Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (628): Truce Between Medina and Mecca

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was a truce agreed in March 628 between Muhammad and the Quraysh of Mecca at al-Hudaybiyyah, a place on the edge of Mecca’s sacred territory. Prevented from entering the city as pilgrims, the Muslims accepted terms that seemed unfavourable, including a promise to turn back that year. Yet the ten-year truce strengthened Muhammad’s position so much that within two years Mecca surrendered to him.

Background

By 628 the long conflict between Medina and Mecca had reached a stalemate. The Quraysh had failed to destroy the Muslim community in the Battle of the Trench in 627, and Muhammad’s alliances among the Arab tribes were growing.

In the eleventh month of the sixth year of the Hijra, Dhu al-Qa’da, corresponding to about March 628, Muhammad announced that he would go to Mecca to perform the umra, the lesser pilgrimage to the Kaaba. He set out with roughly 1,400 followers (sources give between about 1,300 and 1,500), carrying only travellers’ swords in their sheaths and bringing animals for sacrifice. Dhu al-Qa’da was one of the sacred months during which Arabs traditionally refrained from fighting.

The stand-off at Hudaybiyyah

The Quraysh decided to block the pilgrims, and a cavalry force under Khalid ibn al-Walid was sent out. Muhammad avoided it by taking a difficult route and camped at al-Hudaybiyyah, a well about 20 kilometres west of Mecca.

Envoys went back and forth. Muhammad sent Uthman ibn Affan, who had powerful relatives in Mecca, to explain that the Muslims came only as pilgrims. When Uthman was delayed, a rumour spread that he had been killed. Muhammad gathered his followers under a tree, and they swore to stand by him. This oath is known as Bay’at al-Ridwan, the Pledge of Good Pleasure, and the Quran refers to it in the 48th chapter. Uthman then returned unharmed.

The terms of the treaty

The Quraysh sent Suhayl ibn Amr to negotiate. According to the early biographies, the agreement included these main terms:

• A truce of ten years, during which neither side would attack the other.
• No pilgrimage that year: the Muslims would return to Medina, but could come back the following year and stay in Mecca for three days, carrying only sheathed swords.
• Return of refugees: anyone from Quraysh who joined Muhammad without the permission of his guardian would be sent back, but anyone from Muhammad’s side who went to Quraysh would not be returned.
• Freedom of alliance: other tribes could join either party. The Khuza’a allied with Muhammad and the Banu Bakr with the Quraysh.

Ali ibn Abi Talib wrote the document. Suhayl objected to the opening formula, “In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate”, and to the title “Messenger of God”, and Muhammad agreed to a traditional opening and to the name “Muhammad son of Abd Allah”.

Controversy among the Muslims

The terms disappointed many Muslims. Just as the treaty was being concluded, Abu Jandal, Suhayl’s son, who had become a Muslim and been confined by his family, arrived in chains seeking refuge. Under the agreement he had to be handed back. The sources report that Umar ibn al-Khattab openly questioned Muhammad about accepting such terms.

The pilgrims sacrificed their animals and shaved their heads at Hudaybiyyah before returning home. On the way back, the 48th chapter of the Quran, al-Fath (“The Victory”), was revealed, which Muslim tradition understands as describing the treaty itself as a clear victory.

Consequences

The truce freed Muhammad to act elsewhere. A few months later, in 628, he led a campaign against the oasis of Khaybar, which surrendered after a siege. Peace also allowed contact between the two communities, and many Arabs converted in this period. In 629 two leading Meccans, Khalid ibn al-Walid and Amr ibn al-As, joined Muhammad.

The clause on refugees soon proved unworkable. A Meccan convert named Abu Basir escaped and, unable to stay in Medina, gathered other fugitives on the coast to raid Meccan caravans. The Quraysh themselves asked for the clause to be dropped. In 629 the Muslims performed the agreed pilgrimage, known as the Umrat al-Qada.

In late 629 the Banu Bakr attacked the Khuza’a, with help from some Quraysh. Muhammad regarded this as a breach of the truce, which led directly to the Conquest of Mecca in January 630.

Timeline

• 627: the Quraysh and their allies fail to take Medina at the Battle of the Trench.
• 628, March: Muhammad sets out for Mecca with about 1,400 pilgrims.
• 628, March: the Pledge of the Tree and the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah.
• 628, May-June: campaign against Khaybar.
• 629, spring: the Muslims perform the pilgrimage agreed in the treaty.
• 629: Khalid ibn al-Walid and Amr ibn al-As become Muslims.
• 629, November or December: Banu Bakr attack the Khuza’a.
• 630, January: Mecca surrenders to Muhammad.

Why it matters

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah turned the conflict with Mecca from war into diplomacy. By accepting terms that looked like concessions, Muhammad gained recognition as an equal party, time to strengthen his alliances and a peace in which his message spread. In Islamic tradition it is a classic example of patience bringing a greater victory.