until Allah makes it prevail or this neck is cut!”
He said attracting them towards his great morals and favors: “I swear by Him, in Whose hand my soul is, that if Quraysh invites me today for a plan, in which they ask me for keeping relations of kinship, I will respond to them.”
He declared his mercifulness through these wise and compassionate words and then he gathered his companions to consult them for fighting Quraysh if Quraysh would insist on preventing him from visiting the Kaaba. Most of his companions or perhaps all of them were ready to fight Quraysh and other than Quraysh. They were zealous for that.
During that enthusiasm, al-Miqdad rose expressing the situation of the all. He said: “O Messenger of Allah, we do not say to you as the Israelites have said to Prophet Moses (S): “So go thou and thy Lord and fight! We will sit here” (Qur’an 5:24)
but we say: go, you and your Lord, and fight; we will fight with you. O Messenger of Allah, by Allah, if you take us to Bard al-Ghamad,16 we will go with you even if just one of us will remain alive.”
The Prophet (S) became delighted to hear that. They paid him homage and promised him to support him until the last breath. They were one thousand and four hundred men. Among them was the head of the hypocrites; Ibn Salool.17 No one had refrained from paying homage to him except a man called al-Jadd bin Qays al-Ansari. 18

Fright of the polytheists and request for peace
As soon as Quraysh heard of this homage (the homage of ar-Radhwan)19 their hearts shook and their chests were filled with fright especially after Akrima bin Abu Jahl with five hundred knights had attacked the Muslims and the Prophet (S), as mentioned in al-Kashshaf, had sent to him some of his companions who had defeated him and his men and forced them to retreat until they resorted to the walls of Mecca. Ibn Abbas said: “Allah has made the Muslims defeat Akrima and his men with stones until they entered into the house and then they knew that they would not be able to stand against Muhammad (S) and his companions.”
Then the wise people of Quraysh were obliged to request the Prophet (S) for peace. They had known before that the Prophet (S) had said: “I swear by Him, in Whose hand my soul is, that if Quraysh invites me today for a plan, in which they ask me for keeping relations of kinship, I will respond to them” so they sent to the Prophet (S) some of their notables, at the head of whom was Suhayl bin Amr bin Abd Widd al-Aamiry to represent all of Quraysh before the Prophet (S) to ask for a truce on some conditions which they had put.
The conditions were too oppressive for the Muslims and so they refused them but the polytheists of Quraysh insisted on them resorting to the promise the Prophet (S) had promised to respond to them if whenever they asked him for a matter of kinship. The Prophet (S) had been ordered by Allah to grant this promise and to act according to it. He had accepted their heavy conditions because he obeyed the revelation of Allah and according to the advantage that Allah had been aware of. Later on all the Muslims knew that advantage. You will see the details in a coming chapter inshallah.

Umar disdains the conditions of the truce
When peace was determined with those conditions by the two sides, Umar bin al-Khattab became too angry and zealotry occupied his mind. He came to Abu Bakr while he was flamed up with rage. He said to Abu Bakr:20 “O Abu Bakr, is he not the Messenger of Allah?”
Abu Bakr said: “Yes, he is.”
Umar said: “Are we not Muslims?” Abu Bakr said: “Yes, we are!”
Umar said: “Are they not polytheists?” Abu Bakr said: “Yes, they are?”
Umar said: “Then why do we submit to their conditions?” Abu Bakr said: “O man, he is the Messenger of Allah and he never disobeys his Lord, Who supports him. Keep to him, follow him and obey him until you die. I witness that he is the Messenger of Allah…” 21
Muslim mentioned in his Sahih, vol.2 chap. the Truce of al-Hudaybiya that Umar had said to the Prophet (S): “Are we not on the truth and are they not on the untruth?”
The Prophet (S) said: “Yes.”
Umar said: “Then why do we submit to their conditions and come back (without offering the hajj) before Allah has judged between us and them?”
The Prophet (S) said: “O Ibn al-Khattab, I am the Messenger of Allah and Allah will never neglect me at all.”
Umar became too angry and went to Abu Bakr saying to him: “Are we not on the truth and are they not on the untruth?”
Abu Bakr said: “Yes, we are.”
Umar said: “Are our killed ones not in Paradise and are their killed ones not in Hell?”
Abu Bakr said: “Yes, they are.”
Umar said: “Then why do we submit to them and do not defend our religion?”
Abu Bakr said: “O Ibn al-Khattab, he is the Messenger of Allah and Allah will never neglect him at all.” Many other scholars have mentioned this tradition in their books.
Al-Bukhari mentioned in his Sahih22 that Umar had said to the Prophet (S): “Are you not really the Messenger of Allah?”
The Prophet (S) said: “Yes, I am.”
Umar said: “Are we not on the truth and is our enemy not on the untruth?”
The Prophet (S) said: “Yes, we are.”
Umar said: “Then why do we submit to them and do not defend our religion?”
The Prophet (S) said: “I am the Messenger of Allah. I do not disobey23 Him and He will support me.”
Umar said: “Have you not told us that we would circumambulate the Kaaba?”
The Prophet (S) said: “Yes, I have; but have I told you that we would circumambulate the Kaaba this year?”
Umar said: “No, you have not.”
The Prophet (S) said: “You will come to the Kaaba and you will circumambulate it.” 24
Umar came to Abu Bakr and said to him: “O Abu Bakr, is he not really the Prophet of Allah?”
Abu Bakr said: “Yes, he is.”
Umar said: “Are we not on the truth and is not our enemy on the untruth?”
Abu Bakr said: “Yes, we are.”
Umar said: “Then why do we submit and do not defend our religion?”
Abu Bakr said: “O man, he is the Messenger of Allah. He does not disobey his Lord and Allah will support him. 25 Keep to him and follow him. By Allah, he is on the truth.”
Umar said: “Has he not told us that we would go to the Kaaba and would circumambulate it?”
Abu Bakr said: “Yes, he has, but has he told you that you would circumambulate the Kaaba this year?”
Umar said: “No, he has not.”
He said: “You will visit the Kaaba and you will circumambulate it.”
Umar said: “I did many things for that.” 26
When the Prophet (S) finished writing the book of the truce, he said to his companions: “Go and slaughter the sacrifices and then cut your hair.” The narrator added: “By Allah, not one of them moved to carry out the Prophet’s order. The Prophet (S) repeated that for three times. When no one of them did that, the Prophet (S) came into his tent and then he went out without talking to anyone of them. He slaughtered a camel and then he asked a companion to cut his hair. When the companions saw that, they began to slaughter the sacrifices and then they cut each other’s hair until they were about to kill each other.”
Ahmad bin Hanbal mentioned this tradition in his Musnad from al-Musawwir bin Makhrama and Marwan bin al-Hakam. Al-Halabi in his Seera and many other historians, when talking about the truce of al-Hudaybiya, mentioned that Umar had debated with the Prophet (S) on that day. Then Abu Ubayda bin al-Jarrah said to him: “O Ibn al-Khattab (Umar), do you not hear what the Prophet (S) is saying? We resort to Allah from the evil of the Satan!”
Al-Halabi and other historians mentioned that the Prophet (S) had said to Umar on that day: “O Umar, I myself have agreed so why have you not agreed?” They also mentioned that Umar often said after that: “I am still keeping on fasting, praying, paying charities and setting slaves free so that my speech I have said to the Prophet (S) may be forgiven…”

Carrying out the treaty of peace
The Prophet (S) on that day did not pay any attention to the resistance of those people for he had been ordered by Allah to do that. The treaty of peace was too heavy because of its oppressive conditions. The Prophet (S) sent for Imam ‘Ali (as) to write the form of the treaty. He said to Imam ‘Ali (as): “Write: in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the merciful.” Suhayl bin Amr said: “We do not know this. Let him write: in the name of You, O Allah.”
The Muslims began clamoring and said: “No, by Allah, he will not write except what the Messenger of Allah has said.” But the Prophet (S) stopped the dispute by saying to Imam ‘Ali (as): “Write: in the name of You, O Allah.” Imam ‘Ali (as) wrote the book as the Prophet (S) had ordered him.
Then the Prophet (S) said to him: “Write: This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has agreed on with Suhayl bin Amr.” Suhayl said: “If we regarded you as the Messenger of Allah, we would not have fought you or prevented you from the House (the Kaaba). But let him write: this is what Muhammad bin Abdullah has agreed on with Suhayl bin Amr.” The Muslims broke out shouting and denying what Suhayl had said. They refused that and insisted on writing what the Prophet (S) had said. Sedition was about to take place.
The Prophet (S) said: “I am Muhammad the Messenger of Allah even if you do not believe in me. And I am Muhammad bin Abdullah. O Ali, write: This is what Muhammad bin Abdullah has agreed on with Suhayl bin Amr.” Imam ‘Ali (as) wrote it unwillingly. The Prophet (S) said to him: “O Abul Hasan (Ali), you will be in the same situation one day” or he said to him: “O Abul Hasan, you will receive the same and you will respond while you are oppressed.” 27
The conditions of the truce required that the Prophet (S) and his companions were to go back from al-Hudaybiya to Medina and in the next year the people of Quraysh were to go out of Mecca so that the Prophet (S) and his companions would enter it and would stay there for three days. The Prophet (S) and his companions had to come with no weapons except swords in the sheaths.
The war between them had to stop for ten years 28 during which people would live peacefully. They had to avoid provoking each other. Whoever of (other tribes of) the Arabs wanted to conclude peace with Muhammad, 29 could do that and whoever wanted to ally with Quraysh could do that. The two sides had not to have hidden grudge in their hearts against each other. They had to refrain from robbery and treason.
If any one of Quraysh, who believed in Muhammad (S), resorted to Muhammad (S) without permission of his master, he must be returned to his master and if some one of Muhammad’s companions resorted to Quraysh after having apostatized, Quraysh would not have to return him to Muhammad (S). The Muslims said: “Glory be to Allah! How do we return a Muslim, who resorts to us, to the polytheists of Quraysh?”
The Muslims found it too difficult to accept this condition. They said: “O Messenger of Allah, do you accept this condition against yourself?” He said: “Yes, I do. He, who leaves us after having apostatized, let Allah do away with him and he, who comes to us after being a Muslim and we return him to them, Allah will grant him deliverance.”
While the Prophet (S) and Suhayl bin Amr were writing the treaty with the agreed upon conditions, Abu Jandal al-Aass bin Suhayl bin Amr (the son of Suhayl bin Amr) came to the Muslims trailing with his ties. Abu Jandal had become a Muslim in Mecca some time ago but his father had prevented him from immigrating to Medina. He tied him and put him in prison. When Abu Jandal heard that the Prophet (S) and his companions had come to al-Hudaybiya, he played a trick to get out of prison. He took a way between the mountains until he came to the Muslims who became pleased to receive him.
But his father Suhayl dragged him with his clothes and hit him on the face severely 30 while saying to the Prophet (S): “O Muhammad, this is the first one whom I will ask you to return to me.” The Prophet (S) said to him: “We have not finished writing the treaty yet.” Suhayl said: “Then I will not make peace with you.” The Prophet (S) said to him: “Let him be my resorter then!” he said: “I will not.” The Prophet (S) said: “You are to do that.” He said: “I will not do.”
Mukriz bin Hafs and Huwaytib bin Abdul Uzza, who were notable men of Quraysh, said to the Prophet (S): “O Muhammad, we will protect him for you.” They took Abu Jandal into a pavilion and took his father away from him. Then Suhayl said: “O Muhammad, the matter between me and you has been concluded and completed before my son came to you.” The Prophet (S) said: “You are right.” Then the Prophet (S) said to Abu Jandal: “Be patient and wait for the reward of Allah. The treaty of peace has been concluded before you came and we do not betray. We requested your father concerning you but he refused. Allah will grant you and the weak like you with deliverance.”
Here Umar jumped to Abu Jandal tempting him to kill his father and trying to give him a sword. Umar said, as mentioned in ad-Dahlani’s Seera and other books: “I wished he had taken the sword and struck his father.” He said to Abu Jandal: “One may kill his father. By Allah, if we had met our fathers, we would have killed them.” But Abu Jandal did not respond to Umar in killing his father because he feared to cause sedition 31 and he obeyed the Prophet (S) when he had ordered him to be patient and to wait for the reward of Allah. 32
He said to Umar: “Why do you yourself not kill him?” Umar said: “The Prophet (S) has forbidden us from killing him and other than him.” 33 Abu Jandal said to him: “You are not worthier than me of obeying the Messenger of Allah.” 34
Abu Jandal went back to Mecca with his father under the protection of Mukriz and Huwaytib. They put him in a special place and prevented his father from harming him in order to be loyal to the promise of protection they had given to the Prophet (S). After some time Allah granted deliverance to Abu Jandal and the rest of the oppressed weak Muslims. You will see that later on inshallah. Praise be to Allah, Who has supported His servant and carried out His promise.

The fruit of the peace
The first fruit of the treaty of peace was that it caused the Muslims and the polytheists to mix with each other. The polytheists began to come to Medina after the truce and the Muslims began to go to Mecca.
When the polytheists came to Medina and saw the Prophet (S) with his high morals and exalted conducts, they regarded him highly and appreciated his divine aspects and then they admired Islam with its laws and verdicts, with its permissibility and impermissibility, with its obligations and relations and with all its rules and judgments. They were affected by the Qur'an and its verses which attracted their minds and hearts.
They were astonished to see the Prophet’s companions submit completely to the orders of the Prophet (S). And so they became near to faith after they had been in the utmost blindness and aggression. When they went back to their people, they spread the principles of Muhammad (S) and warned of his conquest.
When the Muslims went to Mecca, they became alone with their relatives and close friends. They began advising them and inviting them to the mission of Allah and His Messenger. They showed them the signs of prophethood and Islam. They showed the Qur'an with its knowledge, wisdom, social rules, obligations, ethics, maxims and histories of ancient and previous nations. They worked as preachers inside the heart of Mecca and this work had a great effect to even the way to the great conquest which had taken place without fighting or resistance.
One of the advantages of the peace was the mere meeting between the Prophet (S) and the polytheists in al-Hudaybiya. The polytheists met the Prophet (S) face to face and saw his great personality and high morals and guidance which most of Quraysh had known nothing about especially the youths. Abu Jahl, al-Waleed, Abu Sufyan, Shayba, Utba and their likes of the idolaters had tried their best to defame the Prophet (S) and they could poison the public opinion. They had done whatever they could in order to “..put out the light of Allah with their mouths, and Allah would not consent save to perfect His light...” (Qur’an 9:32).
They went to where he had emigrated to kill him with his companions and to do away with the people who had protected and supported him but Allah had granted him victory in Badr, Uhud and al-Ahzab; “So the roots of the people who were unjust were cut off; and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds” (Qur’an 6:45).
The people of Mecca, after those wars, remained on their deviated opinion concerning the Prophet (S) for they had not seen him after his emigration to Medina and they had not known about him except what the fabricators spread of false news but on the day of al-Hudaybiya when they mixed with him and with his companions they realized his great morals and high personality.
Whenever they treated him severely and did bad to him, he treated them kindly and did good to them. If they were severe and harsh towards him, he would be kind and merciful to them. He kept on meeting their bad doings with good doings. He followed the saying of Allah: “Repel (evil) with what is best, when lo! he between whom and you was enmity would be as if he were a warm friend. And none are made to receive it but those who are patient, and none are made to receive it but those who have a mighty good fortune” (Qur’an 41:34-35)
The Prophet (S) was able at that time to enter Mecca and to visit the Kaaba by force because Allah had said concerning this event: “And if those who disbelieve fought you, they would certainly turn (their) backs, then they would not find any protector or a helper” (Qur’an 48:22)
and: “And He it is Who held back their hands from you and your hands from them in the valley of Mecca after He had given you victory over them” (Qur’an 48:24).
The polytheists were certain that the Prophet (S) would have defeated them if he had fought them. They knew that his companions had insisted on him to fight but he had refused preferring peace, whose end would be good, to war to save the bloods of people and to respect the Kaaba. The people of Quraysh knew well that the Prophet (S) had pitied them and cared for their rights of kinship; therefore he had accepted the truce with its heavy conditions. He did not have any grudge towards them although they prevented him and his companions from visiting the Kaaba and forced them to go back to Medina where many of his companions were unwilling.
Quraysh thought that this was as retribution to what had happened in the battles of Badr, Uhud and al-Ahzab for that day they realized that the Prophet (S) was not responsible for the shed blood of the people of Quraysh but it was their chiefs of Quraysh who were responsible for that; like Abu Sufyan, Abu Jahl and their likes who had attacked the Prophet (S) in his place of emigration and so they forced him to defend himself and his companions. If they had left him and left those, who received and protected him, alone, he would not have fought them and he would have been satisfied with spreading his mission with wisdom and fair exhortation.
In al-Hudaybiya the Prophet (S) had put out the flame of rage inside the hearts of those polytheists, removed their hatred and made them know the reality of their chiefs and masters until they confessed that they had wronged the Prophet (S) and themselves as well. Hence their hearts became lenient and they felt that their end would be good if they joined him and became under his banner. And it was so after the great victory and the honorable conquest of Mecca; the people of Quraysh, groups by groups, became Muslims.

Coming back to Medina
The Prophet (S) had stayed in al-Hudaybiya for nineteen days. After that he went back to Medina. When he arrived at Kira’ul Ghameem - between Mecca and Medina - the sura of al-Fat~h was revealed to him. Umar was still angry why the polytheists had prevented the Muslims from entering Mecca and forced them to go back unlike what they had expected. The Prophet (S), when this sura had been revealed to him, wanted to remove Umar’s anger and grief therefore he said to him - as mentioned by al-Bukhari:35 “A sura is revealed to me that is more beloved to me than all what is there on the earth.” Then he recited the sura of al-Fat~h: “Surely We have given to you a clear victory…” (Qur’an 48:1).
One of the Prophet’s companions said to him: “This is not a victory. We were prevented from visiting the House (the Kaaba) and two faithful men were returned (to the polytheists) after they had resorted to us.” 36 The Prophet (S) said: “What bad speech this is! Yes, it is the greatest victory. The polytheists became satisfied to push you away from their country and they asked you for peace but they found in you what they disliked. Allah has given you a victory and returned you safe and rewarded. It is the greatest victory.
Have you forgotten the day of Uhud when: “..you ran off precipitately and did not wait for any one, and I was calling you from your rear” (Qur’an 3:153)
Have you forgotten the day of al-Ahzab when: “..they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes turned dull, and the hearts rose up to the throats, and you began to think diverse thoughts of Allah” (Qur’an 33:10)
The Muslims said: “Allah and His Messenger are right. O Prophet of Allah, by Allah we have not thought of what you have thought of. You are more aware of Allah and His orders than us.” 37
But Umar said then: “O Messenger of Allah, have you not said that you would enter Mecca safely?”
The Prophet (S) said: “Yes, I have, but have I said to you that I would enter Mecca this year?”
Umar said: “No, you have not.” 38
Sa’eed bin Mansoor mentioned that ash-Shi’bi had said when talking about the Verse (Surely We have given to you a clear victory): “There was no victory in Islam greater than this before. When the truce was concluded and the state of war ceased, people felt safe with each other. So they met and debated with each other and then no one of the Muslims talked with a prudent one of the polytheists about Islam unless that one became a Muslim. The people, who believed in Islam during those two years, were more than the people who had believed in Islam during all the period before that.
What confirmed this was that the Prophet (S) had come to al-Hudaybiya with one thousand and four hundred Muslims and then after two years he had come to conquer Mecca with ten thousand Muslims. The truce was the first step that paved the way to the great conquest of Mecca after which thousands of people became Muslims; therefore the peace of al-Hudaybiya was called as victory because it was the beginning of the great victory of conquering Mecca.

Deliverance which the Oppressed were promised
You saw the previous tradition of Abu Jandal, who had played a trick to get out of prison and then he came with his ties until he resorted to the Prophet (S) and his companions in al-Hudaybiya. The Prophet (S) could not protect him and he apologized to him but he ordered him to be patient and to expect the reward and deliverance of Allah. The Prophet (S) said to him: “Allah will grant you and the oppressed like you deliverance.”
Among the oppressed and tortured men in Mecca there was a man called Abu Baseer39 who was one of the Muslim heroes. He played a trick and get out of prison and then he fled to resort to the Prophet (S) in Medina after he had come back from al-Hudaybiya. Quraysh wrote a book to the Prophet (S) to send this man back to them.
They sent the book with a man from Bani Aamir called Khunays and with him there was a guide to show him the way. They came to the Prophet (S) with the book. It was written in the book: “You have known well the conditions we have agreed on in the treaty that you have to send us back whoever resorts to you of our people. You are to send us Abu Baseer.”
The Prophet (S) said: “O Abu Baseer, we have agreed with these people on some conditions as you know and we do not betray any one. Allah will bestow upon you and upon the weak and oppressed people like you His deliverance. Please go with grace of Allah.”
Abu Baseer said: “O Messenger of Allah, they will make me deviate from my religion.”
The Prophet (S) said: “O Abu Baseer, go! Allah will grant you and those around you of the oppressed His deliverance.”
Abu Baseer farewelled the Prophet (S) and went with those two men. When they arrived at Thul Hulayfa, they sat to rest beside a wall. Abu Baseer said to one of the men: “O man, is your sword sharp?”
The man said: “Yes, it is.”
Abu Baseer said to him: “Could you show me it?”
The man gave his sword to Abu Baseer. Abu Baseer struck the man with the sword and killed him and he tried to kill the other one but he ran away until he came to the Prophet (S). Abu Baseer was running after him. When the Prophet (S) saw that, he said to the man: “What is the matter with you?”
The man said: “Your friend killed my friend and I hardly could escape his sword. I will be killed. O Muhammad, protect me!”
The Prophet (S) promised to protect him. Then Abu Baseer came with the sword in his hand and said: “O Messenger of Allah, may I die for you! You have just carried out your promise when you handed me over to them but I defended my religion in order not to be deviated by them.”
The Prophet (S) said to him: “You can go wherever you like.” Abu Baseer said: “O Messenger of Allah, this man has robbed the man, whom I have killed. He robbed his sumpter and sword and you may punish him.” The Prophet (S) said to him: “If I punish him, his people will think that I break the promise that I have given to them.”
Then Abu Baseer went to a place through which the caravans of Quraysh passed. Many oppressed Muslims, who had been imprisoned in Mecca, joined him after they had been informed of his news and after they had heard that the Prophet (S) had said about Abu Baseer: “He would wage a war if he had some men with him.” Those oppressed men began to slip away towards him. Abu Jandal bin Suhayl bin Amr slipped away from Mecca with seventy knights, who had become Muslims, and they joined Abu Baseer. They disliked going to the Prophet (S) at that period of the truce.
Some people of the tribes of Ghifar, Juhayna, Aslam and other Arab tribes joined them until they became about three hundred warriors. They began to interrupt the way before the caravans of Quraysh. They killed any one of Quraysh they captured. They took all the caravans that passed by them. They prevented people from entering or leaving Mecca. The people of Quraysh were obliged to write to the Prophet (S) asking him by the kinship between him and them to protect them. They sent Abu Sufyan to the Prophet (S) to delegate with him. Abu Sufyan said to the Prophet (S): “We have given up this condition of the treaty. Whoever resorts to you (of those oppressed Muslims) you can keep him with no liability.”
Then the Prophet (S) wrote to Abu Baseer and Abu Jandal to come to him and those, who were with them, could join their families and they were neither to harm any one of Quraysh passing by them nor to seize any of their caravans. When the book of the Prophet (S) arrived, Abu Baseer was dying. He died while the book was still in his hand. Abu Jandal buried him in that place and built a mosque beside his tomb.
Then Abu Jandal and some of his companions came to the Prophet (S) while the others went back to their families. The people of Quraysh felt safety for their caravan henceforth. Then the Prophet’s companions, who had found it too difficult when the Prophet (S) had sent Abu Jandal back to Quraysh with his father, knew that obeying the Prophet (S) would be better than what they liked and they knew that the advantage in al-Hudaybiya required the treaty of peace and that the Prophet (S) did not talk out of desire.
They regretted their situation toward the Prophet (S) and they confessed that they were mistaken; besides that Quraysh appreciated the Prophet’s situation with them when he accepted the truce to prevent bloodshed. They knew well that he was truthful, sincere, kind and merciful.
Notes:
12. Al-Hudaybiya is a village about nine miles from Mecca.
13. It was also mentioned that they were more and it was mentioned that they were less. The Prophet (S) took with him his wife Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her). Many of the nomads had not followed him. They were hypocrites whom Allah had dispraised in the Sura of al-Fath which had been revealed after this event: “and Allah is wroth with them and has cursed them and prepared hell for them, and evil is the resort” (Qur’an 48: ).
Among those, who went with him, were al-Mugheera bin Shu’ba and Ibn Salool, who had paid homage to him under the tree in al-Hudaybaiya.
14. Umar said to the Prophet (S): “O Messenger of Allah, you fear Abu Sufyan and his companions. Why do you not take weapons with you?” The Prophet (S) said: “I do not take weapons with me while I am going to offer the hajj.”
15. A place near al-Hudaybiya.
16. It was one of the impenetrable forts in Yemen. Marching towards that fort did mean that they would face inevitable death because the fort was very strong and defended. The fort, whose inhabitants were polytheists, was surrounded by mountains and the ways leading to it were very rough.
17. Al-Halabi said in his Seera: “The historians, who had recorded the history of the battle of al-Hudaybiya, mentioned that Quraysh had sent a message to Ibn Salool while he was with the Prophet (S). They said to him: “You can enter Mecca, if you like, and circumambulate the Kaaba.” His son Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: “O father, for the sake of Allah, do not shame us everywhere. How will you circumambulate the Kaaba while the Prophet (S) will not?” Then he refused to do that and said: “I will not circumambulate the House until the Prophet (S) will do.” When the Prophet (S) knew of that, he thanked Ibn Salool and asked Allah to be pleased with him. So bn Salool was one of those who had paid homage to the Prophet under the tree. Hence no one of those, who were with the Prophet (S) in al-Hudaybiya, had refrained from paying homage to the Prophet (S) except al-Jadd bin Qays al-Ansary according to all of the historians.”
18. Al-Halabi said in his Seera that Salama bin al-Aqwa’ had said: “We have promised the Prophet (S) to die for him and none of us has refrained from that save al-Jadd bin Qays. He has stuck to the armpit of his camel to hide himself.
19. This homage had been paid to the Prophet (S) under a tree; therefore it had been called the homage of the tree and it also had been called the homage of ar-Radhwan (pleasure of Allah with the believers) due to the saying of Allah: “Certainly Allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree” (Qur’an 48:18) and His saying at the end of the sura: “Allah has promised those among them who believe and do good, forgiveness and a great reward” (Qur’an 48:29).
Blessed were those who had kept to faith and good doings until they met their Lord Who had been pleased with them and praised them in His Book and promised them with forgiveness and great reward. Allah said: “And if you desire Allah and His Messenger and the latter abode, then surely Allah has prepared for the doers of good among you a mighty reward” (Qur’an 33:29) and “(As for) those who say: Our Lord is Allah, then continue in the right way, the angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not, nor be grieved, and receive good news of the garden which you were promised (Qur’an 41:30). The sincere believers are far above all the false traditions the fabricators have fabricated against them for the holy verses of the Qur'an refute all these false traditions.
20. As in Halabi’s Seera and other books of history.
21. Woe! As if Umar doubted the prophethood of the Prophet (S)!
22. Vol.2 p.81
23. The Prophet’s saying “I do not disobey Him” confirms what we have said that the Prophet (S) has been ordered by Allah to carry out the truce as it has been taken place.
24. In the year of al-Fath (the conquest) when the Prophet (S) took the key of Mecca, he sent for Umar. When he came, the Prophet (S) said to him: “O Umar, it is this that I have said to you.” In the farewell hajj (al-wada’) when the Prophet (S) stopped at Arafa, he sent for Umar too and said to him: “It is this that I have said to you.
25. Abu Bakr’s saying “he does not disobey his Lord” showed that Abu Bakr was aware that the Prophet (S) had been ordered by Allah to conclude the agreement of peace.
26. This word of Umar showed clearly the great doings he had done to spoil the peace and because of that Umar and his followers did not obey the Prophet when he ordered them to slaughter the sacrifices until he repeated his order for three times. You will see the details later on inshallah.
27. This saying of the Prophet (S) has been considered by all of the Muslims as one of the signs of prophethood and one of the signs of Islam. The details have mentioned in al-Halabi’s Seera, ad-Dahlani’s Seera and other books of history.
28. Due to other traditions mentioned by the historians the period of the truce was two years or four years.
29. The tribe of Khuza’a concluded a treaty with the Prophet (S). They had been before the allies of the Prophet’s grandfather Abdul Muttalib. The tribe of Bakr allied with Quraysh. Then a war took place between Khuza’a and Bakr, in which Quraysh supported their ally (the tribe of Bakr) against the Prophet’s ally (the tribe of Khuza’a) and hence Quraysh broke the treaty of al-Hudaybiya with the Prophet (S) and then the Prophet (S) declared to invade Quraysh. The result of that invasion was the great victory and the significant conquest of Mecca.
30. The Muslims began weeping for him.
31. If Suhayl had been killed on that day, sedition would have occurred between the Muslims and Quraysh the evil of which would have spread everywhere.
32. No doubt that when Umar tempted Abu Jandal to kill his father, he objected to the Prophet (S), who had ordered Abu Jandal to be patient and to expect the deliverance of Allah.
33. This was another objection to the Prophet (S), who had forbidden his companions from killing Suhayl and other than Suhayl but Umar had tempted Abu Jandal to kill Suhayl.
34. Abu Jandal had a brother called Abdullah, who had become a Muslim before Abu Jandal. Abdullah had gone with the polytheist to the battle of Badr but he had been a Muslim before that but he had concealed his faith. When he arrived at the place of the battle, he joined the Prophet (S) and fought with him in Badr and in all the battles of the Prophet (S) after that. As for Abu Jandal, the first battle he participated in was the conquest of Mecca.
35. In his Sahih, vol.3 chap.The battle of al-Hudaybiya.
36. How! Allah, the Almighty, said: “Surely We have given to you a clear victory…” and the Prophet (S) recited it as it had been revealed to him by Allah but this man said: “This is not a victory!” Do you know who this man is?!
37. Refer to the story of al-Hudaybiya in ad-Dahlani’s Seera and the other books of history.
38. Al-Halabi’s Seera and others.
39. His name was Utba bin Asad bin Jariya bin Usayd ath-Thaqafi. Ibn Abdul Birr mentioned his biography in his book al-Istee’ab. Ibn Ishaq and other historians have mentioned this story in their books of biographies. Here we quoted it from al-Halabi’s Seera.