Islam - Its Meaning for Modern Man — Page 308
308 In the meantime, two women who had accepted Islam escaped from Mecca and arrived in Medina. Soon their return to Mecca was demanded. The Prophet pointed out that the term of the treaty referred expressly to men and made no mention of women, and that a demand for their return was unjustified. With that the Meccans had to be content. Later the Meccans committed a flagrant breach of the treaty by attacking a tribe in alliance with the Muslims, whereupon the Prophet advanced on Mecca and the city fell without any fighting. It is a duty laid upon Muslims to bring about peaceful settlement and adjustment of difficulties and disputes (49:11). If two Muslim states fail to settle their differences through friendly negotiations and if the differences become acute enough to constitute a threat to the maintenance of peace between them, it becomes the duty of other Muslim states to exercise their good offices to bring about a settlement on an equitable basis. Should one of the parties to the dispute be unwilling to avail itself of the good offices of the neutral states, or, having done so, be unwilling to accept and to carry out the terms of the settlement proposed, the neutral states must all combine to consider and adopt measures to compel the submission of the recalcitrant state. For this purpose, recourse may be had to the use of force if necessary. In proposing a settlement, the intervening states