The Excellent Exemplar - Muhammad — Page 57
THE EXCELLENT EXEMPLAR — MUHAMMAD 57 Soon an envoy arrived from the city and made it clear that the chiefs would on no account permit the Muslims to enter Mecca, at least not that year, for this would be interpreted as a triumph for the Prophet and a humiliation for the Meccans. Continuing hi s efforts to persuade the Meccans to let his party perform an act of worship which was the undoubted right of every Arab, the Prophet sent one of his principal companions, Uthman, into Mecca to talk to the chiefs, but to no purpose. Eventually, the Meccans did propose certain conditions, all of which the Prophet accepted, and a treaty, known as the Treaty of Hudaibiyya (after the place where the Prophet was then encamped), was drawn up. The treaty specified that hostilities be suspended for ten years; that any tribe choosing to do so could enter into treaty relations with the Muslims or the Meccans; that both sides were under obligation to respect these treaties; that any Meccan young man who left the town without the permission of his father or guardian and joined the Prophet would be returned to Mecca, but that any Muslim who left the Prophet and went over to the Meccans would not be returned to the Muslims; that the Prophet and his party would return to Medina, but would be permitted to perform the circuit the following year and could stay in Mecca for that purpose for three days; that they would not enter Mecca with any arms other than sheathed swords; that the Meccans would vacate the town during that period in order to eliminate all risk of clash. The Muslims felt that the terms of the treaty were not only onerous and one - sided, but humiliating. The Prophet, however, explained that unequal as it was, it did secure great benefits, the principal ones being that the Meccans had recognized the