064 - The Treaty of Hudaybiyya - Part 2

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We discussed that Allah SWT caused the Prophet's PBUH camel to stop at the Plain of Hudaybiyyah, so the Muslims set up camp there.

During the course of the next few days, many things happened. However, the standard problem of the whole seerah is that we have tidbits of various incidents —one sahabi narrates one incident, another narrates another incident— but they are not pieced together in chronological order. And it is one of the jobs of modern scholars to reconstruct the order in a digestible format. So realize, what we will present to you is but one version of the order.

The Quraysh Tried to Surprise Attack the Muslims

One of the things that happened is that the Quraysh tried to surprise attack the Muslims who were camped in Hudaybiyyah. When did this happen? The first day? The second day? The third day? We don't know; nothing is mentioned. It might have happened right at the end or right at the beginning. But we just mention it separately because it's one incident — the rest will be the sending of emissaries back and forth between the Quraysh and the Prophet PBUH.

So the Quraysh launched a surprise attack; this is reported in Sahih Muslim. 80 people from the Quraysh launched a surprise attack from the mountain area of Tan'im right around Fajr time hoping to catch the Muslims unprepared. However, the Muslims were well prepared; they had scouts and envoys, and they saw them coming, so instead of surprise attacking the Muslims, the plan backfired and the Muslims surrounded them and forced them to surrender without causing any bloodshed. They brought them to the Prophet PBUH. The Prophet PBUH forgave all of them and sent them back to Makkah.

This is an amazing story that clearly demonstrates that the Prophet PBUH has no interest in bloodshed. He has the full right to kill these people — and if the whole 80 people had been decimated, every legal system in the world would say it's fully justified, even by today's standard. Yet not a single drop of blood is shed and they are returned to Makkah. Allah mentions this in the Quran, Surah al-Fath verse 24:

وَهُوَ الَّذِي كَفَّ أَيْدِيَهُمْ عَنكُمْ وَأَيْدِيَكُمْ عَنْهُم بِبَطْنِ مَكَّةَ مِن بَعْدِ أَنْ أَظْفَرَكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرًا

"He is the One Who held back their hands from you and your hands from them in the valley of [Hudaybiyyah, near] Makkah, after giving you the upper hand over [a group of] them. And Allah is All-Seeing of what you do" [Quran, 48:24].

Imagine 80 people fully armed attacking people who were all sleeping — hundreds of sahaba would have died; but Allah protected them. And similarly, Allah said He stopped the Muslims from killing a single person. And this is crucial. Why? Because if the Prophet PBUH even killed one of them, there would never have been [the Treaty of] Hudaybiyyah.

(Footnote: Note all of Surat al-Fath is a reference to the Incident of Hudaybiyyah; it's not the Conquest of Makkah. No doubt, when we say "al-Fath," we refer to the Conquest of Makkah — but Surat al-Fath has nothing to do with the Conquest of Makkah. It was revealed in its entirety right after the Incident of Hudaybiyyah, so "We have given you a clear victory/conquest" [Quran, 48:1] is a reference to the Incident of Hudaybiyyah.)

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An Emissary From the Tribe of Khuza'a:

Budayl ibn Warqa'

Now we will discuss at length the negotiations that went back and forth between the Muslims and the Quraysh.

The first person who appears to have become an emissary is neither Makki nor Madani. He is a third party from the tribe of Khuza'a (خزاعة) — which was one of the major tribes around Makkah. The Khuza'a was a neutral party generally sympathetic to the Prophet PBUH, but at this point in time hadn't embraced Islam. One of the leaders of Khuza'a by the name of Budayl ibn Warqa' (بديل بن ورقاء), who was a noble Arab who did not want any civil war, appeared to have volunteered to be an emissary. He offered the Prophet PBUH, "Ya Muhammad, I have just come from the other side of Hudaybiyyah, and I have left the sons of Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy (كعب بن لؤي) and Amir ibn Lu'ayy (عامر بن لؤي) armed to the teeth." (Side note: Ka'b and Amir ibn Lu'ayy are the great-great-great-ancestors of the Quraysh. So "the sons of Ka'b and Amir ibn Lu'ayy" basically means the Quraysh.) "And they are waiting to fight you and prevent you from entering the Haram." Meaning Budayl is trying to tell the Prophet PBUH to calm down. The Prophet PBUH said, "We have not come to fight; rather, we have come to show honor to the House of Allah (i.e., perform Umrah)." And then he PBUH says the same phrase he said to the Muslims (and he will say this again and again to every emissary who comes): "Indeed, war has damaged the Quraysh, and they have been hurt by it. If they wish, we can negotiate and be peaceful. And if they wish, I shall continue to fight them with what Allah has sent me until Allah either grants me victory or this neck of mine is cut off." And then he PBUH said, "And if they wish, I can give them some time so they can think about this matter and then leave the city for us," i.e., for a short time, the Quraysh go out [of Makkah], the Muslims can go in, perform the Umrah, and then leave, and then the Quraysh can come back. So the Prophet PBUH is saying, "If it's awkward for them to see us here, I understand; I will give them a few days and they can leave Makkah, we will enter, do the Umrah, and leave." (Side note: As we know, this suggestion, the Quraysh eventually accepted it, but their condition was: "You may perform Umrah *next* year, not this year.")

So Budayl said he would inform the Quraysh about the Prophet's PBUH position — because as of yet, the Quraysh have not officially been told why the Muslims have come. So Budayl goes to the Quraysh and says, "I have spoken to this man and I have heard him say something. If you wish, I can repeat it for you." Ibn Ishaq mentions that the foolish amongst them responded, "We have no reason to listen to you — you have nothing new to tell us." But the ones of intelligence said, "Let him speak." And so Budayl informed them of the Prophet's PBUH peaceful intentions.

Notice over here it's always the ignorant and closed-minded who don't even want to hear what the other party has to say. (In our times, we have the Islamophobes with the exact same mentality. It doesn't matter how reasonable or rational something is, they have already made up their minds about Islam and Muslims, so they shut their ears.) The people of intelligence are open-minded; they control their emotions and listen to the other side.

So Budayl told them the message of the Prophet PBUH and then he gave his own advice: "O Quraysh, you are being hasty with this man. He has not come to fight; he has come to visit this House honoring its sanctity." So Budayl understands the Prophet's PBUH message, and he is sowing the seeds of doubt into the Quraysh, that, "You are being hasty here." Budayl is the first person of many more who will come and side with the Prophet PBUH.

However, the Quraysh responded, "By Allah, we will never allow him to enter Makkah and the Arabs will say that he had the better hand over us." And sadly, the Quraysh stuck with this to the very end. Why? It's all a matter of pride and honor, that, "My pride will be harmed if the Arabs hear that Muhammad entered Makkah and we weren't able to stop him."

So the matter of Budayl ended. He tried, but the Quraysh did not budge, so there were no negotiations done.

Therefore, what began after this was another series of back and forth — but from now on, the emissaries were directly from either the Muslim side or the Qureshi side:

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An Official Emissary of Quraysh From the Tribe of Thaqif:

Urwah ibn Mas'ud

It appears the first person to go from the Quraysh side was one of the leaders of Thaqif, Urwah ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi (عروة بن مسعود الثقفي). (Side note: As we have said, the tribe of Thaqif is based in the city of Ta'if, and Ta'if is the sister city of Makkah. There was a little bit of tension between Quraysh and Thaqif, but there was also some camaraderie.) Urwah stands up and says, "Am I not a father to you? Am I not a son to you?" meaning, "Am I not really a part of your tribe? I'm from Thaqif, but don't you know my loyalties lie with Quraysh?" And it is also said his mother was from the Quraysh, so he was literally of their blood. He is beginning this way to get the approval of the Quraysh to be an official emissary. And Urwah continues asking rhetorical questions, "Do you accuse me of being unjust?" etc. And they keep on saying, "No, we know who you are." Then Urwah mentions many things he has done in the past, his résumé: "Did I not in such occasion help you? Did I not cause some bloodshed to be averted? Did I not cause reconciliation?" He is presenting all these to make them realize that he will look after their best interests. And so to all of the above, they praised him, until finally, he said, "Budayl has come to us with some news. Let me go back to him (Muhammad) and see what I can negotiate." So Urwah ibn Mas'ud became the first real emissary that the Quraysh sent.

So he goes to the Prophet PBUH. And the Prophet PBUH tells him the exact same thing he told Budayl, "Indeed, war has damaged the Quraysh, and they have been hurt by it. If they wish, we can negotiate and be peaceful. And if they wish, I shall continue to fight them with what Allah has sent me until Allah either grants me victory or this neck of mine is cut off. And if they wish, I can give them some time so they can think about this matter, and then leave the city for us (for a while)." Urwah then comes back to the Prophet PBUH and says, "What is really the matter with you? You say you call to Allah, but then you come with a group of people whom we don't know; and you break the ties of kinship. And you break the sanctity of the Haram and you intend to spill blood"—it is as if he didn't hear anything the Prophet PBUH said; he already has something in his mind. So the Prophet PBUH refutes all of these points, "I have only come to fulfill the ties of kinship (not to break them). And I have come to better the religion of my people. And I have come to make their lives a better life."

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Accusations of Nonbelievers Against the Prophet PBUH and Islam:

Kernel of Truth Coated With Layers of Lies

Look at what Urwah is smearing the Prophet PBUH with: Bringing forth a new religion, breaking the Haram sanctity, and breaking the ties of kinship. Notice in all of these smears there is a kernel of truth. But it has been layered with layers of lies. After all, from their perspective and paradigm, didn't the Prophet PBUH come forth with a new religion? (Even though in reality he is coming with the religion of their own forefather Ibrahim AS.) Isn't the Prophet PBUH coming with 1,400 men as if he has come for war to break the sanctity of the Haram? (Even though in reality the Muslims just came to perform Umrah.) Didn't Islam cause some Qureshis to leave for another land as if they had broken the ties of kinship? (Even though in reality they wouldn't have Migrated had it not for the persecutions they faced in Makkah.) Why are we mentioning this? Because we need to realize that in every single smear and attack against Islam —even in our times— deep down somewhere, there is perverted truth. It is a mixture of truth and a lot of falsehood. And indeed, had it not been for that kernel of truth, nobody would ever believe it. It's because of this kernel of truth that even the worst allegation, people believe it. It's the sunnah of Allah SWT that mankind with bad intentions take this kernel of truth and coat it with a coat of untruths and lies. For example, the accusation that the Prophet PBUH is a magician; — And what is the sign of a magician? He comes forth with something strange. And did our Prophet PBUH not come forth with miracles? So there is a kernel of truth. They also accused him PBUH of being a poet; — And what is poetry? Beautiful speech. And what is the Quran? The best of Speech. So there is a kernel of truth — but it's put with so many lies on it. And this is the same reality to this day. And wallahi, put yourself in the shoes of a Fox News viewer — if all you see on TV is violence coming from Muslim lands, isn't it only natural that you would think Islam is violent? And of other accusations against Islam is that it oppresses women. But subhan'Allah, look at the Western culture and how they exploit women left, right, and center. And when Islam comes to defend the honor of women and protect them from being exploited, how do the Islamophobes regard it? 'Oppressing women.' Subhan'Allah.

Thus, we as Muslims need to have the wisdom to recognize the kernel so that we can then remove these coatings of lies and clarify. We need to understand their perspective before we can defend our religion.

Here we have Urwah coming forth with the same type of speech. So the Prophet PBUH responds back: "I am [the one] fulfilling the ties, I am [the one] coming with a better religion," etc.

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Urwah's Tribal Mentality

So Urwah responded and tried to reason with the Prophet PBUH from a jahili perspective: "O Muhammad, if you were to remove the matter of your people, have you ever heard of an Arab who destroyed his own tribe before you? (i.e., you and the Quraysh are at such odds you might even cause their destruction.) And if it's the other (i.e., they fight you and they win), then by Allah, I don't see around me men that I recognize. Rather, they seem to be a hodgepodge of different bandits who will run away and leave you at the earliest chance possible." He is suggesting that the sahaba will not be loyal to the Prophet PBUH because they are all from different tribes. The way Urwah has viewed the world is division by tribe — it's a gang mentality, that you are with your tribe no matter what the cause or who does what. And now for the first time in his life, he is seeing a group of 'motley crew' being together, who from his perspective, have no unifying factor. He doesn't understand how Islam unites the hearts of the believers.

When Urwah said this, he heard a vile curse, "أمصص بظر اللات (Umsus buzr al-Lat)." (Side note: This vulgar curse has to do with: [i] Al-Lat the main idol of the people of Ta'if, [ii] the private part of a female, and [iii] "go suck on" — so you can piece the phrase together.) And this curse came from the last sahabi you would ever expect to hear a curse word from, and that is Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. Urwah said, "Who is that?!" Abu Bakr said, "Ibn Abi Quhafa." Urwah: "Wallahi, had it not been for a favor you did to me that I hadn't yet paid you back, I would have responded with a similar remark." Abu Bakr: "Do you really think we will abandon the Prophet PBUH?!"—this shows us the ghayra of Abu Bakr: He wasn't angry because he was insulted, but because the Prophet PBUH was insulted. [Transcriber's note: No doubt, Abu Bakr RA was among the kindest and gentlest of all sahaba, but at the end of the day, he was also human. So when he felt that the Prophet PBUH was insulted, he lost his temper and uttered a vile curse against their idol, which isn't the most Islamic thing to do. Allah SWT says in the Quran, "[O believers!] Do not insult what they invoke besides Allah or they will insult Allah spitefully out of ignorance" [Quran, 6:108].]

Urwah continued to try to convince the Prophet PBUH to give up the plan of Umrah and go back to Madinah. And it was the custom of the people of those times that when two leaders met, they would hold on to each other's beards as a gesture of brotherliness and being equals; so Urwah did this a few times to the Prophet PBUH. But every time he did it, the handle of a sword would strike him on his hand and a voice would say, "Get your hand away from the beard of the Prophet PBUH before the hand is cut off from its owner." The hitting got harder and harder until finally, Urwah said, "Who is this voice?" It turns out it was his own grandnephew al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba al-Thaqafi (المغيرة بن شعبة الثقفي). He is his brother's grandson.

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Highway Robbery is Unacceptable

Mughira has a story too — in his young days, he was a playboy and a bandit. He got involved with the wrong company and became a part of a bunch of thugs. And he began participating in robbery, and eventually highway robbery, killing innocent people and stealing all their goods. And one time, the tribe that he and his comrades did it against, they declared war against the Thaqif (basically). So the Thaqif had to bend over backward and pay a lot of blood money to calm the situation down. At this, Mughira and all his comrades broke up and fled — they can't go back to Thaqif now. Mughira eventually heard of Islam, converted, and came to Madinah. So now he has turned over a new leaf, no longer the highway bandit. So the Prophet PBUH told him many years ago, "As for your Islam, we will accept it; but as for your money and booty that you stole, we cannot accept any of it." Mughira had haram money, so the Prophet PBUH refused to accept any of it.

This shows us the fairness of Islam — Mughira had killed and stolen this money from a pagan, not from a Muslim, but it is still haram. Because in Islam, the lives of nonbelievers are also sacred unless there is a legitimate reason, and the security of their property is also guaranteed.

And by the way, this is a very important refutation against those who accuse the Prophet PBUH and the early Muslims of being highway robbers. One of the main criticisms that Orientalists say against Islam is, "Oh, the early Muslims are a bunch of highway robbers." They say this because the Prophet PBUH and the sahaba would attack the caravans of the Quraysh. And again, there is a kernel of truth. But as we had discussed in episode 36, the Prophet PBUH and the sahaba never attacked any tribe other than the Quraysh. And why did they hunt the caravans of the Quraysh? Because the Quraysh confiscated the Muslims' property when they made Hijrah. This incident of Mughira shows us that the Prophet PBUH and the sahaba were not only NOT highway robbers, but they also did not accept any money that came from what is called highway robbery. They refused Mughira to bring in this money — so when Mughira accepted Islam, he had to start from scratch. And now he has become a good Muslim. (And indeed, he eventually became a famous Companion. There are so many ahadith narrated from him.)

And now in Hudaybiyyah, he is like a bodyguard standing right next to the Prophet PBUH guarding him. When his own uncle puts his hand on the Prophet PBUH, he says, "Get your hand away." So Urwah said, "Who said that?!" Mughira: "It is al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba." So Urwah responded back, "O traitor, are you still not basking in your deceit?" i.e., "You have ruined our reputation and you are still living like an evil traitor." And Mughira could not respond because it was a valid point that he had ruined the reputation of the Thaqif.

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Urwah's Description of the Sahaba

Eventually, the negotiations broke down and Urwah returned to the Quraysh. And it was at this moment he gave that famous description of the sahaba. He said to the Quraysh, "O people, I have visited the kings and entered the palace of Caesar of Rome, Kisra of Persia, and Najashi of Abyssinia, but by Allah, I have never seen any king being shown respect the way that the Companions of Muhammad show respect to him. Wallahi, he didn't spit except one of his Companions caught that spit before it touched the ground and rubbed it on his face and body. And never did he wash himself (with wudu) except it is as if they were fighting one another to catch the drops of water coming from him. If he wanted to command them something, he only needed to raise his face and look, and they would race to do it. When he spoke, they all lowered their heads and voices in front of him, and none of them would look at him directly out of respect." (Side note: The Prophet PBUH never commanded the sahaba to do this. They just did this out of hayba [هيبة - immense respect].)

Urwah is describing the sahaba as an outsider. And this is one of the most amazing descriptions of the sahaba found in the whole seerah.

What was Urwah saying at the beginning? "Who are these people? They will abandon you at the earliest chance possible." And then a few hours later what is he saying? "Wallahi, I have never seen any king being shown respect the way that the Companions of Muhammad show respect to him." Just a few hours of looking at the sahaba with the Prophet PBUH was enough to convert Urwah into a 'believer in the Iman of the sahaba.' This is amazing.

Then he says to the Quraysh, "I have measured them for you. Know, that if you wish the sword, they will give you what you wish. I have seen a group who doesn't care what happens to them if their Companion is harmed (i.e., they will do anything to protect Muhammad). Even the women amongst them would never hand him over whatever the cost. So take my advice. I fear that you will not be able to win over him"—he is saying the Prophet PBUH has too strong of an army (even though quantity-wise, the Quraysh are triple).

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Urwah Changes Sides

Then Urwah adds, "Besides, he is a man who has come to this House wishing to honor it, and with sacrificial animals — but instead, he is being deprived, denied, and prevented"—an immediate shift of sides. He left Makkah telling the Quraysh, "You know I'm on your side," but now after meeting the Prophet PBUH and the Muslims, his heart is with the Muslims.

At this, the Quraysh got angry and said, "O Aba Ya'fur (أبا  يعفر), if only someone else besides you had said this!" meaning, "We thought better of you!" Then they said, "But we will not allow him (the Prophet PBUH and the Muslims) [to do Umrah] this year."

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Points of Benefit We Can Derive So Far

Here we find so many benefits:

1. Wallahi, even a kafir, a pagan, an idol worshiper, recognized the status of the sahaba. What do we say to those who claim to be Muslim but do not recognize the maqam and the status of the sahaba?

2. We see the Prophet PBUH is waging a type of psychological battle, and clearly, he is winning. Anyone who comes to see him goes back convinced. Therefore, the battle is not just verbal or physical, there is a psychological side. And one of the best ways to win this battle is simply to stick to your principles. Be firm in what you believe, and eventually, people will respect you for that firmness.

3. We also witness the long-term thinking, strategy, and diplomacy, of the Prophet PBUH.

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Tangent: Urwah After Embracing Islam [9 AH]

After the Conquest of Makkah, Urwah accepted Islam in the 9th year of the Hijrah. And when he embraced Islam at the hands of the Prophet PBUH, the Prophet PBUH said to him, "I am scared for you (i.e., when you go back to your tribe, what they might do to you)." But Urwah was very confident, he said, "Ya Rasulullah, my tribe, if I am sleeping, they would never wake me up," i.e., "My people respect me so much, there is nothing to worry about." However, the Prophet PBUH knows what happens when you start giving dawah to Islam. (The Prophet PBUH was more respected amongst the Quraysh than Urwah is amongst the Thaqif.) But Urwah insisted, so the Prophet PBUH let him go back.

Urwah returns to his people and starts preaching Islam. Soon, he starts hearing vile and vulgar phrases that he could never imagine his own people saying to him. And so he goes back to his house saddened and distressed. The next morning, when it's Fajr time, he goes on his roof, gives the adhan, and starts praying. And when someone saw him praying, they got their bow and arrow and shot him right then and there. And it's said the arrow pushed him so that he fell right down into the valley and died a shaheed. When the news reached the Prophet PBUH, he said, "Urwah is like the one of Ya-Sin (يس)":

وَجَآءَ مِنْ أَقْصَا ٱلْمَدِينَةِ رَجُلٌ يَسْعَىٰ قَالَ يَـٰقَوْمِ ٱتَّبِعُوا۟ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ

ٱتَّبِعُوا۟ مَن لَّا يَسْـَٔلُكُمْ أَجْرًا وَهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ

وَمَا لِىَ لَآ أَعْبُدُ ٱلَّذِى فَطَرَنِى وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

ءَأَتَّخِذُ مِن دُونِهِۦٓ ءَالِهَةً إِن يُرِدْنِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ بِضُرٍّ لَّا تُغْنِ عَنِّى شَفَـٰعَتُهُمْ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا يُنقِذُونِ

إِنِّىٓ إِذًا لَّفِى ضَلَـٰلٍ مُّبِينٍ

إِنِّىٓ ءَامَنتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ فَٱسْمَعُونِ

قِيلَ ٱدْخُلِ ٱلْجَنَّةَ ۖ قَالَ يَـٰلَيْتَ قَوْمِى يَعْلَمُونَ

بِمَا غَفَرَ لِى رَبِّى وَجَعَلَنِى مِنَ ٱلْمُكْرَمِينَ

"Then from the farthest end of the city, a man came, rushing. He advised, 'O my people! Follow the messengers. Follow those who ask no reward of you, and are [rightly] guided. And why should I not worship the One Who has originated me, and to Whom you will be returned. How could I take besides Him other gods whose intercession would not be of any benefit to me, nor could they save me if the Most Compassionate intended to harm me? Indeed, I would then be clearly astray. I do believe in your Lord, so listen to me.' [But they killed him, then] he was told [by the angels], 'Enter Paradise!' He said, 'If only my people knew of how my Lord has forgiven me, and made me one of the honorable.'" [Quran, 36:20-27]

So Urwah is like this person who called his people to Allah, and in response they killed him.

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The Prophet PBUH Sends Khirash ibn Umayyah al-Khuza'i

[Back to the story in Hudaybiyyah — 6 AH.] Urwah goes back to the Quraysh and he is rebuffed, so Thaqif cuts off now — they will not participate with the Quraysh. And bit by bit, the conglomeration of the Quraysh will be cut off — we will see another one in a while.

Here the Prophet PBUH felt the need to send somebody from his side, so he decided to send a sahabi by the name of Khirash ibn Umayyah (خراش بن أمية) RA from the tribe of Khuza'a. He was chosen perhaps because he was neither Muhajir nor Ansari — he can be viewed as someone relatively neutral for the time being. As we said, Khuza'a is a neutral tribe.

To demonstrate he wanted peace, the Prophet PBUH sent Khirash on one of his own camels named al-Tha'lab (الثعلب). In those days, people recognized each other's horses and camels, so the Prophet PBUH chose a camel that the Quraysh would recognize. And indeed, when the Quraysh saw the camel, they recognized it — but rather than eliciting a peaceful response, it riled them up: A mob gathered, shouting jostling shoving threatening, until eventually, the camel was wounded and hamstrung — they cut a ligament off the camel's knee. And they were about to kill Khirash until finally, another person from Khuza'a who was in Makkah came and calmed them down. So the Quraysh sent Khirash back, and no major discussion took place.

Now the Prophet PBUH realized a neutral person wouldn't work.

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Quraysh Sends al-Hulays ibn Alqama al-Kinani

Now it's the Quraysh's turn. Who do they send? It appears somebody else volunteered just like Urwah from Thaqif volunteered, and this person's name is al-Hulays ibn Alqama al-Kinani (الحليس بن علقمة الكناني). Al-Kinani means he is from the tribe of Kinana — and Kinana was the largest tribe in the surrounding areas outside of Makkah. And these tribes around Makkah, they were generally called al-Ahabish (الأحابيش) — this was the name given to them.

Why do we keep seeing people volunteering? Because it's a major issue now: The Quraysh are preventing a group from coming to Makkah — and this is a theological issue for them. So al-Hulays volunteers, "Let me go and speak to the Muslims," and the Quraysh agree. When al-Hulays approaches, the Prophet PBUH recognizes him from a distance and says to the sahaba, "This is al-Hulays ibn Alqama from Kinana, and his people show respect and consider sacred the sacrificial animals"—this particular tribe values the consecrated animals. So the Prophet PBUH said to the sahaba, "Show him our sacrificial animals." As al-Hulays is walking towards the Prophet PBUH, the sahaba take out hundreds and hundreds of camels that were decorated for sacrifice. Remember the Prophet PBUH alone had 70. The sahaba had many more. And these are just the camels — on top of this, there were sheep, goats, and others. All of them decorated with garlands, ribbons, and strings — demonstrating these are animals dedicated to the poor people of Makkah for the sake of Allah.

Al-Hulays sees the entire valley full of camels that have been dedicated for the poor people of Makkah and he sees the Muslims in ihram doing the talbiyah. So he doesn't even enter the camp of the Muslims, he turns around and goes back to the Quraysh and says, "It is not allowed for you to prevent these animals from reaching their destination and to prevent the pilgrims from visiting the House of Allah." Without even speaking to the Prophet PBUH, he has converted over.

Again, we see the wisdom and diplomacy of the Prophet PBUH. It's psychological warfare — he sees al-Hulays and recognizes his soft spot, and that is showing him the consecrated camels and showing the sahaba in ihram doing talbiyah.

There was another point as well: Because of the difficult journey that the sahaba went through, not only were the sahaba hungry, but the camels were also tired and hungry. And this is dangerous because these camels, if they don't get to the Ka'bah in time, poor people will not be able to eat of them, and sacrificial meat will go to waste. You could see the camels thinning up. So al-Hulays felt a sense of great anger against the Quraysh.

When the Quraysh heard him switch sides, they insulted him and said, "Who are you? You are just an ignorant Bedouin. Our mistake was to send you." And as soon as they said this, al-Hulays swore by Allah that none of the Ahabish would support the Quraysh — and this is a massive loss. (Side note: It's mentioned in the books that al-Hulays was known to be a wise man, a person of intelligence. So when the Quraysh said, "You are just an ignorant Bedouin," it was purely out of racism.)

Subhan'Allah, look at what's happening here. The truth will always win in the end. It's clear black and white: The Muslims had 110% truth — they just want to do Umrah; and the Quraysh are clearly doing zulm. And honest people can see this — even though they are pagans, they realize what the Quraysh are doing is wrong.

So bit by bit, people are leaving the Quraysh; and eventually, it will only be them left.

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Points of Benefit From the Story of al-Hulays

1. We see over here that every community has its righteous people. This is a point that unfortunately some minority of Muslims in our time, in their overzealousness, become so narrow-minded that they truly think, "If you are not a Muslim, you don't have any good in you." Wallahi, this is ridiculous. If you are not a Muslim, no doubt your theology is wrong, but does this mean you cannot be honest, truthful, or stand up for justice? In the whole seerah, we have so many examples of idol worshipers standing up for what is true. And the Prophet PBUH appreciated and acknowledged this. And it's similar in our times. A lot of non-Muslims stand up for the rights and values of justice, and sometimes even for Islam. So many American non-Muslim people helped prevent the passing of anti-shariah bills. Every society has good and bad — and the Muslim takes advantage of the good wherever it comes from.

2. We also see that it's a part of prophetic wisdom to use psychological factors that appeal to every group. Al-Hulays from the tribe of Kinana has a soft spot for sacrificial camels — And do Muslims also have the concept of sacrificial camels? Yes. And is there anything wrong with utilizing this commonality? No. So the Prophet PBUH utilized it. In our time, there are some overzealous Muslims, when they see a Muslim speaker speak about, for example, "being green," they jump on him and ridicule, "Just because it's fashionable for the non-Muslims to talk about it, so now you also have to talk about it?" But subhan'Allah, does a concept or an issue become un-Islamic just because non-Muslims speak about it? No. Does our religion tell us to be green (conserve water, use resources carefully)? Yes. So there is nothing wrong with talking about these issues. No doubt, we don't change what Islam says: For example, if some people say it's unethical to kill animals for food, then we draw the line here and point out that this is where the boundary of Islam stops — eating meat is halal in Islam. No doubt, we don't change the shariah — but if there's a trend going on in society, is there anything wrong with talking about it within Islam? No. And this is clearly what the Prophet PBUH did to al-Hulays.

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Muslim Deciding the Official Emissary

So now it's back to the Prophet's PBUH turn — and he decided to send a Qureshi Muslim since the Qureshi pagans (i.e., the Makkans) clearly didn't want anybody neutral. So the Prophet PBUH chose Umar ibn al-Khattab RA. Why? Perhaps because of his strength and bravery. (And indeed, whoever is sent will be walking into the lion's den; so who better to send than he who announced his Islam publicly when he converted, and upon making Hijrah announced, "O people of Makkah! Whoever wishes that his mother loses him tonight, or that his children become orphans, or his wife a widow, then know that I am doing the Hijrah! And you can meet me outside of Makkah in such-and-such a valley!")

However, despite this reputation for boldness, on this occasion, Umar RA approached the situation with caution, saying, "Ya Rasulullah, my animosity to the Quraysh is well known. And I fear that they will not accept me and that they will kill me. And I don't have anyone from my tribe to protect me (i.e., people from the Banu Adi [بنو عدي]). If you want me to go, I will go — but Uthman ibn Affan has more nobility in their eyes than I do." (Side note: Obviously, what Umar feared was not death — his entire résumé proves he wasn't a coward; what he feared was the fact that if he was killed, no negotiation would be done, thus the whole point of sending an emissary would be lost.)

Why did Umar choose Uthman? "He has more nobility in their eyes than I do"—because Uthman is from Banu Abd Shams. And who else is from Banu Abd Shams? Abu Sufyan ibn Harb the undisputed leader of Makkah at the time. Uthman is Abu Sufyan's first cousin once-removed — and that's very close for the Arabs. So between Umar RA and Uthman RA, clearly Abu Sufyan will have more sympathy towards Uthman RA.

So Umar's idea was accepted by the Prophet PBUH and he sent Uthman ibn Affan RA. (Side note: Again, this shows us the Prophet PBUH sometimes made his own ijtihad [see episodes 38 & 40 for more detailed discussions on this].)

[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, July 2021]