TOWARDS GLOBAL PEACE
THE HUDAIBIYAH REVOLUTION
SINCE time immemorial, people have believed that war is the most powerful means of attaining one’s purpose. Some people even think that the only way to end war is to wage a war in return! They talk about ‘war for peace’, insisting that if you want to attain peace, you must go to war! They argue that the only way to establish one’s power is with a sword or a gun. A Persian couplet says: One who wields the sword, controls the commerce.
But the experience of history proves the opposite; that no positive result has ever been attained through war. It has always been the case that the vanquished have refused to accept defeat. And, the fire of revenge burns in its heart. It reassembles its forces and initiates a war of revenge against the victor. This sort of thing has happened repeatedly in history creating a vicious cycle of war-defeat-revenge.
This has been the case in Muslim history too. Early Islamic history reveals that the Battle of Badr took place in the year AD 624. The battle resulted into a decisive victory for the believers. The defeated Quraysh suffered 70 casualties, but the matter did not end there as they were now fired with the thirst to exact revenge. Returning to Makkah, they started to prepare for a new war. The next year, they attacked Madinah and the Battle of Uhud took place. In this battle, the believers had to face defeat and at least 70 of them were killed in the fighting. At the end of the battle, the leader of the victorious party, Abu Sufyan, stood atop a hill and loudly declared, “Today, we have avenged Badr!
Experience tells us that in the whole of human history, leaders have been unaware of the fact that the psyche of revenge is a major obstacle in gaining any positive objective through war. Since nothing positive can be achieved through revenge, the only practicable solution is to adopt the method of reconciliation. Reconciliation leads to an atmosphere of peace between opponents. In this way, it becomes possible to discover and avail of hidden opportunities making best use of the circumstances. Success is thus entirely possible through this conciliatory policy, as availing of opportunities is the only other name for success.
Divine Planning
To give man right guidance in this regard, God decided to intervene
and manage history. This happened through the Prophet Muhammad
in the first half of the seventh century CE. It began with a dream of the
Prophet when he was in Madinah.
In conformance with the dream, in the month of Dhul Qadah in AD 628, the Prophet along with his Companions set off from Madinah towards Makkah. Several events took place during this journey. Finally, after a series of negotiations, a treaty was agreed upon between the Muslims and the Makkan opponents of the Prophet, known in history as the Treaty of Hudaibiyah or the Hudaibiyah Agreement.
Reconciliation leads to an atmosphere of peace between opponents. Then, it becomes possible to avail of hidden opportunities making best use of the circumstances. Success is thus entirely possible through this conciliatory policy
This Agreement was based on several conditions. But its fundamental requirement was just one—that for a period of ten years there would be no war between the two parties. The words of this requirement in the agreement read as follows: This is the agreement made between Muhammad ibn Abdullah and Suhayl ibn Amr. Both agree that there will be no fighting between them for the next ten years.
The Hudaibiyah Agreement was actually a ten-year no-war pact. As there had been a climate of enmity between the two parties for some time, an agreement of this sort had seemed impractical. This seemingly impossible agreement was accomplished only when the Prophet unilaterally accepted the harsh and unjust conditions of the opposite party.
For example, one condition of the Agreement was that if an inhabitant of Makkah embraced Islam and came to Madinah, he would have to be sent back to Makkah. In contrast, if an inhabitant of Madinah went to Makkah, the Makkans would have the right to detain him. Similarly, there was another condition, that in the year of the Agreement, the believers would return from Hudaibiyah to Madinah without entering Makkah for the Umrah or Minor Pilgrimage.
The Hudaibiyah Agreement was written on a parchment. Ali ibn Abi Talib was the scribe. Under the instructions of the Prophet, he wrote the first sentence as: This is binding on Muhammad, the messenger of God. The representative of the opposing party, Suhayl ibn Amr, objected to this. He said that they did not accept Muhammad as God’s messenger and insisted that only ‘Muhammad ibn [son of] Abdullah’ be written instead. Thereupon, the Prophet instructed Ali to erase the term ‘Rasul Allah’ (‘Messenger of God’) and to write ‘Muhammad ibn Abdullah’ in its place. Ali declined to delete the words ‘Rasul Allah’, and so, the Prophet himself erased these words from the agreement.
After the finalization of this Treaty, the Prophet and his Companions returned to Madinah. Prior to the Treaty, a state of war had prevailed between the two parties. As a result, the dawah mission (calling people to God) of Islam had to be abandoned. But after the Treaty, a state of complete peace was established between them. The Prophet and his Companions now made a new plan for dawah work. They started with dawah work in an organized manner in the surrounding areas of Madinah. Delegations were despatched to the various tribes settled in different parts of Arabia. Dawah delegations were also sent to the nations outside Arabia. The treaty allowed the Muslims who were still in Makkah to practise Islam publicly. The Muslims of Madinah could now once again interact with their relatives in Makkah, and the call of tawheed (monotheism) spread in Makkah.
As a result of these dawah activities in a peaceful atmosphere, a large number of people began entering the fold of Islam. This happened on such a large scale that in just two years, the numerical strength of the believers was enough for Islam to be victorious without the need for any war. Then, it happened that the Quraysh violated a term of the Treaty. Under a confidential plan, the Prophet Muhammad together with 10,000 of his Companions marched towards Makkah and without any fighting, Makkah was overpowered.
The voice of tawheed is the voice of human nature. In a climate of normalcy, peaceful dawah alone is enough to overwhelm people’s hearts. It is said that when suddenly one morning the Makkans saw that the Prophet with 10,000 of his Companions had entered Makkah, their leader Abu Sufyan announced: O people of the Quraysh, this is Muhammad who has entered Makkah in such a manner that you now have no power to overcome him.
This historical event that occurred as a result of the Hudaibiyah Agreement is referred to in the Quran (110: 1-2) in these words: When God’s help and victory come, and you see people entering God’s religion in multitudes [...].
Peace could be established through a unilateral truce, and then, through wise planning, the resulting opportunities could be availed in the best possible manner.
‘Help of God’ in this verse is the same as referred to elsewhere in the Quran as ‘God’s mighty help’ (48: 1-3). The words ‘people entering God’s religion in multitudes’ refers to the victory over Makkah that resulted after the Treaty of Hudaibiyah. People entered the fold of Islam in such large numbers that their numerical strength itself was sufficient reason for victory.
Wisdom of Hudaibiyah
From times of old, man was aware of only two options in dealing with
conflict―war, or retreat. But this notion was based on dichotomous
thinking. In accordance with the law of nature, in reality there was
another option, which man remained unaware of. Peace could be
established through a unilateral truce, and then, through wise planning,
the resulting opportunities could be availed in the best possible manner.
In other words, by abstaining from both confrontation and retreat, and
using the power of peace for quiet planning. The historical event of
Hudaibiyah was a practical demonstration of this wisdom arranged by
God through the Prophet and his Companions.
But it is a strange tragedy of history that despite the successful demonstration of the wisdom of Hudaibiyah, both Muslims as well as others remained unaware of this great truth. Throughout history, the wisdom of Hudaibiyah has been only used once—neither before it, nor after it. Man has always thought about how to attain peace, the study of peace being an academic subject known as Pacifism. A vast number of books have been written on the subject. There is even an Encyclopaedia of Pacifism, but thus far, a practicable ideology of peace has not been developed.
The Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (d. 1910), wrote a famous book on peace. It is titled War and Peace and is considered a classic of world literature. It was first published in 1865 and was translated into many languages. In this book, Tolstoy suggests that peace can be established only on the basis of universal love. But this book was only a novel, a book of fiction. And a work of fiction cannot be a practicable guidebook for real life.