WEEKEND with Ibraheem Sulaiman
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'MUHAMMAD is God's Apostle; and those who are truly with him are firm and unyielding towards all deniers of the truth, yet full of mercy towards one another. Thou canst see them bowing down, prostrating themselves [in prayer], seeking favor with God and His goodly acceptance: their marks are on their faces, traced by prostration.This is their parable in the Torah as well as their parable in the Gospel: they are like a seed that brings forth its shoot, and then He strengthens it, so that it grows stout, and in the end stands firm upon its stem, delighting the sowers.Thus will God cause the believers to grow in strength, so that through them He might confound the deniers of the truth. But unto such of them as may [yet] attain to faith and do righteous deeds, God has promised forgiveness and a reward supreme.' [Quran 48:29]
We are now in Rabiul Awwal, the month in which Prophet Muhammad was born. It is perhaps apt, therefore, by way of commemoration, to reflect on one of the most defining moments in Prophet Muhammad's career, a defining moment in the destiny of Mankind. This is the Treaty of Hudaybiyya. It took place in the sixth year of the Islamic Calendar, that is 627. The Prophet, acting on a vision from God, set out for Mecca, a distance of about two hundred and fifty miles, to perform the pilgrimage along with about one thousand five hundred of his companions. According to the time honored law binding all Arabia, all pilgrims to the Sacred House have a right of free passage, none may be barred. The pilgrims had reached the edge of Mecca when they were denied entry. According to the Quran, the Arab Aristrocracy, Quraysh, 'harbored a stubborn disdain in their hearts - the stubborn disdain [born] of ignorance', against Islam, against the Muslims, against the Truth from God. But in contrast: 'God bestowed from on high His [gift of] inner peace upon His Apostle and the believers, and bound them to the spirit of God-consciousness: for they were most worthy of this [divine gift], and deserved it well.' [48:26] So one side desired war, the other, peace. Negotiations went back and forth, envoys from both sides shuttling frantically, for several days. In the words of Martin Lings:
When they had finally reached an agreement the Prophet told Ali to write down the terms, beginning with the revealed words of consecration, In the Name of God, the Good, the Merciful, but Suhayl objected. "As to The Good," he said, "I know not what he is. But write, In Thy Name, 0 God, as thou wert wont to write." The Prophet said, "Write, In Thy name, O God, and he went on dictating: "These are the terms of the truce between Muhammad the Messenger of God and Suhayl the son of Amr"; but again Suhayl protested. "If we knew thee to be the Messenger of God," he said, "we would not have barred thee from the House, neither would we have fought thee; but write, Muhammad the son of Abd Allah." Ali had already written "the Messenger of God," and the Prophet told him to strike out those words, but he said he could not. So the Prophet told him to point with his finger to the words in question, and he himself struck them out. Then he told him to write in their place "the son of Abd Allah," which he did.
The document continued: "They have agreed to lay down the burden of war for ten years, in which times men shall be safe and not lay violent hands the one upon the other; on condition that whoso cometh unto Muhammad of Quraysh without the leave of his guardian, Muhammad shall return him unto them; but whoso cometh unto Quraysh of those who are with Muhammad, they shall not be returned. There shall be no subterfuge and no treachery. And whoso wisheth to enter into the bond and pact of Muhammad may do so; and whoso wisheth to enter the bond and pact of Quraysh may do so." The treaty ended with the words: "Thou, Muhammad, shalt depart from us this present year, and shalt not enter Mecca when we are present in despite of us. But in the year that is to come, we shall go out from Mecca and thou shalt enter it with thy companions, staying therein for three days, bearing no arms save the arms of the traveller, with swords in sheaths."!
The general mood of the companions of the Prophet as they digested the terms of the treaty was one of 'sullen and explosive silence' to use Martin Lings words. The Quraysh had felt triumphant, having prevented the Prophet from achieving the object of his mission and securing what appeared to be a treaty wholly in their favor. The moderation, magnanimity and foresight of the Prophet had yet to dawn on all, neither the Muslims nor the haughty aristocrats. But God revealed the strategic significance of the treaty, saying, as the Muslims headed home: 'VERILY, [O Muhammad,] We have laid open before thee a manifest victory.' [48:2] The crux of the matter is that the Prophet had secured peace for Islam, and that is the supreme victory.
Armed with peace with Islam's most formidable enemy in the north the Prophet moved swiftly to consolidate peace in Madina, the city-state, over which he was sovereign, by disrupting and dismantling all the military and political enemies to the south. He then began to concentrate his effort on a universal mission, exploring avenues to spread Islam beyond Arabia, to all parts of the world. He sent envoys to the rulers of the great powers of the time, Rome and Persia, which were, as Haykal says: 'the greatest states of the age and the makers and arbiters of world policy and world destiny.' The Prophet invited them to Islam, along with rulers of Egypt and Abyssinia [Ethiopia] among others, in words pure and pristine: 'Accept Islam', he exhorted each of them in his letter, 'and you will be safe.' Heraclius, the Emperor of Byzantuim, responded with much courtesy and respect. 'Had it been in my power,' he said to a confidant, 'I would certainly have taken the trouble to meet him and wash his feet.' The other super power behaved differently. The Persian emperor, Chosroes, known as King of Kings, and sometimes as god, tore the Prophet's letter into pieces. 'Even so,' the Prophet said calmly when his envoy told him, 'will God tear his empire into pieces,' adding at another occasion, 'my religion and my kingdom will replace that of Chosroes and will sweep all before it.' Negus, King of Abyssinia, accepted Islam, saying in his reply to Prophet Muhammad, 'I submit myself to God, the Lord of all the Universe.' Thus did Islam enter Africa in peace, dignity and sublimity.
The following year the Prophet, along with two thousand of his companions, proceeded to Mecca for the pilgrimage, as agreed in the treaty. Sir William Muir, moved by what Ameer Ali calls an unconscious thrill, for he was a most bigoted critic of the Prophet, writes as follows. 'It was surely a strange sight, which at this time presented itself in the vale of Mekka, - a sight unique in the history of the world. The ancient city is for three days evacuated by all its inhabitants, high and low, every house deserted; and, as they retire, the exiled converts, many years banished from their birthplace, approach in great body, accompanied by their allies, revisit the empty homes of their childhood, and within the short allotted space, fulfill the rites of pilgrimage. The outside inhabitants, climbing the heights around, take refuge under tents, or other shelter among the hills and glens; and, clustering on the overhanging peak of Aboo-Kubeys, thence watch the movements of the visitors beneath, as with the Prophet at their head they make the circuit of the Kaabeh...and anxiously scan every figure if perchance they may recognize among the worshipers some long-lost friend or relative. It was a scene rendered possible only by the throes which gave birth to Islam.'
This was how Prophet Muhammad, through peace, won the moral victory over Mecca, and brought the entire world under his grip.
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