Chief of the Prophets — Page 172
Chapter Eight 172 When Muḥammad sa was returning to Madīnah from Ḥudaibiyyah, Chapter Al-Fatḥ of the Qur’ān was revealed which starts with the following words: (Al-Fatḥ 48:2) Verily, We have granted thee a clear victory. The conditions of the treaty proved so beneficial that in a little while the progress of Islam tremendously accelerated. It is recorded in history that within one and a half to two years, the Muslims started living in peace and safety, and propagated their faith with great ease, and by the time of the victory of Makkah, the number of Muslims had exceeded 10,000 compared to the 1,400 present at Ḥudaibiyyah. Apparently, the third condition of the treaty was very painful for the Muslims, but it proved to be greatly beneficial because the Muslims living in Makkah (who were not allowed to go to Madīnah) were continuously spreading Islam. Further, no Muslim wanted to go over to the Quraish, and if someone did go there after reverting back on his faith, the Muslims had no need for him anyway. In addition, another incident soon made the treaty easier to bear. After a few days, a person named Abū Baṣīr came to Madīnah tired of the atrocities of the Quraish. The Quraish sent two people to Muḥammad sa to bring him back. Muḥammad sa instructed Abū Baṣīr to go back with them according to the conditions of the treaty. The poor man went with them, but when he got to a place called Dhul- Ḥalaifah, he said to one of his accompanying guards, “It looks like you have a great sword!” Hearing the praise of the sword, one of the guards took the other guard’s sword to look at it. Abū Baṣīr also expressed his desire to look at it. The guard without thinking