Treaty of Hudaibiya

In 6 A.H. the Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) had a dream that he had entered the Sacred Mosque at Makkah. Therefore, He decided to go to Makkah for performing Umrah, or the minor pilgrimage. The Quran says:

“Truly did Allah fulfill the vision for His Messenger: ye shall enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, with minds secure, and without fear.”(48:27)

Accordingly, Hazrat Mohammad (Peace be Upon Him) with fourteen hundred unarmed companions, set out for Makkah for the pilgrimage. The Quraish however decided not to allow the Holy Prophet(Peace be Upon Him) and His companions to enter Makkah. The Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him), therefore stopped at Hudaibiya, a place at a distance of about three miles from Makkah. From there he sent a messenger to inform the Quraish that they had not come to wage war, but had come unarmed and wished to enter Makkah only for the purpose of performing the Umrah.

The messenger sent by the Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) did not return, the Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) sent Hazrat Usman. He, too, was detained by the Quraish and a rumor spread that he was killed. The Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) collected all his followers near the oasis of Rizwan. He took from them the oath that they would lay down their lives in the name of Allah. This oath is known as Bait-e-Rizwan. Regarding this oath, the Quran says:

“Allah’s Good Pleasure was on the Believers when they swore fealty to thee under the tree: He knew what was in their hearts, and He sent down tranquility to them: and He rewarded them with a speedy victory” (48:18)

The Quraish were very disturbed when they heard of this and decided to negotiate a treaty of peace with the Muslims. It was called the Treaty of Hudaibiya. It had the following terms:

• Muslims would return to Madinah that year.
• They would be permitted to come for pilgrimage next year but would stay only for three days in Makkah.
• If a Quraish from Makkah should join the Muslims without permission from this guardians, he would be sent back to Makkah. But if a Muslim from Madinah went to Makkah he would not be sent back.
• There would be no fighting for ten years.

Many of the Muslims including Hazrat Umar were not happy over the terms of the treaty which were very harsh and against the interests of Muslims. Yet the Holy Prophet (Peace be Upon Him) accepted them with the command of Allah Who Himself, declared this treaty to be a manifest victory for the believers by saying:

“Verily We have granted thee a manifest victory.” (48:1)

As the subsequent events show, this treaty proved to be  beneficial for the cause of Islam. It ended the atmosphere of constant hostility and the non-believers of Makkah started coming to Madinah. Having free contacts with the believers, they got the chance to study closely the Islamic way of life. Large number of unbelievers accepted Islam after this treaty. This was the turning point for the Muslims and thus proved the victory later for Muslims.