Chief of the Prophets — Page 204
Chapter Nine 204 Ḥudaibiyyah Treaty. The Quraish initially chose the third option, 1 but soon afterwards realized their lack of foresight and sent Abū Sufyān to Muḥammad sa to renew the treaty. Muḥammad sa had already witnessed the violation of the treaty by the Quraish, so he did not accept their demands, and Abū Sufyān returned unsuccessful. Muḥammad sa , joined by the allied tribes, raised an army of 10,000 strong. He started preparation for an assault on Makkah, and instructed his companions to keep it confidential especially from the Quraish of Makkah. But Ḥāṭib bin Abī Balta’a ra , sent a letter by the hand of a woman to the Quraish to alert them of the preparation of the army by Muḥammad sa. Muḥammad sa , through a Divine revelation came to know about it. He sent ’Alī bin Abī Ṭālib ra and Zubair bin al-‘Awwām ra to intercept the woman to recover the letter and arrest her. They reached the woman at Rauatul-Jannah. On questioning, first she denied having any letter; but since they had full conviction in the words of Muḥammad sa , they searched her and found the letter in her tresses. The woman was arrested and presented in the court of Muḥammad sa. Ḥāṭib ra was also asked to appear before Muḥammad sa. Ḥāṭib said: O Messenger of Allah! I swear to God that I have faith in Allah and His Prophet. I am also certain that Allah shall give you a victory over Makkah. But since I have family members and relatives in Makkah, I wanted to do a favour to the people of Makkah. In this way, they would be obliged to me and not hurt my family members and relatives. ” ‘Umar bin al-Khaṭṭāb ra , greatly angered, wanted to behead him, but Muḥammad sa said: O ‘Umar, Ḥāṭib is a veteran of Badr and speaks the truth. He made a mistake which can be forgiven. 1 Az-Zarqānī, cited by Al-Maghāzī.