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"Verily We have granted
you a manifest Victory. That Allah may forgive you your faults of
the past and those to follow, fulfil His Favour to you, and guide
you on the Straight Path.
And that Allah may help you with powerful help. It is He who sent
down Tranquillity into the hearts of the Believers, that they may
add Faith to their Faith; for to Allah belong the Forces of the
heavens and the earth, and Allah is full of Knowledge, full of Wisdom."
[Quran 48:1-4]
The Truce of Hudaibiya
was signed in early April 628 (late Dhul Qad, 6 Hijri). The signing
of such a truce was not the intention of the Prophet as he set out
for Makkah in the middle of March. His intention was to perform
the pilgrimage-the off?season pilgrimage known as Umra-and he took
with him 1,400 fully armed Muslims and a large number of sacrificial
animals.
The Quraish, however, feared that the Muslims were coming
to fight a battle and subdue the Quraish in their home town, for
the initiative had now passed to the Muslims. Consequently, the
Quraish moved out of Makkah and concentrated in a camp nearby, from
where Khalid was sent forward with 300 horsemen on the road to Madinah
to intercept the Muslim army. Khalid did not see how he could stop
such a large force with only 300 men, but he decided to do whatever
was possible to delay the advance of the Muslims. He arrived at
Kura?ul?Ghameem, 15 miles from Usfan, and took up a blocking position
in a pass through which the road crossed this hilly region. 1
(See Map 4)
When the Muslims arrived at Usfan, their
advance was preceded by a detachment of 20 horsemen who had been
sent forward as a reconnaissance element. This detachment made contact
with Khalid at Kura?ul?Ghameem, and informed the Prophet at Usfan
of the position and strength of Khalid's force.
The Prophet decided that he would not waste
time in fighting an action at this place. He was in any case anxious
to avoid bloodshed, as his intention was the pilgrimage and not
battle. He ordered his forward detachment to remain in contact with
Khalid, and draw Khalid's attention to itself; and with Khalid so
engaged, the Prophet moved his army from the right, travelling over
little used tracks through difficult hilly country, which he crossed,
not far from the coast through a pass known as Saniyat-ul-Marar
2 . The march proved a strenuous one, but
it was successfully accomplished and Khalid's position bypassed.
It was not till the outflanking movement was well under way that
Khalid saw in the distance the dust of the Muslim column, and realising
what had happened, hastily withdrew to Makkah. The Muslims continued
the march until they had got to Hudaibiya, 13 miles west of Makkah,
and pitched camp.
At Hudaibiya battle seemed imminent for
some time in spite of the Prophet's wish to avoid bloodshed. Some
skirmishes took place, but there were no casualties. After a few
days, however, the Quraish realised that the Muslims had indeed
come for pilgrimage and not for war. Thereafter envoys travelled
back and forth between the two armies, and finally a truce was agreed
upon, which became known as the Truce of Hudaibiya. It was signed
on behalf of the Muslims by the Prophet and on behalf of the Quraish
by Suhail bin Amr. Its terms were as follows:
a. For 10 years there would be no
war, no raids, no military action of any sort between the Muslims
and the Quraish.
b. The following year the Muslims would be permitted to perform
the pilgrimage. They would be allowed three days in Makkah.
c. Any member of the Quraish who deserted to the Muslims
would be returned; any Muslim who deserted to the Quraish would
not be returned.
1. This Kura-ul-Ghameem is not the Kura
marked on today's maps. The latter lies by an inlet of the Red Sea,
while the former was in a hilly region with the hills extending
westwards from it to the sea. It was southeast of Usfan.
2. This pass was also called Zat-ul-Hanzal
(Abu Yusuf: p. 209).
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