Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 83
83 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 recognised the Muslims as a people with whom they could enter into treaty relations, and that they had agreed to a ten-year truce period. During that time Islam could be freely preached, and, he added, perhaps peaceful conditions would be established throughout Arabia before the truce period ended. He also stressed that the terms of the treaty were not contrary to his vision; in fact, they opened a way for its fulfilment, inasmuch as the performance of the circuit of the Ka’aba the following year was now assured. Concerning the one-sided arrangement with regard to the return of Meccan young men who might accept Islam, the Prophet pointed out that any person whose heart was illumined by faith would continue to spread the light wherever he was, while Muslims had no use for anybody who chose to repudiate his faith and desert them.