The events of Hudaibiyah put far reaching effects on the Arab peninsula in general and Islamic history in particular. In fact, the Treaty of Hudaibiyah paved the way for defining Muslim identity and political and social power resulting in establishing an Islamic state in the Arab region. The event can be described as overwhelming victory and clean sweep against the pagans of Makkah when Muslims got an opportunity to unexpectedly notch gains from the jaws of an apparent defeat which the Qur’ān itself described as “Manifest Victory” as we find in Surah Al-Fath.
It was six years of hijrah when the Prophet and his companions left their beloved city Makkah and were longing to make Tawaf and perform Umrah to which the Prophet had dreamed. In order to make his dream come true and to comply with the directives in the form of revelations by Allah, he along with 1400 companions and sacrificial animals marched towards Makkah with the intention to perform Umrah. The news came to Quraish like fire and sent shockwaves among their leaders, looming dark cloud of another war which they had already experienced in previous years like Badr and Uhud, etc.
They hurriedly gathered and started consultations devising strategies to prevent the Prophet and his companions to enter into the city, but then were prone to peace negotiations. A peace treaty was conducted stipulating that the Messenger would return this year and then come back for Umrah the following year. The Messenger agreed. However, some of the Companions including Umar bin Al-Khattab disliked these terms. After the Prophet slaughtered his sacrificial animals in the area where he was stopped and headed back to Al-Madinah, Allah the Exalted and Most Honoured revealed Surah Al-Fath citing details about what occurred between him and the idolaters. Allah declared the Al-Hudaibiyah peace treaty as a manifest victory because of its inherent features and constant benefits and positive results. The event has been narrated in many ways in authentic hadīths, some in brief and some in details and some of the hadīths can be briefly mentioned here which can give insight into far reaching effects to which even Muslims (companions) disagreed with the agreement initially and expressed his dislike in the very presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him).
It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Wa’il who said: Sahal b. Hunaif stood up on the Day of Siffin and said: O ye people, blame yourselves (for want of discretion); we were with the Messenger of Allah on the Day of Hudaibiyah. If we had thought it fit to fight, we could fight. This was in the truce between the Messenger of Allah and the polytheists. Umar b. Khattab approached the Messenger of Allah and said: Messenger of Allah, aren’t we fighting for truth and they for falsehood? He replied: By all means. He asked: Aren’t those killed from our side in Paradise and those killed from their side in the Fire? He replied: Yes. He said: Then why should we put a blot upon our religion and return, while Allah has not decided the issue between them and ourselves? He said: Son of Khattab, I am the Messenger of Allah. Allah will never ruin me. (The narrator said): Umar went away, but he could not contain himself with rage. So he approached Abu Bakr and said: ‘Abu Bakr, aren’t we fighting for truth and they for falsehood? He replied: Yes. He asked: Aren’t those killed from our side in Paradise and those killed from their side in the Fire? He replied: Why not? He (then) said: Why should we then disgrace our religion and return while God has not yet decided the issue between them and ourselves? Abu Bakr said: Son of Khattab, verily, he is the Messenger of Allah, and Allah will never ruin him. (The narrator continued): At this a Surah of the Qur’ān (giving glad tidings of the victory) was revealed to the Messenger of Allah. He sent for Umar and made him listen to it. He asked: Is (this truce) a victory? He (the Messenger of Allah) replied: Yes. At this Umar was pleased, and returned.
Another hadīth narrated on the authority of al-Bara’ b. ‘Azib who said: ‘Ali b. Abu Talib penned down the treaty between the Holy Prophet and the polytheists on the Day of Hudaibiyah. He wrote: This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has settled. They (the polytheists) said: Do not write words “the Messenger of Allah”. If we knew that you were the Messenger of Allah, we would not fight against you. The Prophet said to Ali: Strike out these words. He (Ali) said: I am not going to strike them out. So the Prophet struck them out with his own hand. The narrator said that the conditions upon which the two sides had agreed included that the Muslims would enter Makkah (next year) and would stay there for three days, and that they would not enter bearing arms except in their sheaths or bolsters.
Similarly, another version narrated on the authority of Bara’ who said: When the Prophet was checked from going to the Ka’aba, the people of Makkah made peace with him ‘on the condition that he would (be allowed to) enter Makkah (next year) and stay there for three days, that he would not enter (the city) except with swords in their sheaths and arms encased in their covers, that he would not take away with him anyone from its dwellers, nor would he prevent anyone from those with him to stay on in Makkah (if he so desired). He said to Ali: Write down the terms settled between us. (So Ali wrote): In the name of Allah, most Gracious and most Merciful. This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has settled (with the Makkans). The polytheists said to him: If we knew that thou art the Messenger of of Allah, we would follow you. But write: Muhammad ibn Abdullah. So he told Ali to strike out these words. Ali said: No, by Allah, I will not strike them out. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) said: Show me their place (on the parchment). So he (Ali) showed him their place and he (the Holy Prophet) struck them out; and Ali wrote: Ibn Abdullah. (According to the terms of the treaty, next year) the Holy Prophet stayed there for three days when it was the third day, they said to Ali: This is the last day according to the terms of the Treaty. So tell him to leave. Ali informed the Prophet accordingly. He said: Yes, and left (the city).
It has been narrated on the authority of Anas that the Quraish made peace with the Prophet. Among them was Suhail ibn Amr. The Prophet said to Ali: Write: “In the name of Allah, most Gracious and most Merciful.” Suhail said: As for “Bismillah,” we do not know what is meant by “Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim” (In the name of Allah most Gracious and most Merciful). But write what we understand, i. e. Bi ismika allahumma (in thy name, O Allah). Then, the Prophet said: Write: “From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.” They said: If we knew that you were the Messenger of Allah, we would follow you. Therefore, write your name and the name of your father. So the Holy Prophet said: Write: “From Muhammad ibn Abdullah.” They laid the condition on the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him) that anyone who joined them from the Muslims, the Makkans would not return him, and anyone who joined you (the Muslims) from them, you would send him back to them. The Companions said: Messenger of Allah, should we write this? He said: Yes. One who goes away from us to join them – may Allah keep him away! and one who comes to join us from them (and is sent back) Allah will provide him relief and a way of escape.
Abdullah bin Masud and other Companions said, “You consider the conquering of Makkah to be Al-Fath (the victory), while to us, Al-Fath is the treaty conducted at Al-Hudaibiyah.” Jabir (bin Abdullah) said, “We only considered Al-Fath to be the day of Hudaibiyah!” Al-Bukhari recorded that Al-Bara’ (bin Azib) said, “You consider Al-Fath to be the Conquest of Makkah, which was indeed a victory. However, we consider Al-Fath to be the pledge of Ar-Ridwan on the Day of Al-Hudaibiyah. Then, we were fourteen hundred with the Messenger of Allah. Al-Hudaibiyah had a well, whose water we consumed, not leaving a drop of water in it. When the news of what happened reached the Messenger of Allah , he came towards us and sat on the edge of the well. Then he asked to be brought a bucket of water and used it for ablution. He next rinsed his mouth, invoked Allah and poured that water into the well. Soon after, that well provided us, as well as our animals, with sufficient water, in whatever amount we wished. Imam Ahmad recorded that Umar bin Al-Khattab said, “We were with the Messenger of Allah on a trip, and I asked him about a matter three times, but he did not answer me. So I said to myself, May your mother lose you, O son of Al-Khattab! You were stubborn in repeating your question three times to the Messenger of Allah; each time he did not respond to you.’ So I mounted my animal, my camel, and went ahead for fear that a part of the Qur’an might be revealed in my case. Suddenly, I heard a caller calling, ‘O Umar!’ So, I went to the Messenger while fearing that part of the Qur’ān was revealed about me. The Prophet said,
A series of events confirmed the profound wisdom and splendid results of the peace treaty which Allah called “a manifest victory”. And for the first time Quraish had recognised the legitimate Muslims’ existence on the scene of political life in Arabia, and began to deal with the believers on equal terms. The Quraish in the light of the articles of the treaty, had indirectly relinquished its claim to religious leadership, and admitted that they were no longer interested in people other than the Quraish, and washed their hands of any sort of intervention in the religious future of the Arabian Peninsula. The Muslims, on the other hand, had the opportunity to spread Islam over areas not then explored. When there was armistice, war was abolished, and men met and consulted together, none talked about Islam intelligently without entering it; within the two years following the conclusion of the treaty double as many entered Islam as ever before. This is supported by the fact that the Prophet went out to Al-Hudaibiyah with only 1,400 men, but when he set out to liberate Makkah, two years later, he had 10,000 men with him.
The article of the treaty pertaining to end of hostilities for ten years indicates complete failure of political arrogance by the Quraish and their allies. The article “handing over believing men who seek refuge with the Muslims without their guardians’ consent to Quraish looks at first glance most distressing clause and was so considered objectionable in the Muslim camp. However, in the course of events, it proved to be a great blessing. The Muslims sent back to Makkah were not likely to renounce the blessings of Islam; contrariwise, those very Muslims turned out to be centres of influence for Islam.
After the Prophet had reached Madinah, Abu Baseer, who had escaped from Quraish, came to him as a Muslim; Quraish sent two men demanding his return, so the Prophet handed him over to them. On the way to Makkah, Abu Baseer managed to kill one of them, and the other one fled to Madinah with Abu Baseer in pursuit. When he reached the Prophet, he told the Prophet, “Your obligation is over and Allâh has freed you from it. You duly handed me over to the men, and Allâh has rescued me from them.” The Prophet said, “Woe to his mother, he would have kindled a war if there had been others with him.” When he heard that, he knew that he would be handed back to them, so he fled from Madinah and went as far as Saif Al-Bahr.
The other Muslims who were oppressed in Makkah began to escape to Abu Baseer. He was joined by Abu Jandal and others until a fair-sized colony was formed and soon sought revenge on Quraish and started to intercept their caravans. The pagans of Makkah finding themselves unable to control those exiled colonists, begged the Prophet to do away with the clause which governed the extradition. They implored him by Allah and by their ties of kinship to send for the group, saying that whoever joined the Muslims in Madinah would be safe from them. So the Prophet sent for the group and they responded, as expected, positively. These are the realities of the clauses of the treaty and as it seems they all function in favour of the nascent Islamic state.
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. A large number of unbelievers accepted Islam after this treaty. This was the turning point for the Muslims and thus proved to be the victory later for Islam and Muslims.