In the year 628, Prophet Muhammad would seal a truce with the Quraysh tribe that would forever change the way Muslims carry out their agreements to this day. In this article we will analyze the diplomatic nuances of such a treaty, demonstrating how it served to guarantee peace between Muslims and the pagans of Mecca, even though the clauses are totally unfavorable to the faithful of Islam.

Historical context

In 628, as the pilgrimage period (Hajj) approached, the Prophet found himself in a dilemma: whether to perform the sacred ritual or not. It so happens that Muslims and Quraysh already came from a certain history of war conflicts, but the Hajj period was sacred in Arabia, leaving also the pagans in doubt whether or not they would allow Muslims to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Although Muhammad had no intention of carrying out a military offensive, the Quraysh had him as an enemy and someone to who could they could not make concessions. However, preventing Muslims from making the sacred pilgrimage would be an affront to old Arab customs, thus tarnishing the image of the people of Mecca.

Until then, without a clearly defined plan, the Prophet Muhammad received the solution through a dream. Seeing himself with a shaved head like a pilgrim and wearing the traditional clothes of one, he found himself in front of the Kaaba with his key in hand. With the dream giving him the guarantee of victory, later the same would be confirmed by the Holy Quran at Surah Al Fath (The Triumph; 48:27), saying:

”Certainly, has Allah showed to His Messenger the vision in truth. You will surely enter al-Masjid al-Haram, if Allah wills, in safety, with your heads shaved and [hair] shortened, not fearing [anyone]. He knew what you did not know and has arranged before that a conquest near [at hand].

The next morning, in March 628, the Prophet would announce his intention to make the pilgrimage. Muslims felt extremely happy with the news, after all it is a sacred ritual and of extreme importance to them, but they also felt fear and were apprehensive, since the Quraysh threat still existed. Muhammad assured that his objective was not military, but to perform the sacred ritual like the other pilgrims from all over Arabia.

Due to the danger of such an undertaking, the Bedouin allies of the Ummah (Islamic community) refused to participate. Without carrying weapons and wearing traditional white clothing, a thousand Muslims (among them Emigrants and Helpers) left together with the Prophet to perform Hajj.

The Treaty


When the Quraysh heard about the pilgrim’s departure from Medina, they were filled with fear and apprehension, as the Prophet had predicted. As mentioned above, the Meccans were in a terrible dilemma: if they, the guardians of the sanctuary, avoided the approach of a thousand pilgrims to the Kaaba, that would be a serious violation of the laws and customs on which their own greatness and reputation were established. However, if they let their enemies into the sacred place, even if unarmed, that would be a great moral triumph for Muhammad, spreading rapidly across Arabia, being the “icing on the cake” of the defeat suffered by the Quraysh a year earlier ( 627) in their attempt to invade Medina. Even worse, the Muslim way of performing Hajj could attract pagan believers to Muhammad’s religion, confirming its direct link to Abraham’s faith. The Quraysh could not let this happen under any circumstances.

When the pilgrims arrived in Usfan, they were told that a troop of two hundred horsemen had left Mecca to intercept them, being led by Khalid ibn al-Walid, one of the region’s most fearful Arab warriors (and future greatest Muslim general, after his future conversion). Having to change the route, the Prophet asked a guide to take them to their destination through a different path, going towards the coast and then on a tortuous and difficult path, thus arriving in Hudaybiyyah, near Mecca, on the borders with the Sacred Territory.

Already in Hudaybiyyah, a Meccan of the Khuza tribe named Budayl al-Khuzai went to the site along with other comrades from his tribe to negotiate with Muhammad. It was then that the Prophet told al-Khuzai that they were there to make the pilgrimage, not to fight.

With these sayings, Budayl returned to Mecca to inform the city leaders what Muhammad’s intentions were, but they stated that although the Prophet did not want a conflict, the Meccans were ready for one. On this occasion we can clearly see the bellicose character of the Quraysh tribe against Muhammad and the Muslims, since they persecuted the faithful of Islam for more than a decade, even torturing various adherents of the religion of Allah, and now they refused to accept an agreement peace with a group of unarmed pilgrims.

A series of negotiations took place, with Budayl al-Khuzai coming and going from Mecca to Hudaybiyyah, until finally a man named Kinana saw that the camels were adorned and prepared for sacrifice, therefore, by the rules of the Kaaba sanctuary, the faithful Muslims could not be sent away.

The confederate of Taif, Urwah ibn Masud offered to be an intermediary. The same narrates that Suhayl ibn Amr, sent to negotiate with Muhammad, suggested that Muslims return to pilgrimage the following year. Naturally, the Prophet’s companions were indignant at such a proposition, especially Omar, but Abu Bakr warned him that he remained confident in the decisions of the Messenger of God.

Muhammad accepted the proposal, despite the Ummah’s objections, calling on a scribe to write down the terms of this agreement, which began with: “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate”, continuing with “This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of God agreed. ”

Not agreeing to such words, more specifically on calling Muhammad a prophet, Suhayl demanded that the above passage be modified, and so the Prophet did, all to maintain peace with the Quraysh.

The present treaty signed by Muhammad and Suhayl ibn Amr became known as the Hudaybiyyah Treaty, in which it was agreed that Muslim believers should postpone their pilgrimage until the following year when the Quraysh should leave the city for three days so that the faithful of Islam could perform all the necessary rituals in peace.

Also according to the agreement, a period of peace of ten years was established between Mecca and Medina, with the proviso that Muhammad should return the Quraysh converted to Islam and who carried out the hijra (migration to Medina) without the consent of their protectors. The Qur’an stipulates that Muslims must always agree with any condition proposed by the enemy, if there is a chance of a truce. However, such clauses seemed too costly for the Prophet and the faithful of Islam.

As narrated by Ibn Ishaq, the companions of the Prophet were convinced when they learned of the dream before the pilgrimage, but “when they saw what the apostle was subject to, they were depressed almost to the point of dying.”

Looking further than everyone else, Muhammad knew what he was doing. After the defeat of the Quraysh in the attack on Medina in 627, the Prophet might have destroyed them militarily, but he never wanted that. Even abandoning the economic blockade, since before the truce the Emigrants could attack the Quraysh caravans, Muhammad wanted to convince the inhabitants of Mecca for peace.

Conclusion

The Prophet’s peaceful methods have borne good fruit for Islam, such as Mecca’s own recognition of a Muslim state. Not only did some pagans convert, among them Khalid ibn Walid and Amr ibn al-Aas, two immense “acquisitions”, if put in military terms.

Still as an effect of the Islamic pax derived from the Treaty, many non-hostile Arab tribes came to know Islam and several of its members embraced the religion of the Prophet. The Treaty also allowed Muhammad to send letters to the rulers of Persia, Byzantium and Copts calling them to the Islamic religion.

However, most important of all: the Hudaybiyyah Treaty led directly to the conquest of Mecca, when the pagans themselves violated it, becoming the casus belli for the peaceful surrender of the city to Islamic hosts around two years later ( between December 629 and January 630). This is all due to the political tact and diplomatic skills of the Prophet, who in his search for peace achieved a previously unimaginable achievement, having his legacy repeated through the centuries by the most varied Muslim rulers, from the great Saladin to the present day.

Bibliography:

–The Holy Quran. Surah 48.

-LINGS, Martin. Muhammad. His Life Based on the Earliest Sources.

-ARMSTRONG, Karen. Maomé – Uma Biografia do Profeta. 1991

-COLE, Juan.Muhammad. Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires. 2018.

-KUNG, Hans. Islam. Past, Present & Future. Oneworld Publications. 2007.

-WATT, William Montgomery. Muhammad. Prophet and Statesman.