076 - The Conquest of Makkah Part 1

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We now move to the actual incidents that occurred for the Conquest of Makkah. Recall in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah which was made 2 years ago, one of the clauses in the treaty was that either side (Quraysh and Muslim) had the permission to form alliances with other tribes; and if formed, the same conditions of Hudaybiyyah automatically would apply to those tribes. And that included NO warfare. So, many tribes entered into agreements with either side, and the two tribes that concern us in today's lecture are the tribes of Khuza'a (خزاعة) on the one side, and the tribe of Banu Bakr (بنو بكر) on the other side.

Brief History of the Khuza'a

Now the tribe of Khuza'a is one of the famous and classical Arabic tribes, and they have a lot of history. And they will bring this history up in front of the Prophet PBUH in the incident that we will discuss today, so we need to know them. Who are they? They are related to the Prophet PBUH, and they have a history with the Banu Hashim. They are one of the legendary tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, and they were the ones who initially expelled the tribe of Jurhum —the in-laws of Ismail AS— from Makkah. Recall [from episode 5], the Jurhum tribe was in charge of Makkah for a long period of time. Initially, they were righteous; but over the course of time, they became evil, did a lot of crimes, started to steal money from the hujjaj —they did not deserve to be the custodians of the Ka'bah— and it was the tribe of Khuza'a who fought them and kicked them out. Then for over 300 years, the Khuza'a became the custodians of the Ka'bah which is a huge honor. But after hundreds of years, they too became corrupted when their chieftain Amr ibn Luhay al-Khuza'i introduced idolatry to the Arabs and brought an idol into Makkah [see episode 4]. 

And then the Quraysh took the city over from them [see episode 5]. Who led the Quraysh when they took it over? Qusayy ibn Kilab, the great-great-great-grandfather of the Prophet PBUH. Qusayy married the daughter of the chieftain of the Khuza'a. (So the Prophet's PBUH great-great-great-grandmother is from Khuza'a; and believe it or not, the Khuza'a will bring this up in the incident that we will discuss today. They knew their genealogy inside out.) And when the chieftain of the Khuza'a dies, Qusayy manages to basically kick them out, and he becomes the next chieftain. But the Khuza'a remained on cordial terms with the Quraysh, and eventually, Abdul Muttalib the grandfather of the Prophet PBUH formed an alliance with them. (And this alliance as well will be brought up when the Prophet PBUH is spoken to). And as recorded in the classical books of seerah such as al-Baladhuri's (البلاذري) Ansab al-Ashraf (أنساب الأشراف - Genealogies of the Nobles), this alliance is called Hilf (حلف) — Abdul Muttalib forms a treaty that both tribes will be one against anyone who causes distress or harm, and, "As long as the generations proceed, this will be a permanent Hilf." (The Khuza'a will bring this up, that, "Your grandfather made this treaty with us.")

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The Khuza'a and the Banu Bakr Are Not on Good Terms

After the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, a lot of members of the Khuza'a accepted Islam, so the tribe agreed to join the Prophet's PBUH side in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. As for the Banu Bakr who were the only tribe still upon paganism around the Makkan vicinity, they joined the Quraysh's side. The Khuza'a and the Banu Bakr both are located on the outskirts of Makkah, and the Khuza'a are on the side of the Muslim —and most of their tribesmen are also Muslim—, whereas the Banu Bakr are fully pagans, and they are on the side of the Quraysh. This was in the 6th year of the Hijrah.

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The Banu Bakr Violates the Term of the Treaty

Two years go by, and in the 8th year of the Hijrah, the Banu Bakr decided to engage in a night raid on the tribe of Khuza'a. Why? There's one main reason and one secondary reason:

1. The Khuza'a and the Banu Bakr had had warfare for the last 100 years (just like the Aws and the Khazraj). When the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah came, both tribes split sides and the warfare was forced to pause, but there is still revenge on the minds of the Banu Bakr — they still want revenge for their dead. (And they have the list of the names, "These people were killed many years ago and we haven't exacted revenge yet," and so on.)

2. The second reason was the law of the jungle, i.e., the survival of the fittest — they would steal camels and properties from other tribes. (Side note: But they had a code of conduct, believe it or not, that they would try their best not to kill anyone. Women and children were definitely spared.)

So the Banu Bakr decided to undertake a raid. But they knew they had a treaty, so they sent their noblemen to the Quraysh and said, "Look, we have agreed to the treaty, but we want revenge — can you give us permission for just one raid?" And the Quraysh not only agreed, but some amongst them, e.g., Suhayl ibn Amr, Safwan ibn Umayyah, gave them weapons, most likely, for a percentage of the booty. One remarked, "Don't worry. As long as you attack in the middle of the night, how will Muhammad ever find out?" So the Quraysh consciously approved of the raid knowing this goes against the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. This is a very important point.

So armed with both spiritual permission and physical weaponry, they surprise attacked the Khuza'a in the middle of the night at a small pond called al-Watir (الوتير), outside of the Haram boundary where the Khuza'a had camped for the night. They expected everyone would be asleep and they would get camels, booty, maybe kill a few people and then go back, but lo and behold, the entire operation botched up. Someone raised the alarm, the women and children began screaming, and now that everyone is awake, they are fighting and defending, and lo and behold, a mini-massacre ensues: more than 20 people were killed including women and children. 20 is a *massive* amount for a small tribe. Typically in these raids, maybe one person is wounded, or max one person dies; but this is 20.

There is one particular incident that really proved to be very troublesome: When the Banu Bakr attacked, one of the people of the Khuza'a fled and ran away, and he was pursued by the Banu Bakr until finally he entered the Haram area, turned around, and said, "O so-and-so, I am in the Haram! Fear your God! Fear your God!" (and remember, even the jahili Arabs realized when you are in the Haram, you cannot fight) but the man from the Banu Bakr uttered a blasphemous statement, "There is no God today," and he went in the Haram and killed him. Obviously, this was not a part of the plan. And Allah completely humiliated them as this news spread.

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The Intervention of the Prophet PBUH

Immediately, the chieftain of Khuza'a, Amr ibn Salim al-Khuza'i (عمرو بن سالم الخزاعي), with a delegation of 40 men, left for Madinah. They want help. The chieftain recited a beautiful one-page long poem to the Prophet PBUH as recorded in Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham:

يَــــا ربّ إنـــّي نَاشِــدٌ مُحمّدَا حِلــفَ أبينَا وأبيـــه الأتـــلَدَا

قَــــد كُنــــتُم وَلدَاً وكُنّا وَالِــداً ثمّـــت أَسلمنَا فَــلم نَنزِع يَدَا

فانْصُر هَدَاك الله نصراً أعتدا وادْع عِـــبَاد الله يَأتُــوا مدَدا

فيهــم رسُـــــول الله قَد تجرّدَا إن سِيمَ خَسْفاً وجـــهه تَربدا

في فَيلقٍ كالبَحرِ يجري مزبدَا إن قُريشَاً أخلَفُــوكَ المَوعِدُا

ونَقَضُــــوا مِيثَاقــــَك المـوكدَا وجَعلُوا لي في كدَاء رصدَا

وزعمُوا أنْ لست تدعُوا أحَـدَا وهُــــم أذَلُّ وأقــــــَلُّ عَـددَا

هــــم بيتــــونَا بالــوَتير هجدا وقَتَلُــــــونَا رُكّــــعَاً وسُجّدَا

In it he mentions:

1. Both him and the Prophet PBUH have a common ancestor, i.e., great-great-great-grandmother.

2. Then he reminds him PBUH of the treaty of Abdul Muttalib with his own grandfather, that the tribe of Khuza'a and Banu Hashim have agreed to become one against anyone who causes distress or harm, and that they have this Hilf until the day the sun shall never rise, i.e., as long as the generations proceed.

(Subhan'Allah, the Arabs might have been illiterate, but Allah blessed them with an amazing memory.)

3. And then he mentions the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah as well, that they are on the side of the Muslims.

And *then* he mentions the details of the massacre — that the Banu Bakr came to them while they were in sajdah and ruku', and nothing protected them, not even the Haram.

In those days, this is how you do propaganda — through poetry. (And whether positive or negative, this is how news spreads. The better the poem, the more it will spread like wildfire.) Amr ibn Salim's poetry was so strong and moving that the Prophet PBUH was moved he said, "You shall be helped, O Amr ibn Salim. May Allah never help me if I do not help the Banu Ka'b (بنو كعب)." And when he saw a cloud coming in the horizons, he said, "This cloud is the sign of victory for the Banu Ka'b"—he PBUH read in good omen.

This incident shows us many things:

1. The importance of genealogy for the Arabs and how they memorized all their family trees.

2. The treaties enacted even before Islam are binding as long as the treaties do not have any haram conditions.

3. Good omens are allowed and encouraged in Islam. [See also: episode 65: the Concept of Good Omen in Islam.]

So the Prophet PBUH promises the Khuza'a that they will be helped. And what did he do? Here is the big question. Ibn Ishaq mentions he began preparing an army and then he eventually marched on Makkah. This has led the majority of scholars of seerah to interpret that the Prophet PBUH took the attack against the Khuza'a as an automatic breach of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, and he did not negotiate at all with the Quraysh. This is the majority interpretation and there's nothing wrong with it. He has every right because the Quraysh knowingly broke the Treaty.

However, there is a report that Ibn Hajar and others mention that suggests the Prophet PBUH did try to negotiate, but they refused, so *then* the Muslims attacked. This report is mursalun-sahih (مرسل صحيح - authentic to the tabi'i with a missing link to the sahaba.) And this would make more sense, and would give more logic or rationale —if you like— to the attack of Makkah. This report shows he PBUH is even trying one last time. And there is no doubt that generally speaking, he PBUH was always trying to avoid this type of bloodshed and problem.

So this version narrated by Ibn Hajar says the Prophet PBUH sent an ultimatum to the Quraysh, that, "In order to make up for this deed, you must cut off ties with the Banu Bakr and pay the blood money for those who were killed. If you don't do this, there will be war." And subhan'Allah, it is a reasonable clause. But when the Quraysh got these demands, according to this report, they outright refused on both accounts. The blood money for 20 dead people is 2,000 camels which is a fortune — it would have wiped the Quraysh out. And with regards to the alliance with the Banu Bakr, the Quraysh said, "They are the only tribe on our religion in our vicinity [so we cannot cut off ties with them]." And this, by the way, shows us everyone else had converted to Islam. The Quraysh are alone in the Hejaz, and the Banu Bakr is the only outlining tribe still upon paganism. So the Quraysh refused to budge and said the two conditions are not acceptable.

(Side note: It does appear by the way that the chieftain of the Khuza'a wasn't a Muslim at this time, as he didn't mention [the ties of] Islam at all in his poem to the Prophet PBUH. Most of his tribesmen, however, were Muslims, as he said, "They killed us while we were in sajdah and ruku'.")

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Abu Sufyan's Attempt to Find a Common Ground

It is mentioned that when the younger members of the Quraysh rejected the ultimatum, Abu Sufyan tried to find a common ground to renegotiate the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah with the Prophet PBUH. The Quraysh approved of him going, so he himself went to Madinah, alone, to try to sort this out. Now this is one of the most interesting episodes in the seerah: Abu Sufyan the chieftain is going to literally beg the Prophet PBUH to not attack. He has not entered Madinah for the last decade except to attack the Muslims (at Uhud, Khandaq, etc.), but now he is going to beg and plead for the lives of the Quraysh.

So he goes to Madinah, and there are two versions mentioned, one by Ibn Ishaq, another by Ibn Sa'd, and Allah knows best which one is right. One version has it the Prophet PBUH was the first person Abu Sufyan went to, then Abu Bakr, then Umar, and then Ali RA. The second version has it he first went to Abu Bakr, then Umar, then Ali RA, and then to the Prophet PBUH. Allah knows best, but Sh. YQ personally leans towards Ibn Ishaq's version which mentions he went to the Prophet PBUH first.

So in the version of Ibn Ishaq, he goes to the Prophet PBUH and attempts to renegotiate, but, Ibn Ishaq says, the Prophet PBUH did not respond to him at all, meaning whatever he demanded, the Prophet PBUH didn't give him anything. So Abu Sufyan panicked; he didn't get a verbal yes; he was not answered at all. We don't know the details — maybe the Prophet PBUH averted, or maybe he was silent, but whatever he did, Abu Sufyan understood that the situation is perilous. So he then found out his friend in the days of Jahiliyyah, Abu Bakr, but Abu Bakr told him flat out, "I cannot help you." So he then sought out Umar RA, his one-time business partner in the days of Jahiliyyah, and said, "Can you go to the Prophet PBUH and intercede on my behalf?" but Umar outright mocked him, "Do you think I will go for you in front of the Prophet PBUH? Never." So Abu Bakr and Umar turn him down. And then he goes to Ali RA, his closest relative in all of Madinah —Ali RA is his third cousin— and he says to him, "O Ali, you are the closest person (in lineage) in this whole city to me and I need your help. Can you please go to the Prophet PBUH and intercede on my behalf? Do not let me go back embarrassed and humiliated to my people," meaning, "Don't send me back empty-handed." (Side note: Wallahi, how amazing is this sight. Ali is literally a child in his eyes, yet now he's pleading with him. Yesterday, he [Abu Sufyan] was the one instigated Badr, led Uhud, commanded Ahzab, and barely a few years have gone and now he is going door to door begging Abu Bakr, pleading with Umar and Ali. Such is the qadr of Allah SWT: He honors whom He wills and disgraces whom He wills [see Quran, 3:26].) Ali says to him, "Woe to you, O Abu Sufyan. Wallahi, when the Prophet PBUH has decided a matter, we are not going to persuade him otherwise," meaning, "You don't understand. We don't go and interfere with the Prophet's PBUH decision." And it's said when Abu Sufyan visited Ali, Fatima RA was there taking care of Hasan who was playing around her. So Abu Sufyan then turns to Fatima —and wallahi, look at the desperation of this man— and he says to her, "O daughter of Muhammad, can you ask this little boy of yours (Hasan) to go [to his grandfather] and seek protection on our behalf? And if he does so, he shall be the sayyid al-Arab and respected until the Day of Judgment." (Side note: It's interesting to note Abu Sufyan promises to make Hasan the sayyid of the Arabs, but our Prophet PBUH has already made him the sayyid of this ummah, as recorded in Bukhari [see also: episode 54].) Subhan'Allah. He is begging Ali, and now Hasan, a four-year-old boy. The tables are not turning, the tables *have* turned. Wallahi, you see the fear in Abu Sufyan now that he has to beg a four-year-old for protection. But Fatima RA responded, "My son has not even reached the age to grant you security. And no one can offer protection against the Prophet PBUH," meaning, "You don't understand how this works. Once the Prophet PBUH has decided something, we hear-and-obey."

Before he leaves, he turns to Ali again and says, "Ya Aba al-Hasan, you see my situation, you see how desperate I am. Give me nasiha (نصيحة - advice), what should I do?" Ali says, "I don't know anything that will help you out now, but you are the sayyid of the Banu Kinana (which includes the Quraysh)..."—he is saying Abu Sufyan is the single most honorable person of the entire subtribes of the parent-tribe of the Quraysh—"...So, why don't you go to the masjid and announce if anyone will protect you?"

And so Abu Sufyan went to the masjid and made a public announcement, begging for protection. And what humiliation this is. And once again, we see the qadr of Allah. (Side note: Of course later on Allah allowed him to repent and accept Islam, so he was forgiven, but not before he had to pay a little bit for what he had done and suffer in the worst manner imaginable to him, i.e., his ego, pride, and reputation is tarnished.) He says, "O people, I am Abu Sufyan. Is there any who will give me protection?" (Note: As we mentioned several times, this is how the Arab society worked. They gave each other formal protection: Any member of a tribe could give protection to someone else on behalf of the tribe. And this ruling was adopted in Islam as well when the Prophet PBUH said, "Every Muslim can give protection to anybody else" [see episode 62]. This is why male, female, old, and young, even a person who is not baligh [بالغ], can give protection to a person.) Abu Sufyan made this announcement, but who would dare do anything after the Prophet PBUH has not said anything? And so Abu Sufyan had not a single hope of any protection from anybody.

And before he left, he paid one more visit. And this was a visit to his own daughter Ummi Habiba Ramla bint Abu Sufyan who had not seen her father for over 13 years now because she had emigrated to Abyssinia during the Makkan era. As he comes in and wants to sit down, Ummi Habiba picks up the blanket quickly. She picks up the soft mattress and tells him to sit on the floor. So he said, "Are you protecting me from the mattress, or the mattress from me?" meaning, "Do you think the mattress isn't good enough for me so you will put a better one, or you think I'm not good enough for the mattress?" She said, "This is the blanket/bed of the Prophet PBUH, and you are a mushrik and impure, so you are not going to sit on his bed." Subhan'Allah, what humiliation. One door after another shut in his face. He says, "O my daughter, I don't know what evil has touched you after you have left me." (Side note: Technically, from a fiqh perspective, you can have a non-Muslim touch your utensils; but Ummi Habiba is doing this out of special respect for her husband the Prophet PBUH.)

Abu Sufyan then returned to the Quraysh and told them in vivid detail everything that happened, that Abu Bakr RA refused to help, Umar RA mocked him, Ali RA was the softest and most cooperative of the group, but he could not get help from any of them except to ask the gathering in the masjid. And they asked him, "Did you go to the masjid to ask?" He said, "Yes." The Quraysh said, "You have been made a fool of!" But Abu Sufyan said, "There was nothing else I could do."

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It's Good to Have a Healthy Spectrum of Response

From the incident above, we see a little bit of spectrum of response to Abu Sufyan. We have 3 responses: Umar was the harshest and said, "Do you think I will go for you in front of the Prophet PBUH? Never." Abu Bakr was in the middle, neither was he harsh nor was he gentle; he said, "I cannot help you." And we see Ali was the softest, he was a little bit cooperative, had an entire conversation, and even gave him advice on what to do.

From this, we learn/benefit that responses to such people should be somewhat varied; it's good to have some people that are harsh, and it's good to have some people that are soft. It's good to have some spectrum within a reasonable amount. Not everyone should react in the exact same way. And this goes to any situation in the community. It's good for some people to be extra angry, and for others to reach out and say, "Okay, if you apologize, we can accept you back," etc.

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The Untold Destination

Abu Sufyan returns to Makkah and nothing has been resolved. And the Prophet PBUH announces that he PBUH will lead a very large expedition *somewhere*, and *everybody* must hearken to the call. And he PBUH gave people some time —a week or so— to prepare. (Note in Islamic shariah, when the leader calls the people by individuals, it becomes fard ayn [فرض عين] for every capable male to answer that call, especially when it's the Prophet PBUH calling.) So news spread that there is going to be a massive battle, but nobody knows where. The Prophet PBUH didn't even tell his most trusted confidants, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Aisha RA. It's reported in a hadith that during this week-long period, Abu Bakr visited Aisha and said, "Did you hear the Prophet's PBUH call?" She said, "Yes, I am preparing his bags." So he says, "Where is he going?" But she replies, "Wallahi, I have no idea." This shows the Prophet PBUH did not even tell the people he genuinely trusted. Why? There is no issue of trust, but as we all know, when you tell a secret to even one person, what happens? It spreads even in an innocent manner. This is the reality. E.g., somebody will say something to a trusted friend, "You promise you're not gonna tell anybody, right?" but then this friend goes and tells his other friend and says, "I promised to keep this between me and him, so don't tell anybody, but..." and then this other friend goes and tells his other friend and so on, and the next thing you know, the whole community knows about the secret. So the Prophet PBUH took utmost precaution — and such utmost secrecy is hardly paralleled in the whole seerah, which shows us how big of a deal this is.

Realize this didn't take place the day Abu Sufyan left. A few weeks went by before this happened. And Ibn Sa'd mentions the Prophet PBUH intentionally sent out a small expedition up north (even though Makkah is down south) as a scouting party, to give the false impression that the massive army will go up north towards Syria — and this, by the way, is absolutely logical, because the Battle of Mu'tah has just taken place. So he sends a scouting group of 8 men up north to an area called Batn Idam (بطن إضم), and the news spreads that, "Maybe the Prophet PBUH is going up north." But eventually, of course, the Prophet PBUH has to tell them where he is going, as they will march down south; so the day before the journey, literally at the 11th hour, he announces, "We are going to Makkah."

(And this, by the way, shows us exactly the interpretation of what the Prophet PBUH said when he said, "الحرب خدعة [War is deceit]" [see episode 59]. This hadith is largely misunderstood by the far-right and Islamophobes, but this incident demonstrates what the Prophet PBUH meant by "deceit." He PBUH never lied, and you are never allowed to give an oath/treaty and go against it. That is khiyana, which is treachery, and it is never allowed in Islam. However, khid'a, which is deceit, is allowed, as in this incident.)

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The Tables Have Turned

Not a single Muhajir or Ansari remained behind. Every single one of them participated. And additionally, the outlining tribes sent in their troops: the tribe of Muzayna (مزينة) sent in 1,000, the Banu Sulaym sent in 1,700, and so on and so forth, until eventually, the Prophet PBUH gathered over 10,000 people under his banner. Look again at the wisdom of Allah SWT. Barely 6 years ago, there were only 300 Muslims fighting at Badr and the Prophet PBUH begs Allah, "O Allah, if we are destroyed, you will never be worshiped on this earth," and now look at the astronomical growth. Even 2 years before in the Battle of Ahzab, 10,000 people were on the other side of Madinah, and now, 10,000 sahaba are marching to Makkah.

The Muslims arrived in the swiftest manner possible. The Prophet PBUH left Madinah on the 10th of Ramadan of the 8th year of the Hijrah, and arrived on the outskirts of Makkah on the 19th of Ramadan. That is 9 days, which is amazing for 10,000 people. It's truly a miracle.

Recall the Prophet PBUH announced they were going to Makkah right before they left. It was at this point in time one of the famous sahaba, Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah (حاطب بن أبي بلتعة), fell into the biggest error of his life, and that is as soon as he heard they were going to Makkah, he wrote a secret letter to the people of Makkah telling them: "Take precautions, the Prophet PBUH is coming. Prepare yourselves, you will be attacked." And we will discuss his story in the next episode.

[Transcribed by Br. Safwan Khan & Faizan]
safwan-khan@hotmail.com
[Revised by Br. Syed Haq & MAR, March 2022]