The Life of Muhammad

by M. Husayn Haykal

  Promulgation of the Treaty

  As soon as this pact was solemnly concluded by the parties concerned, the tribe of Khuza‘ah entered into an alliance with Muhammad and that of Band Bakr with Quraysh. Soon after, Abu Jandal ibn Suhayl ibn ‘Amr left Makkah forever and came to the Muslim camp seeking to join the Muslims. When Suhayl, the delegate of Quraysh to the Muslim camp, saw his son change loyalties in his presence, he struck him in the face and pulled him by the hair to return to the Quraysh. Abu Jandal was calling upon the Muslims to save him from the fate of being returned to the unbelievers who would persecute him for his faith. This greatly increased the Muslims’ resentment and their dissatisfaction with the pact the Prophet had just concluded with Suhayl. But Muhammad spoke to Abu Jandal. “O Abu Jandal,” he said, “have patience and be disciplined; for God will soon provide for you and your other persecuted colleagues a way out of your suffering. We have entered with the Quraysh into a treaty of peace and we have exchanged with them a solemn pledge that none will cheat the other.” Abu Jandal returned to Quraysh in compliance with the demand of this treaty and Suhayl returned to Makkah. Muhammad, too, was disconcerted with the resentment and dissatisfaction of the Muslims around him. After reciting his prayers he felt reassured, sought his sacrificial animal, and slaughtered it. Then, he sat down and shaved his head, thus declaring the ‘umrah, or lesser pilgrimage, complete. His soul was satisfied and his heart full of contentment, as if the peace of God had come upon him. When the people saw what he did and observed the peace of soul shining through his face, they began to slaughter their animals and to shave off their hair. Some of them shaved off their hair completely and others only in part. Muhammad said, “God Bless those who shaved their heads.” The people asked him about those who only cut their hair short, and Muhammad repeated his blessing for the benefit of those who shaved their heads. After the people asked him three times and he repeated the same blessing three times, he was asked: “Why, O Prophet of God, do you exclude those who cut off their hair short from your blessing?” He answered, “Because the shavers did not doubt, whereas the others did.” [It was customary for the pilgrim in pre-Islamic Arabia to shave his head as evidence of desacralization after a complete performance of the religious function of pilgrimage. When the performance of the religious function had been interrupted or any one of its rituals for some reason missed, the pilgrim would only cut his hair short rather than shave it. He thereby gave evidence of his awareness that his religious function had not been completely fulfilled and of the need to repeat the same function in the following season. -Tr.]

  The Treaty of Hudaybiyah: A Genuine Victor

  Nothing remained for the Muslims to do except to return to Madinah and there await the arrival of the coming season for another trip to Makkah, Most of them accepted this idea grudgingly, and consoled themselves purely on the grounds that the unwelcome compliance therewith was only the command of the Prophet himself. They were not accustomed to acquiesce in a defeat or to surrender without a fight. Moreover, in their faith in God and in the timely assistance that God would grant to His Prophet, his religion and themselves, they could entertain no shadow of a doubt of their ability to storm Makkah if only Muhammad had commanded it. They stayed in al Hudaybiyah a few days questioning one another regarding the wisdom of this pact which the Prophet had concluded. Some of them were inclined to doubt its wisdom. But they bore in patience and then returned home. On their way home between Makkah and Madinah, the surah “al Fath” was revealed to the Prophet, and he recited it to his companions.

  “We have granted to you a clear victory that God may forgive you your past and future shortcomings, grant you His blessings, and guide you to the straight path.” [Qur’an, 48:1-30]

  There was hence no reason to doubt that the Hudaybiyah Treaty was a victory for the Muslims. History has shown that this pact was the product of profound political wisdom and farsightedness and that it brought about consequences of great advantage to Islam and indeed to Arabia as a whole. It was the first time that Quraysh acknowledged that Muhammad was an equal rather than a mere rebel and runaway tribesman. It was the first time that Makkah acknowledged the Islamic state that was rising in Arabia. Makkan acquiescence in the right of the Muslims to visit the sanctuary and to perform the pilgrimage was equally a recognition on her part that Islam was an established and approved religion in the Peninsula. Furthermore, the peace of the following two or ten years gave the Muslims the peace and security they needed on their southern flank without fear of an invasion from Quraysh. The peace also contributed to the spread of Islam. Even Quraysh, the most determined enemy of Islam and its greatest antagonist, had by this pact come to recognize Islam and its community, and to acquiesce in that in which it had never acquiesced before. Indeed, Islam spread after this treaty more widely and quickly than it had ever spread before. While those who accompanied Muhammad to Hudaybiyah counted one thousand and four hundred, those who accompanied him on his conquest of Makkah two years later counted well over ten thousand. The greatest objection to those who doubted the wisdom of the Hudaybiyah pact was directed to the provision that any Quraysh member joining the Muslims without the permission of his guardian would have to be returned to Quraysh, and that any apostate from Islam would not have to be returned to Madinah. Muhammad’s opinion in this matter centered on the consideration that the apostate from Islam who seeks the shelter of Quraysh is not really worthy of readmission to the Muslim community; that for the convert who wished to join that community but who was not allowed to at present, God would soon find an outlet. Events have confirmed this judgment of Muhammad far more quickly than his companions anticipated, and given evidence that Islam had actually drawn great advantages. Indeed, the treaty even made it possible two months later for Muhammad to begin to address himself to the kings and chiefs of foreign states and invite them to join Islam.

  The Story of Abu Basir

  Events succeeded one another very rapidly, all of which confirmed Muhammad’s judgment and wisdom. Abu Basir became a Muslim and escaped from Makkah to Madinah. Obviously, the provisions of the Hudaybiyah Treaty applied to him and demanded his return to the Quraysh, for he had not obtained the permission of his master. Azhar ibn ‘Awf and al Akhnas ibn Shariq wrote to the Prophet to this effect and sent their letter with a tribesman of Banu ‘Amir and a slave of theirs. When the demand was made, the Prophet called Abu Basir and said to him: “We have covenanted with the Quraysh to honor the Treaty of Hudaybiyah which you well know. In our religion, we are not permitted to cheat. You should therefore return to your people. God will grant to you and to the other persecuted Muslims a means of emancipation in His good time.” Abu Basir objected to the Prophet that the unbelievers would force him to apostatize. The Prophet, however, repeated the same judgment to him. Abu Basir had, therefore, to give himself up to the two messengers and accompany them back to Makkah. Once they arrived at Dhu al Hulayfah, Abu Basir asked the Banu ‘Amir tribesman to show him his sword, and as soon as he laid his hand upon it, he struck the tribesman with it and killed him. The Makkan slave ran toward Madinalf and into the Prophet’s presence with obvious signs of fear and panic on his face. When interrogated, the slave told the Prophet that Abu Basir had killed his master. Soon, Abu Basir himself arrived brandishing his sword and addressing Muhammad: “O Prophet of God, you have fulfilled your duty under the Treaty and God has relieved you of your obligation, for you have in fact surrendered me to my people as the treaty prescribed. But I was not willing to allow myself to be persecuted, enticed away, or forced to abjure my religion.” The Prophet did not hide his admiration for him and wished that he had many companions. Later on, Abu Basir went to al ‘Is on the sea coast, on the road which the Quraysh followed to al Sham and which the Treaty of Hudaybiyah prescribed to keep open for Makkan trade. When his story and that of Muhammad’s admiration of him reached Makkah, the Muslims still residing there were elated, and about seventy of them ran away to al ‘Is to follow him as their chief. Abu Basir and his co
mpanions began to cut off the trade route on their own initiative, killing any unbeliever they caught and seizing any camels belonging to Quraysh. Only then did it dawn on the Quraysh what a loss they had incurred by insisting as they did on keeping their Muslim members or slaves in forced residence in Makkah. They realized that the man who is truly committed to Islam was a greater handicap to them than the loss of him altogether to the Muslim camp. Such a man would escape at the first opportunity without entering into the camp of Muhammad and, hence, without becoming an outlaw under the prescriptions of the Hudaybiyah Treaty. He would then wage a terrible war against the Makkans in which the Makkans had everything to lose and nothing to gain. Remembering too well that Muhammad had cut off the caravan road after his emigration to Madinah, the Quraysh feared that Abu Basir would do likewise. They therefore wrote to the Prophet asking him, in violation of the Hudaybiyah Treaty, to accept their fugitives into his camp, in order to keep the caravan route open. In the consequent negotiation, the Quraysh relinquished the privilege emphasized by Suhayl ibn’Amr so strongly, namely, that the Muslims of Quraysh who escape therefrom without approval of their masters or guardians be returned to Quraysh. Thus, the concession criticized by ‘Umar ibn al Khattab and for the sake of which he revolted against Abu Bakr was dropped by request of the Quraysh. Muhammad then invited all the Muslims to enter Madinah, and the caravan route to al Sham became once more secure.

  Muslim Women Emigrants

  As for the Muslim women of Quraysh who escaped to Madinah, Muhammad had a different opinion. Umm Kulthum, daughter of ‘Uqbah ibn abu Mu’ayt, escaped from Makkah to Madinah after the Hudaybiyah Treaty, and her two brothers ‘Umarah and al Walid came to the Prophet demanding her return under terms of the Treaty. The Prophet refused, judging that the treaty did not apply to women and that if women called for assistance and shelter, their request could not be turned down. Furthermore, when a woman becomes a Muslim, she is no more legally tied to her husband who is an unbeliever. Dissolution of the bond of marriage is then automatic. On this point, the revelation is clear: “O Men who believe, if the women believers come to you for shelter, examine them, remembering that God knows the nature of their faith better than anyone. If you find them to be true believers, do not return them to the polytheists to whom they are no longer legitimate. Return to them that which they have spent and marry them if you wish; for there is no blame upon you if you do so, provided you give them their dowries. Do not hold to your matrimonial ties with women unbelievers, but ask them to return what you have spent and return to them what they have spent and separate yourselves from each other. That is the judgment of God and He wishes to see it observed among you. God is All-Knowing and All-Wise.” [Qur’an, 60:10] Thus events confirmed Muhammad’s wisdom, foresight, and deep political insight. History has indeed proved that the Treaty of al Hudaybiyah actually laid down a very important foundation for Islam’s political career as well as for its spread throughout the world. That is the meaning of the clear victory God had promised.

  Relations between Quraysh and Muhammad became quite peaceful and settled after the Treaty of al Hudaybiyah. Both parties felt secure. The Quraysh embarked on enlarging trade, hoping to recapture the losses which had resulted from the war with the Muslims in which the road to al Sham was cut. As for Muhammad, he embarked on a wider policy of mission, seeking to bring his message to all men in all corners of the earth and to lay down the foundations for the happiness and success of the Muslims throughout the Peninsula now that their security was guaranteed. Both these considerations enabled him to send his messengers to the kings in the surrounding empires and, especially after the Battle of Khaybar, to expel the Jews from the Arabian Peninsula altogether.

  Chapter 21

  The Campaign of Khaybar and Missions to Kings

  Muhammad and the Muslims returned from al Hudaybiyah to Madinah three weeks after the signing of the treaty with Quraysh and the agreement that they would not enter Makkah that year but the following year. Many of them returned with wounded pride. They continued to feel dejected and despondent until arch “al Fath,” revealed on the road to Madinah, alleviated their despondency. While in Hudaybiyah as well as after the return to Madinah, Muhammad thought about what he should do to strengthen the faith of his companions and to spread the message of Islam. He thought of sending messengers to Heraclius, Chosroes, the Archbishop of Alexandria, the Negus of Abyssinia, King al Harith of Ghassan, and the satrap of Chosroes in Yaman. He also pondered the necessity of eliminating Jewish influence in the Arabian Peninsula once and for all.

  Crystallization of the Islamic Call

  In fact, the Islamic message had by this time reached a high level of crystallization and comprehensiveness. The time was ripe for its dissemination among mankind. Besides the doctrine of the unity of God and its implications for worship and ethics, the Islamic message developed so widely as to include within its purview all aspects of social activity and human relations. These it sought to regulate and infuse with its ethos and spirit. It attached such importance to man’s social relations that it put its precepts for social behavior on a level with the doctrine of the unity of God. The system of principles Islam elaborated came nearer than any other to enable man to attain perfection and to realize the absolute, or the highest ideals in space-time. Hence, a large number of specific proscriptions were revealed during this period to regulate man’s social relationships.

  The Proscription of Alcohol

  Biographers of the Prophet have disagreed regarding the time of the prohibition of alcohol. Some assert that it took place in the fourth year A.H. Most of them; however, agree that it took place in the same year as the Hudaybiyah pact. The purpose of the prohibition of alcohol was purely a social one, unrelated to the unity of God as a purely theological doctrine. The evidence for this is the fact that the Qur’an remained silent on this problem for a period of approximately twenty years after Muhammad’s commission to prophethood. Throughout this period, the Muslims continued to use alcohol. Further evidence to this effect comes from the fact that the prohibition itself was not categorically laid down all at once, but was revealed progressively and at intervals. There was a series of prohibitions, each prescribing a limitative measure of use. Total abstinence was not demanded until near the end of the Madinese period of the revelation. It is told that ‘Umar ibn al Khattab inquired about the drinking of wine and prayed for God to show the Muslims His will in this regard, and that it was in this connection that the verse was revealed saying, “When they ask you about drinking wine and gambling, answer that they constitute great evil as well as advantage to the people but that their evil is greater than their good.” [Qur’an, 2:219] Despite the indication this verse gave, the Muslims who were in the habit of drinking did not stop. Some of them in a state of drunkenness would pray without knowing what they were reciting. Again ‘Umar prayed God to show more of His will in this matter. The common Arabic saying, “Alcohol causes the loss of both mind and money,” is attributed by tradition to him. Later, another step toward prohibition was taken with the following revelation: “O Men who believe, do not hold the prayers while you are in a state of drunkenness. Recover yourselves first until you become fully conscious of what you are about to recite.” [Qur’an, 4:43] From that day on, the town crier of the Prophet proclaimed at the times of prayer: “Let no drunken man come to prayer.” Despite this new limitation upon alcohol, ‘Umar continued to pray to God to send down yet clearer revelation concerning it. Personally, ‘Umar was quite opposed to alcohol because the Arabs often drank to the point of losing decorum, pulling one another’s beards and hitting one another. It so happened that at a banquet which included Muhajirun and Ansar, a member of the former group boasted of his peoples’ superiority over the latter group. A member of al Ansar, equally intoxicated, wounded the former in the nose by hitting him with a skull bone. Under the influence of liquor, the two groups quarreled, fought, and generated all kinds of hatred toward one another until they almost destroyed their
previous harmony and mutual esteem. On this occasion, God said in a special revelation

  “O men who believe, alcohol, gambling, idols, and divination arrows are an abomination of Satan’s handiwork. Avoid them, therefore, that you may be felicitous. Satan wishes to infuse enmity and hatred among you through alcohol and gambling. He wishes to keep you intoxicated that you may not remember God, and hence fail to hold prayer. Will you not listen and stop being his tools ?”[Qur’an, 5:90-91]

  On the day this revelation was made and the prohibition of alcohol was instituted, Anas, the wine seller and server, spilled all the alcohol in his possession. Other men who were not pleased by the new legislation asked: “Could alcohol be a real abomination even though it was consumed by some of the martyrs of Uhud and Badr?” In response to them, the following verse was revealed: “Those who believed and did the good may not be blamed for what they consumed, inasmuch as they feared God, believed, and did good works. For God loves the virtuous.” [Qur’an, 5:93]

  By commanding mercy and compassion, the doing of good works, disciplining the soul and character by means of worship, and eliminating false pride by means of kneeling and prostration in prayer, Islam became the natural perfection of all previous religions, the religion to which all men are called.

  The Persian and Byzantine Empires

  Heraclius and Chosroes were at the time the chiefs of the Roman and Persian empires, the greatest states of the age and the makers and arbiters of world policy and world destiny. Between them war was continual, as we have had occasion to see. The Persians were at first victorious and conquered Palestine and Egypt. They governed Jerusalem from where they moved away the cross of Christ. Later, the arm of destiny moved, and it was the Roman flag that flew over Egypt, Syria, and Palestine. Heraclius recovered the cross and put it back in its original place after a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on foot in fulfillment of a vow he had taken before victory. One can easily appreciate the position of the two empires if one remembers the tremendous fear which their very names inspired in any person who fell within their reach. Men were so awed by the two empires that no state or community could think of opposing them, and every man kept on good terms with their authorities and representatives as essential to survival. Since the world of the time was one divided between the spheres of influence of these two giants, it was natural for the Arabian Peninsula to fall within the one or the other. ‘Iraq was under Persia while Egypt and al Sham were under the influence of Rome. Hijaz and the entire remainder of the Arabian Peninsula were divided between the two. Whatever prosperity the Arabs enjoyed depended wholly upon trade between Yaman and al Sham. It was absolutely essential, therefore, that the Arabs enjoy the friendship of Khosrau as well as of Heraclius if their trade was to be successful. The Arab population consisted of tribes, sometimes mutually hostile, sometimes peaceful, but never related to one another by a bond constituting a political structure capable of counteracting the influence of either of the two great powers. It was hence amazing that Muhammad would think of sending his messengers to the two great kings, as well as to Ghassan and Yaman, to Egypt and Abyssinia, and to call them all to his religion without fear of the consequences of such deeds for the Arabian Peninsula as a whole, or without fear that Roman and Persian influence in Arabia might actually be transformed into a solid yoke of subjugation.