The treaty turns to victory

The events that followed proved that the truce of Hudaybiyah was a decisive step in gaining victory after victory for Islam. The Makkans had gloated over their biased treaty. The Muslims, for their part, had accepted the seemingly inglorious terms of the treaty simply because of their faith in the Prophet (r). Both parties found Islam making rapid strides soon thereafter in the Arabian Peninsula. It put an end to the Muslims pre-occupation with the threat from Makkah and before long, it became possible to send deputation outto invite the Caesar and the Chosroes and the Negus to accept Islam. The revelation of God had come true.

“...though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not.” [Qur'an 2:216]

One of the benefits derived from the truce was that the Muslims were no longer perceived as exiles and outlaws, but regarded as a community worthy of Quraysh’s attention with whom they had entered into a treaty as equals. The alliance offered Muslims the rightful place they deserved in the Arabian body politic. And, perhaps, even more important was the atmosphere of peace and tranquility it engendered. The unending war of attrition that had up to now been waged by the Muslims for their very existence, which had been dissipating their vigor and strength, was over. The Muslims could now avail their energies in taking the message of Islam to the un-hostile or rather ambivalent tribes of the desert. The truce provided the Muslims an opportunity to meet with other tribes and discuss Islam with the tribes thus far hostile to the Islam. They now began to discover how people who ate their food, wore their dress, spoke their language and were born and brought up in Makkah, a city like theirs, had, in a few years, been changed into a new class of people - disdaining corruption, polytheism and idol-worship, and rejecting tribal pride, vengeance and bloodlust - a people treading the path of virtue and justice. They could now clearly see that the teachings of Islam and the guidance of the Prophet of God (r) had brought about this change of heart.

Thus, within a year of the truce, as many Arabs embraced the faith of the Prophet (r) as had not entered Islam during the last fifteen years. “There was never a victory in Islam,” says Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, “greater than this. When the armistice came and war laid down its burdens, people began to meet in safety and converse together. And no intelligent man was apprised of Islam who did not enter it. Within two years of the truce as many as those, as had entered it before, embraced Islam, or even more.” (Ibn Hisham, Vol. II, p. 322)

Ibn Hisham says, “Az-Zuhri’s assertion is demonstrated by the fact that the Prophet (r) went to Hudaybiyah with 1,400 men according to Jabir b. ‘Abdullah but two years later the Prophet (r) marched with 10,000 men for the conquest of Makkah.” (Ibn Hisham, Vol. II, p. 322).

Those Muslims who had been left behind in Makkah for one reason or the other, who were harassed and persecuted by the Quraysh, succeeded, after the conclusion of the treaty, to convert a considerable number of young men to their fold until the Quraysh began to consider them as a new menace. These young men joined the band of Abu Basir, which proved to be a new sword-arm of Islam, more dangerous in fact. The Quraysh were forced to request the Prophet (r) to summon these men to Medinah. To this, the Prophet (r) agreed, ending the distress of these poor men. All this came to happen as a result of the treaty of Hudaybiyah. (Zad al-Ma’ad, Vol. I, pp. 388-89).

The attitude of peace and amiability displayed by the Prophet (r) on this occasion which demonstrated his exemplary patience and moderation, did not fail to impress the tribes which surrendered their faith to Islam. This led them to hold Islam in high esteem and to love and revere it, evoking a wholesome atmosphere for its rapid expansion without any conscious effort on the part of the Prophet (r) or the Muslims themselves.

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