38- TREATY OF HUDAIBIYA
It ran as follows:
In the name of Allah. These are the conditions of peace between Muhammadsa, son of ‘Abdullah, and Suhail ibn ‘Amr, the envoy of Mecca. There will be no fighting for ten years. Anyone who wishes to join Muhammadsa and to enter into any agreement with him, is free to do so. Anyone who wishes to join the Quraish and to enter into an agreement with them is also free to do so. A young man, or one whose father is alive, if he goes to Muhammadsa without permission from his father or guardian, will be returned to his father or guardian. But should anyone go to the Quraish, he will not be returned. This year Muhammadsa will go back without entering Mecca. But next year he and his followers can enter Mecca, spend three days and perform the circuit. During these three days the Quraish will withdraw to the surrounding hills. When Muhammadsa and his followers enter into Mecca, they will be unarmed except for the sheathed swords which wayfarers in Arabia always have with them (Bukhari).
Two interesting things happened during the signing of this peace. After the terms had been settled the Prophetsa started to dictate the agreement and said, “In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.”
Suhail objected and said, “Allah we know and believe in, but what is this ‘the Gracious and the Merciful?’ This agreement is between two parties. Therefore the religious beliefs of both parties will have to be respected.”
The Prophetsa agreed at once and said to his scribe, “Only write, ‘In the name of Allah’.” The Prophetsa then proceeded to dictate the terms of the agreement. The opening sentence was, ‘These are the conditions of peace between the people of Mecca and Muhammadsa, the Prophetsa of God’. Suhail objected again, and said, “If we thought you a Prophetsa of God, we would not have fought you.” The Prophetsa accepted this objection also.
Instead of Muhammadsa, the Prophetsa of God, he proposed Muhammadsa son of ‘Abdullah. As the Prophetsa was agreeing to everything the Meccans proposed, the Companions felt agitated over the humiliation. Their blood began to boil, and ‘Umarra, the most excited of them all, went to the Prophetsa and asked, “O Prophetsa of God, are we not in the right?”
“Yes,” said the Prophetsa, “we are in the right.” “And were we not told by God that we would perform the circuit of the Ka‘ba?” asked ‘Umarra.
” Yes,” said the Prophetsa.
“Then why this agreement and why these humiliating terms?”
“True,” said the Prophetsa, “God did foretell that we would perform the circuit in peace but He did not say when. I did judge as though it was going to be this year.
But I could be wrong. Must it be this year?” ‘Umarra was silenced.
Then other Companions raised their objections. Some of them asked why they had agreed to restore to his father or guardian a young man who should turn Muslim, without obtaining the same condition for a Muslim who should turn over or happen to go to the Meccans. The Prophetsa explained there was no harm in this. “Everybody who becomes a Muslim,” he said, “does so because he accepts the beliefs and practices inculcated by Islam. He does not become a Muslim in order to join a party and to adopt its customs. Such a man will propagate the Message of Islam wherever he goes, and serve as an instrument for the spread of Islam. But a man who gives up Islam is no use to us. If he no longer believes at heart what we believe, he is no longer one of us. It is better he should go elsewhere.” This reply of the Prophetsa satisfied those who had doubted the wisdom of the course adopted by the Prophetsa. It should satisfy today all those who think that in Islam the punishment of apostasy is death. Had this been so, the Prophetsa would have insisted on the return and punishment of those who gave up Islam.
When the agreement had been written down and the signatures of the parties affixed, there soon arose an occasion which tested the good faith of the parties. A son of Suhail, the Meccan plenipotentiary, appeared before the Prophetsa, bound, wounded and exhausted. He fell at the Prophet’ssa feet and said, “O Prophetsa of God, I am a Muslim at heart, and because of my faith I have to suffer these troubles at the hands of my father. My father was here with you. So I escaped and managed to come to you.” The Prophetsa had not spoken when Suhail intervened and said that the agreement had been signed and he would have to go with him. Abu Jandalra—this being the young man’s name—stood before the Muslims, a brother of brothers, driven to desperation by the ill-treatment of his father. To have to send him back was an obligation they could not endure. They unsheathed their swords and seemed determined to die or save this brother. Abu Jandalra himself entreated the Prophetsa to let him remain. Would he send him back to the tyrants from whose clutches he had managed to escape? But the Prophetsa was determined. He said to Abu Jandalra, “Prophets do not eat their words. We have signed this agreement now. It is for you to bear with patience and to put your trust in God. He will certainly provide for your freedom and for the freedom of other young persons like you.” After the peace had been signed, the Prophetsa returned to Medina. Soon after, another young convert from Mecca, Abu Basirra by name, reached Medina. But in accord with the terms of the agreement, he also was sent back by the Prophetsa. On the way back, he and his guards had a fight in the course of which he killed one of the guards and thus managed to escape. The Meccans went to the Prophetsa again and complained. “But,” said the Prophetsa, “we handed over your man to you. He has now escaped out of your hands. It is no longer our duty to find him and hand him over to you again. A few days later, a woman escaped to Medina. Some of her relations went after her and demanded her return. The Prophetsa explained that the agreement had laid down an exception about men, not about women; so he refused to return this woman.
(Source: LIFE OF MUHAMMAD (pbuh))
BY HADRAT MIRZA BASHIRUDDIN MAHMUD AHMAD
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