Se e ra h a s a Mo ve me nt
111
was their sorrow, that when they shaved their heads afterwards,
it seemed as if they were going to cut one another’s throats. But
this truce, the terms of which appeared so unfavourable to the
Muslims, was destined to reap incalculable benefits for them later.
The treaty of Hudaybiyyah was however a temporary solution.
The Prophet knew that the Quraysh would one day violate the
treaty. Therefore, this matter demanded a permanent solution.
The Prophet’s intuition told him to wait until they broke the treaty
before doing battle with them. Knowing the negative sentiments
that spurred the Quraysh on in their fight against the Muslims—
jealousy, hate, greed and arrogance—the Prophet reckoned that
they would stop short of no immoral or unreasonable action in
pursuitof theiraims.Hisestimateprovedcorrect. InSha’aban8
a
.
h
.,
fighting erupted between the tribes of Khuza’a
and Banu
Bakr. The Banu Bakr were allied to the Quraysh and the Khuza’ah
to the Muslims. In blatant contradiction of the terms of theTreaty
of Hudaybiyyah, the Quraysh provided their allies with clandestine
support, thus enabling them to attack the Khuza’ah. This incident
occurred just two years after the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. During
this time the number of people with the Prophet had risen from
1500 to 10,000. Along with them, the Prophet secretly set out for
Makkah. So wise and diplomatic was his strategy that Makkah was
conquered with next to no bloodshed:
“God has promised you many future gains, and thus He has
given you this beforehand, and He has restrained the hands of men
from you.” (Quran, 48:20)
At the time the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was signed, the Prophet
had been preaching for twenty years and the message of Islam had
spread throughout the Arabian peninsula. In every tribe, there
were people in whose hearts the Prophet’s religion had found
a place. But they still looked up to the Quraysh as their leaders,
and, for fear of arousing their ire, many who realized the truth of
Islam were unable to proclaim their faith. They knew that their
public acceptance of Islam would have amounted to a declaration
of war against the mightiest tribe in Arabia. Now they heard that
