Position
of Hudaibiyah:
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) did not think it proper to launch an
attack on Makkah and the House of Allâh for those were the areas where fighting
was prohibited by Allâh. He (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
then chided the dromedary and it got up and moved on. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) halted at the well
of Hudaibiyah. The well was deficient in water which ran short in no time. When
the people were on the brink of facing trouble, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) took out an arrow from his quiver and
gave it to Bara' bin Âzib (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
to drop it in the well. With the dropping of the arrow, water in the well
flowed in such a great quantity that the Muslim army no longer had a scarcity.
When the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) got set at Hudaibiyah, Budail bin Warqa'
Khuzâ'i came with a number of men and asked the purpose behind the arrival of
the Muslims. He (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
said, "Don't you see the rows of sacrificial camels ahead of the caravan
and notice us in Ihrâm?" Hearing this he went away and said to the
Quraish, "You are unnecessarily raising an alarm about Muhammad. He has
come here with the sole intention of visiting the House of Allâh, not for
fighting with you." The mischievous among the Quraish said, "We will
not allow them to come here even as pilgrims." But the wiser section began
to think in silence.
Then they sent Hulais bin Alqamah
Kinâni, the chief of Ahâbish tribes (tribes around Makkah) as their envoy. But
he returned only after witnessing the sacrificial camels without even
approaching the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
and said to the Quraish, "The Muslims have come here not for fighting but
to perform Umrah, and none has the right to prevent them from doing this."
Hearing this the Quraish remarked, "You wild man, you know nothing, we
shall never allow the Muslims to enter Makkah, otherwise we will be
disgraced." Hulais fell in anger and said, "If you keep the Muslims
away from performing Umrah, we will fight against you with all our men."
In response to these activities, the Prophet (صلى الله
عليه وآله وسلم) sent Khirâsh bin Umayyah Khuzâ'i with the message that they
had come not for fighting but to perform Umrah and to sacrifice their animals.
The Quraish slaughtered the camel of Khirâsh and attempted to kill him as well.
But Hulais and his men saved him and returned him safely. Following this a
group of headstrong youngsters came out of Makkah with a plan to launch a
sudden attack on the Muslims. They were all caught but were released later on
by the order of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم).
He (صلى
الله عليه وآله وسلم) then wanted to send Umar Faruq (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to the Makkans. Thereupon Umar (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) submitted, "I
have no objection in going there but none of my tribe Banu Adi bin Ka'b is in
Makkah to take me under their protection. My visit may land me in trouble,
Uthmân bin Affân is a better person to do the job, for a large number of
powerful and influential people of his tribe Banu Umayyah are still in
Makkah." This suggestion was appreciated by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) and he sent Uthmân bin Affân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) to Abu Sufyân as his
envoy. He came across Abân bin Saeed bin Al-Âs (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) as he entered Makkah, Abân took him under his protection
without loss of time and took him to Abu Sufyân and the other chieftains of the
Quraish. Having heard from Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ
عَنْهُ) the message of Prophet (صلى الله عليه
وآله وسلم) they said, "We give you permission to go around
Ka'bah." Thereupon Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ)
said, "I can't circumambulate alone without the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)." Hearing this the Quraish grew
angry and held him back in Makkah.
The
Pledge of Ridwân:
When the return of Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) was delayed, a rumor
spread among the Muslims that he was martyred. Hearing this the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said with
determination, "We shall not leave this place without avenging the murder
of Uthmân." Thus he (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
sat down under a tree and took oath from all his Companions on sacrificing
their lives for this cause. The Noble Quran says referring to this event:
"When
the believers took the oath at your hand (O Messenger) Allâh the Almighty grew
happy with them." (48:18)
But Uthmân (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) came back from Makkah after a short
while. Although the sober and saner section of the Quraish disliked fighting,
the majority opinion persisted in favor of fighting and killing. But finding
the Muslims ready to do battle, their belligerent attitude also softened. Thus
the Makkans sent Urwah bin Mas'ud, the chief of Banu Thaqif to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). He came and said,
"O Muhammad! All the clans of the Quraish are determined to give you
battle. The people who are now lending you their support, will scurry off
leaving you alone for they are unable to stand the onslaught of the
Quraish."
Abu Bakr (رَضِيَ
ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) answered him back so violently that he kept silent. The
Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said to Urwah,
"We have not come here with the intention of fighting but with a desire to
perform Umrah. But, if the Makkans are bent upon fighting, I shall fight with
them to fulfill the duties of my Prophethood till my head is separated from
body or Allâh the Almighty Himself decides the matter. If the Makkans so
desire, I am ready to finalize a truce with them provided they let us do our
preaching work, or accept Islam to do away with the fighting for ever."
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