The Steadfastness of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and the Benefits and Events That Occurred Therein
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The Shaykh : And there are few examples of the first caliph of this Ummah after its Prophet, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) has great stations in times of hardship that no one among the Companions attained. In the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, you know that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) came to Makkah performing 'Umrah, accompanied by sacrificial animals he had dedicated for the Sacred Precinct. But the tribal pride of Quraysh, the pride of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, compelled them to prevent the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from entering Makkah. Look, and I seek refuge in Allah. Who is the most deserving of the House of Allah? Who? The Messenger and his Companions. [Al-Anfal 8:34] Meaning, Quraysh, Quraysh. [Al-Anfal 8:34] In any case, Quraysh prevented the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from entering Makkah and said, "It is not possible, it is absolutely not possible for you to enter Makkah this year, because the Arabs will say that Quraysh was forced, meaning coerced." The treaty was concluded between them. Do you know what the treaty was? After the consultations and discussions, they agreed on a written treaty. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the scribe: As is the custom of messengers in writing letters, Sulayman wrote a letter to Bilqis: [An-Naml 27:30]. He said: The representative of Quraysh said, "We do not write 'Ar-Rahman'; we do not know 'Ar-Rahman.' We have not been accustomed to writing in the name of Allah, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim. Write 'In the name of your Lord, O Allah.'" Look, the tribal pride, and I seek refuge in Allah. Write 'In the name of your Lord, O Allah.' He said, "Very well. Write 'In the name of your Lord, O Allah.'" Is this a concession or not? It is a concession, but it is a concession for a greater interest, which is the treaty that prevented the spilling of blood and brought about much good, and Allah the Exalted called it a conquest.
Very well. To the end of it. He said, "Do not write 'Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.' If we had known that you were the Messenger of Allah, we would not have stopped you. But you are not a Messenger. But write 'Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah.'"
- What is the matter? Is anyone playing? Huh? Yes -
Do not write 'Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.' Write, "This is what Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah has decreed." This contains:Mishkat al-Masabih 4042. He swore, and he is the Oath-Taker who does not break his oath, that he is the Messenger of Allah. And he said, "If you deny me, write 'Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah.' It does no harm if they deny that he is the Messenger of Allah. Will he not be the Messenger of Allah even if they deny it? Yes? He will not be the Messenger of Allah even if they deny it. Write it."
This is also a concession, or is it not a concession? It is a concession. How many concessions? Two. Very well. The conditions follow. The conditions are that he does not enter Makkah now in this year, and if he enters in the coming year, he enters without weapons, and if he enters in the coming year, he does not stay more than three days. Heavy conditions. A heavier condition follows: whoever comes from the Muslims to the disbelievers, they do not return him to the Muslims, and whoever comes from the disbelievers to the Muslims, they return him to the disbelievers, even if he comes to them as a Muslim.
Look, my brothers, is this a heavy condition or a light one? Very heavy, heavy. And perhaps if such a condition came in our time, the young men would revolt. We do not accept, we do not accept. What is this? We give humiliation in our religion? It will not happen.
Very well. The conditions were written, and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came. 'Umar was the most beloved of the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to him, by the pledge of Abu Bakr, and he was the second caliph, as is well known, and he was strict in the religion of Allah. So he came to review the matter with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "How do we give this condition?" First, he said to him, "You have made a treaty with them to return this year, yet you told us that we would come to the House and circumambulate it. How do we return without having circumambulated?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He said, "No. I will come to it and circumambulate it." Allahu Akbar! Because the Messenger promised them, but he did not say "this year." He said, "I will come to it and circumambulate it." Very well. He said, "O Messenger of Allah! How do we return to them whoever comes to us as a Muslim, while they do not return to us whoever goes from us to them?"
Have we not given humiliation in our religion? He said: Look, steadfastness, great steadfastness. And he said: Because he had apostatized. Very well.
'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) could not bear it. He went to Abu Bakr, knowing that the most beloved of men to the Messenger was? Abu Bakr. And that if he had taken a close friend, he would have taken Abu Bakr.
And he went to Abu Bakr to review the matter with him, hoping that he would be with him in reviewing the matter with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Do you know what Abu Bakr's answer was? Abu Bakr's answer was exactly the same as the answer of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), word for word, as if he had heard the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And this is among the miracles granted by Allah Mighty and Majestic to Abu Bakr, that he was guided in this difficult, tight strait to the correct answer with which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) answered. But he concluded what he said to 'Umar with:. He feared for 'Umar. He said: . So you will find that Abu Bakr was steadfast in this great, tight strait that a person cannot bear except through obedience to Allah and His Messenger.
The result and the outcome, for whom was it? For the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions.
This treaty became a great conquest. The polytheists began to come to Madinah, and the Muslims also went to Makkah, and there was no harm, meaning the people intermingled among themselves, and Islam was presented to the disbelievers from among the people, and the people felt safe from one another, and much good resulted from this, much good, until Allah the Exalted called it a conquest in His saying:[Al-Hadid 57:10] And the intended meaning of the conquest is the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. [Al-Hadid 57:10] Yes. [Al-Hadid 57:10] The outcome was also that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the 'Umrah in the second year. The outcome was also praiseworthy: the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to them whoever came to him as a Muslim. And the outcome was that they dropped the condition; they, meaning the disbelievers, dropped the condition.
Abu Basir (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Madinah as a Muslim, and one man—pay attention, brother—came to Madinah as a Muslim. Did the disbelievers of Quraysh overlook this and say, "One man does no harm, let him go"? No. They sent a request for him. They sent a request for him. Two men. They sent two men to request him until the two men reached Madinah. And this Abu Basir was handed over by the Messenger to them. He was handed over as a Muslim to the disbelievers. Fidelity to what? Fidelity to the condition and the covenant that was made, because fidelity to the covenant is a characteristic of the believers, and it is obligatory, even with disbelievers. It is obligatory, if there is a covenant between us and them, that we fulfill their covenant. And for this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 3166. We ask Allah for well-being.
All right. Abu Basir said to the man, "Where did they take this man?" To Makkah. On the way, while they were stopping, one of them took out his sword. Abu Basir took it and drew it from its sheath and said, "What a fine sword this is!" and he began to praise the sword. The owner of the sword said, "Yes, and how many heads have we cut off with it," or words to that effect, boasting as well. So Abu Basir stood up and cut off the head of the sword's owner. The second one fled. Where? To al-Madinah. He returned to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "Your companion killed my companion." If the second one had stayed, and Allah knows best, he would have killed him. Yes, so Abu Basir came, and the polytheist man came. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to hand him over a second time and said: meaning Abu Basir . When he said these words, they had a great impact on Abu Basir. He realized that he would be handed over a second time, so Abu Basir fled and went to the seashore. The seashore is near al-Madinah, but it is on the route of the merchants from ash-Sham to Makkah. So whenever a caravan from Quraysh came, what did he do? He attacked it and took it. The Muslims in Makkah heard about this, so they came out to him and gathered, becoming a band. Whenever a caravan from Quraysh came, they took it. So Quraysh sent a message to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "O Muhammad, keep these people away from us. The condition between us and you has been annulled." Allah is the Greatest! Glory to Allah! Those who had imposed conditions on themselves are the ones who annulled the condition. So Allah supports whom He wills. Then, the covenant between him and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—they were the ones who broke the covenant that there would be no war between them and the Messenger for ten years. And this truce was in the year... Brother, what year was the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah? The sixth. Rest. In the sixth year of the Hijrah. Not two years had passed since this covenant before Quraysh broke it, as they supported their allies against the allies of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). And this is a breaking of the covenant. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) attacked them in the Battle of the Conquest in Ramadan, and he conquered Makkah, and praise be to Allah. He entered it in Ramadan, eight years after his migration from it, victorious and triumphant. Quraysh was under his control, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. He entered it on the twentieth of Ramadan, on a Friday, and he said to the people: As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 65:319 Then, as history reports, he climbed onto the door of the Ka'bah, and Quraysh was below him, watching what he would say. He said: They said, "A noble brother and the son of a noble brother." He did good to us. He said: Sunan al-Bayhaqi 16:883 So he pardoned them, even though he had the power to take revenge on them. But he pardoned them, (peace and blessings be upon him). So the good outcome was for whom? For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions, just as the good outcome was for Musa and his Companions. And so, everyone who stands for Allah, by Allah, and in Allah, the good outcome is for him. Brother, explain to me what this phrase means: "Everyone who stands for Allah... be patient... by Allah, and in Allah, the good outcome is for him."
The student: For Allah...
The Shaykh : Yes
The student: By Allah...
The Shaykh : Okay.
The student: And in Allah, meaning...
The Shaykh : No. Rest. He understood two things. "Everyone who stands for Allah" means sincerity. "By Allah" means seeking help and reliance. "And in Allah," yes.
The student: In the path of Allah.
The Shaykh : Meaning in the Shari'ah of Allah. Complete. Meaning in the Shari'ah of Allah, not transgressing the limits of Allah. Because a person may be a believer, may be seeking help, may be relying, may be sincere, but if it is not according to the Shari'ah, it is not accepted. It must be in the Shari'ah of Allah. Complete. Whoever stands upon these three things—for Allah, by Allah, and in Allah—the good outcome is for him, either in this world or in the Hereafter. And "good outcome" does not mean that the person personally is victorious. The important thing is that the principle upon which he built his call becomes a foundation for others. For this reason, we say that if a person does not take people by his word and benefit from his books except after his death, then Allah has supported him. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him)—people did not benefit from his books except after long periods after his death. That is, the benefit people derived from him increased until our day, to this very day. When you see the discussion among students of knowledge, one of them says, "Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said such and such," so his saying (may Allah have mercy on him) has become a respected saying among the Muslims.
and they were not [fit to be] its guardians
وما كانوا أولياءهIts [true] guardians are not but the righteous
إن أولياؤه إلا المتقونWrite "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy." Write "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy."
اكتب بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم اكتب بسم الله الرحمان الرحيمIndeed, it is from Solomon, and indeed, it reads: 'In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,
إنه من سليمان وإنه بسم الله الرحمان الرحيمWrite "In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy."
اكتب بسم الله الرحمان الرحيمVery well.
Write "This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has decreed upon Suhayl ibn 'Amr."
اكتب هذا ما قضى عليه محمد رسول الله سهيلً بن عمرو- What is the matter? Is anyone playing? Huh? Yes -
Do not write 'Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.' Write, "This is what Muhammad ibn 'Abdullah has decreed." This contains:
Al-Miswar b. Makhrama and Marwan b. al-Hakam told that the Prophet went out in the year of al-Hudaibiya with over ten hundreds of his companions, and when he came to Dhul Hulaifa he garlanded and marked the votive animals, entered the sacred state for an ‘umra , and then moved on. When he came to the mountain pass by which one descends to Mecca his riding-beasts knelt down and the people said, “Go on, go on! Al-Qaswa’ has become jaded.” But the Prophet said, “Al- Qaswa’ has not become jaded, for that is not a characteristic of hers, but He who restrained the elephant1 has restrained her.” Then he said, “By Him in whose hand my soul is, they will not ask me any good thing by which they honour what God has made sacred without my giving them it.” He then urged her and she leaped up and he turned aside from the road to Mecca and stopped at the farthest point of al-Hudaibiya at a pool with little water which the people collected in small quantities and soon exhausted. Complaint of thirst was made to God’s Messenger, so he drew an arrow from his quiver and ordered them to put it in it, whereupon to their astonishment it kept gushing out to them with water till they left it. Meanwhile Budail b. Warqa’ al Khuza’i came with some members of Khuza’a and ‘Urwa b. Mas'ud joined him. He went on with the tradition2 to the point where he said that when Suhail b. ‘Amr came the Prophet said, “Write: This is what Muhammad God's Messenger has decided.” Suhail protested, “I swear by God that if we knew you were God’s Messenger we would not turn you away from the House or fight with you; but write: Muhammad b. ‘Abdallah.” The Prophet replied, “I swear by God that I am God’s Messenger even if you disbelieve me; write Muhammad b. ‘Abdallah.” Suhail said, “And that a man will not come to you from us, even if he follows your religion, without your sending him back to us." Then when he finished drawing up the document God’s Messenger said to his companions, "Get up and sacrifice, and then shave.” Thereafter some believing women came and God most high sent down, "O you who believe, when believing women come to you as emigrants…”3 God most high forbade them to send them back, but ordered them to restore the dower. When the Prophet returned to Medina Abu Basir, a man of Quraish who was a Muslim, came to him and they sent two men to look for him, so he handed him over to the two men. They took him away, and when they reached Dhul Hulaifa and alighted to eat some dates which they had Abu Basir said to one of the men, "I swear by God, so and so, that I think this sword of yours is a fine one; let me look at it.” He let him have it and he struck him till he died, whereupon the other fled from him and when he reached Medina went running into the mosque. The Prophet said, “This man has seen something frightful.” He said, “I swear by God that my companion has been killed, and I am as good as dead.”4 Abu Basir arrived and the Prophet said, "Woe to his mother, stirrer up of war! Would that he had some kinsfolk!”5 When he heard that he knew that he would send him back to them, so he went out and came to the seashore. Abu Jandal b. Suhail escaped and joined Abu Basir, and it became the practice that every man of Quraish who went out having accepted Islam joined Abu Basir, till a band of them collected. Whenever they heard of a caravan which belonged to Quraish going out to Syria they intercepted it, killed the men and seized their goods; so Quraish sent a message to the Prophet adjuring him by God and the ties of relationship to send instructions to them to stop, and agreeing that anyone who came to him would be safe. So the Prophet sent them instructions. 1. Cf. Al-Qur'an; 105. 2. This indicates that a part of Bukhari’s tradition is omitted here. 3. Al-Qur'an; 60:10. 4. Literally “and I am killed." 5. Literally “would that he had someone!” It probably means that the Prophet wished Abu Basir had had some kinsfolk to whom he could go, and so save him the necessity of returning him to Mecca. 6. Bukhari's tradition is very long. In the version given here it is much reduced, the purpose evidently being to give the essential parts of it without including every detail. Bukhari transmitted it.6
اكتب محمد بن عبد الله والله إني رسول الله وإن كذبتمونيThis is also a concession, or is it not a concession? It is a concession. How many concessions? Two. Very well. The conditions follow. The conditions are that he does not enter Makkah now in this year, and if he enters in the coming year, he enters without weapons, and if he enters in the coming year, he does not stay more than three days. Heavy conditions. A heavier condition follows: whoever comes from the Muslims to the disbelievers, they do not return him to the Muslims, and whoever comes from the disbelievers to the Muslims, they return him to the disbelievers, even if he comes to them as a Muslim.
Look, my brothers, is this a heavy condition or a light one? Very heavy, heavy. And perhaps if such a condition came in our time, the young men would revolt. We do not accept, we do not accept. What is this? We give humiliation in our religion? It will not happen.
Very well. The conditions were written, and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came. 'Umar was the most beloved of the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to him, by the pledge of Abu Bakr, and he was the second caliph, as is well known, and he was strict in the religion of Allah. So he came to review the matter with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "How do we give this condition?" First, he said to him, "You have made a treaty with them to return this year, yet you told us that we would come to the House and circumambulate it. How do we return without having circumambulated?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Did I not tell you that you would come to it this year, until you brought up this issue?
أقلت لك إنك آتيه هذا العام حتى تورد علي هذا الإشكال؟Have we not given humiliation in our religion? He said:
I am the Messenger of Allah, and I have not disobeyed Him, and He is my supporter.
إني رسول الله ولم أعصيه وهو ناصريAs for those who come to us from them as Muslims and we send them back to them, Allah will surely provide for them a way out and a means of escape. And as for those who go from us to them, may Allah not return them.
أما من جاء منهم إلينا مسلما ورددناه إليه فسيجعل الله له فرجا ومخرجا وأما من ذهب منا إليهم يعني فلا رده الله'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) could not bear it. He went to Abu Bakr, knowing that the most beloved of men to the Messenger was? Abu Bakr. And that if he had taken a close friend, he would have taken Abu Bakr.
And he went to Abu Bakr to review the matter with him, hoping that he would be with him in reviewing the matter with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Do you know what Abu Bakr's answer was? Abu Bakr's answer was exactly the same as the answer of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), word for word, as if he had heard the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And this is among the miracles granted by Allah Mighty and Majestic to Abu Bakr, that he was guided in this difficult, tight strait to the correct answer with which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) answered. But he concluded what he said to 'Umar with:
Hold fast to his spear, for he is upon the truth.
استمسك بغرزه فإنه على الحقHold fast to his spear, for he is upon the truth.
استسمك بغرزه فإنه على الحقThe result and the outcome, for whom was it? For the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions.
This treaty became a great conquest. The polytheists began to come to Madinah, and the Muslims also went to Makkah, and there was no harm, meaning the people intermingled among themselves, and Islam was presented to the disbelievers from among the people, and the people felt safe from one another, and much good resulted from this, much good, until Allah the Exalted called it a conquest in His saying:
Not equal among you are those who spent before the conquest [of Makkah] and fought
لا يستوي منكم من أنفق من قبل الفتح وقاتلthey who spent afterwards and fought
أولئك الذين أنفقوا من بعد وقاتلواThose are greater in degree than they who spent afterwards and fought. But to all Allah has promised the best [reward]
أولئك أعظم درجة من الذين أنفقوا من بعد وقاتلوا وكلا وعد الله الحسنىAbu Basir (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Madinah as a Muslim, and one man—pay attention, brother—came to Madinah as a Muslim. Did the disbelievers of Quraysh overlook this and say, "One man does no harm, let him go"? No. They sent a request for him. They sent a request for him. Two men. They sent two men to request him until the two men reached Madinah. And this Abu Basir was handed over by the Messenger to them. He was handed over as a Muslim to the disbelievers. Fidelity to what? Fidelity to the condition and the covenant that was made, because fidelity to the covenant is a characteristic of the believers, and it is obligatory, even with disbelievers. It is obligatory, if there is a covenant between us and them, that we fulfill their covenant. And for this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Whoever killed a person having a treaty with the Muslims, shall not smell the smell of Paradise
من قتل معاهدا لم يرح رائحة الجنةAll right. Abu Basir said to the man, "Where did they take this man?" To Makkah. On the way, while they were stopping, one of them took out his sword. Abu Basir took it and drew it from its sheath and said, "What a fine sword this is!" and he began to praise the sword. The owner of the sword said, "Yes, and how many heads have we cut off with it," or words to that effect, boasting as well. So Abu Basir stood up and cut off the head of the sword's owner. The second one fled. Where? To al-Madinah. He returned to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "Your companion killed my companion." If the second one had stayed, and Allah knows best, he would have killed him. Yes, so Abu Basir came, and the polytheist man came. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended to hand him over a second time and said:
Woe to his mother!
ويل أمهHe is a kindler of war, if only he could find someone to support him.
مسعر حرب لو يجد من ينصرهWhoever enters his house is safe, and whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan.
من دخل بيته فهو آمن ومن دخل دار أبي سفيانO Quraysh, O people of Quraysh, what do you think I am going to do to you?
يا قريش يا معشر قريش ما تروني أني فاعل بكم ؟There is no blame upon you today; Allah forgives you. Go, for you are released.
لاتثريب عليكم اليوم يغفر الله لكم اذهبوا فأنتم الطلقاءThe student: For Allah...
The Shaykh : Yes
The student: By Allah...
The Shaykh : Okay.
The student: And in Allah, meaning...
The Shaykh : No. Rest. He understood two things. "Everyone who stands for Allah" means sincerity. "By Allah" means seeking help and reliance. "And in Allah," yes.
The student: In the path of Allah.
The Shaykh : Meaning in the Shari'ah of Allah. Complete. Meaning in the Shari'ah of Allah, not transgressing the limits of Allah. Because a person may be a believer, may be seeking help, may be relying, may be sincere, but if it is not according to the Shari'ah, it is not accepted. It must be in the Shari'ah of Allah. Complete. Whoever stands upon these three things—for Allah, by Allah, and in Allah—the good outcome is for him, either in this world or in the Hereafter. And "good outcome" does not mean that the person personally is victorious. The important thing is that the principle upon which he built his call becomes a foundation for others. For this reason, we say that if a person does not take people by his word and benefit from his books except after his death, then Allah has supported him. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him)—people did not benefit from his books except after long periods after his death. That is, the benefit people derived from him increased until our day, to this very day. When you see the discussion among students of knowledge, one of them says, "Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said such and such," so his saying (may Allah have mercy on him) has become a respected saying among the Muslims.