Treaty of Hudaybiyyah

Muhammad had a premonition that he entered Mecca and did tawaf around the Ka'bah. His companions in Madinah were delighted when he told them about it. They all revered Mecca and the Kaaba and they learned to do tawaf there. In 628, Muhammad and a group of 1,400 Muslims marched peacefully without arms towards Mecca, in an attempt to perform the Umrah (pilgrimage). They were dressed as pilgrims, and brought sacrificial animals, hoping that the Quraish would honour the Arabian custom of allowing pilgrims to enter the city. The Muslims had left Medina in a state of ihram, a premeditated spiritual and physical state which restricted their freedom of action and prohibited fighting. This, along with the paucity of arms carried, indicated that the pilgrimage was always intended to be peaceful.[4]

Muhammad and his followers camped outside of Mecca, and Muhammad met with Meccan emissaries who wished to prevent the pilgrims' entry into Mecca. After negotiations, the two parties decided to resolve the matter through diplomacy rather than warfare, and a treaty was drawn up.[5]

Having a long discussion Both Parties agreed with some conditional points, such as:

1. The Messenger of Allah will have to return to Madina instead of having entranced Mecca that year. The Muslim shall perform their pilgrimage on upcoming year and they would stay in peace at Mecca for three days with no arms except sheathed swords.
2. There will be a truce between both parties for ten years, whereby during this period all the people may enjoy safety and harmony.
3. Whoever wishes to enter into a covenant with the Prophet will be allowed to do so, and whoever wishes to enter into a covenant with the Quraish will be allowed to do so. Whoever enters into anyone of the parties, will be considered as a part of that party.  Likewise, any  sort  of exaggeration  on  them will  be  considered as exaggeration against that party.
4. Whoever comes to Muhammad from Mecca fleeing away without having permission from his/her guardians, will be sent back to the Quraysh, but whoever come to the Quraysh from the Muslims will not be sent back to the Muslims. And the Writer of the treaty was Ali Ibn Abu Taleb.[6]

After the treaty was signed, most of the pilgrims objected to Muhammad giving in on most points to the Quraysh, use the name of Allah and call himself the Messenger of God. That led to Umar questioning about Muhammad's resolve.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] after that he used to regret that he used to talk to the Prophet in the manner that he had never use to talk before.[11] This has even been recorded in Sahih Muslim.[14]

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was very important in Islam. After the signing of the treaty, the Quraysh of Mecca no longer considered Muhammad to be a rebel or a fugitive from Mecca. They also recognised the Islamic state in Medina by signing the treaty. The treaty also allowed the Muslims who were still in Mecca to practise Islam publicly. Further, as there was no longer a constant struggle between the Muslims and the polytheists, many people saw Islam in a new light, which led to many more people accepting Islam. In addition, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah paved the way for many other tribes to make treaties with the Muslims. The treaty also serves as an example that Islam was not merely spread with the sword, as Muhammad had an army that could have attacked Mecca, but Muhammad chose to make a treaty instead of attacking.[15]

A verse of the Quran was revealed about the treaty, which means, "Verily we have granted thee a manifest victory" (Quran 48:1).

• Pledge of the Tree
• List of treaties
• Urwah ibn Masʽud

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.

• The Oxford History of Islam by John Esposito (Oxford U. Press, 1999)
• William Montgomery Watt (1961). Muhammad: prophet and statesman. Oxford.
• Sayyid Ali Ashgar Razwy (2014). A restatement of the history of Islam and Muslims.