THIS IS MOHAMMED 23

A man called Suhayl ibn 'Amr was sent by the Meccans to work out a
treaty. When the Prophet (pbuh) asked 'Ali to write 'In the Name of
Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful', on the top of the page,
Suhayl objected, saying 'Write only: bismik Allahumma (in Thy name, 0
Allah). I don't know him as al-Rahman (the Most Gracious), al-Rahim
(the most Merciful).' The Prophet (pbuh) agreed and dictated: 'This is
a treaty between Muhammad the Messenger of Allah and Suhayl ibn
'Amr.''Stop!' cried Suhayl, 'I don't believe that you are Rasulallah
(the Messenger of Allah). If I thought you were Allah's Messenger, I
wouldn't be fighting against you, would I?' Calmly, the Prophet (pbuh)
agreed that he should be referred to in the treaty as Muhammad', son
of 'Abd Allah. The Muslims were very upset at this, and 'Umar
furiously cried out, 'Are you not Allah's Messenger, and are we not
Muslims? How can we accept such treatment when we are right and they
are wrong? This will make people laugh at our religion!


But the Prophet (pbuh) knew what was best and the Treaty of Hudaybiyah
was signed.
In this treaty the two sides agreed to stop fighting for a period of
ten years. It was also agreed that the Muslims should go back to
Medinah immediately but that they could return the following year for
the pilgrimage. This pilgrimage would last three days. In addition,
the treaty allowed Muslims wishing to leave Islam and return to Mecca
to do so.
It also permitted Meccans to leave and become Muslims provided they
had the permission of their guardians. The Muslims agreed to send any
Meccan who did not have their guardian's permission back to Mecca.
Suhayl's son had come with his father with the idea of joining the
Prophet (pbuh) but when the treaty was signed he was, of course,
forced to return to Mecca. He cried bitterly. The Prophet (pbuh) said,
'0 Abu Jandal, be patient and control yourself. Allah will provide
relief and find a way out for you and others like you.
The majority of the Muslims were very disappointed when they heard the
terms of the agreement and thought that it should not have been
accepted. They did not realize that this was in fact a great victory
for the Prophet (pbuh), which Allah would later confirm in a
Revelation. The agreement made sure that the following year they would
enter Mecca peacefully, and in time would result in Muslims becoming
stronger and more respected throughout Arabia. At the time the treaty
was signed the Muslims could not have foreseen that the number of
people who would travel to Medinah to become Muslims in the following
year would be greater than in all the years before. Before the Muslims
departed, they followed the Prophet's example of making sacrifice and
either shaving or cutting their hair. Even though they were unable to
visit the sacred mosque, their pilgrimage was accepted by Allah
because it had been their true intention.

On the return journey to Medinah,

..

the 'Victory' chapter of the Koran was revealed to the Prophet (pbuh).
It begins:
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
"Surely We have given thee (0 Muhammad) a clear victory, That Allah
may forgive thee of thy sin That which is past and that which is to
come, And may complete His blessings upon thee, And may guide thee on
the right path, And that Allah may help thee with mighty help". (Koran
xlviii.1-3)
Now most of those who left Mecca to join the Prophet (pbuh) without
the consent of their guardians and were turned back by him as agreed,
Did not in fact return to Mecca, but lived instead in groups along the
seashore. Then they were joined by others who had left Mecca but these
groups began to endanger Quraysh caravans which were passing by and
disrupted their trade because of this, Quraysh told the Prophet (pbuh)
that if he wanted to take these new Muslims, they would not ask for
them to be returned. The young men, therefore, joined the Prophet
(pbuh) and the people in Mecca and Medinah grew more at ease with one
another.
The young men from the seashore were shortly followed by those Muslims
who were still living in Abyssinia, and soon the numbers of believers
in Medinah had doubled.
About this time, Khalid Ibn al-Walid, the great warrior who had
defeated the Muslims at Uhud, set out from Mecca for Medinah. Along
the way he met 'Amr Ibn al-'As, the clever speaker who had pursued the
Muslims when they fled to Abyssinia. 'Amr, who had attempted to find
asylum in Abyssinia, had just returned from that country, the Negus
having urged him to enter Islam. He asked Khalid, 'Where are you
going?' Khalid replied, 'The way has become clear. The man is
certainly a Prophet, and by Allah, I am going to become a Muslim. How
much longer should I delay?' 'Amr Ibn al-As answered, 'I am travelling
for the same reason. So they both traveled on to Medinah to join the
Prophet(pbuh). The two men were, however, worried about meeting the
Prophet (pbuh) because of having fought against the Muslims in the
past.
Therefore, 'Amr came before Allah's Messenger he said, 'O Prophet,
will my past faults be forgiven and no mention made of what has gone
before?' The Prophet (pbuh) replied, 'Amr, Islam wipes away everything
that happened before, as does the hijrah.'
A year after the signing of the Treaty of Hudaybiyah, the Prophet
(pbuh) was able to lead two thousand pilgrims on the 'Umra. Quraysh
vacated Mecca and watched the rites from the hills above the city. The
agreed period of three days was observed, after which the Muslims
returned to Medinah.
The Invitation
The peace which the Treaty of Hudaybiyah guaranteed for ten years
meant people could travel from all over Arabia to visit the Prophet
(pbuh) and a great many came to declare their Islam. Also, during this
period the Prophet (pbuh) decided that the time had come for his
message to be taken to other countries, so he sent trusted companions
with letters, telling of his message, to the leaders of the most
powerful nations of the day.
It is recorded that he said, Allah has sent me as a mercy to all men,
so take the message from me that Allah has mercy on you.' It is also
recorded that some time before, when the Prophet (pbuh) was digging
before the Battle of the Trench, three flashes of lightning had blared
forth from a rock he had been striving to remove. These flashes had
shown him the fortresses of the civilizations to the South, East, and
West which were soon to come into Islam.
Now at the time the Prophet (pbuh) sent out his message. Abu Sufyan
and some other members of Quraysh were trading in Syria, a province of
the Eastern Roman Empire (later to be called Byzantium). Also, at
about this time the Emperor Heraclius, ruler of this Empire, had a
dream, and sadly told visitors to his court in Syria: 'I saw our
Empire fall and victory go to a people who do not follow our
religion.' At first he thought this must refer to the Jews and he even
had it in mind to kill all the Jews living under his rule fit then an
envoy from the governor of Basra arrived with a message for the
Emperor: 0 Emperor Heraclius.
there are some Arabs in the city who are speaking of wonderful
happenings in their country', and he then told of what he had heard
about the Prophet (pbuh).
On hearing this Heraclius commanded his soldiers: Go and find me
someone who can tell me more about this.' The soldiers, however, did
not find those who had been talking about the Prophet (pbuh), but
instead found Abu Sufyan and some of his companions and brought them
before the Emperor.

Heraclius asked, 'Is there anyone among you who is a close relative of
the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)?' Abu Sufyan replied, 'I am.' So the
Emperor addressed all the questions to him, thinking he would know the
Prophet (pbuh) best. He said, 'Tell me what is the Prophet's position
in your tribe" Abu Sufyan said, 'he is a member of our most respected
family. Did anyone before him say the kinds of things he says?' the
Emperor went on. 'No.' was the reply.' And was he ever accused of
lying or cheating?
Never. And then the Emperor asked: 'And what about his ideas and
opinions, and his powers of reasoning?' 'No one has ever had cause to
doubt him or find fault with his reasoning', replied Abu Sufyan. 'Who
follows him, the proud or the humble?' 'The humble.' 'Do his followers
increase or decrease?' 'They increase', said Abu Sufyan, 'none of his
followers leave him.' The Emperor then turned to other matters and
asked: 'If he makes a treaty, does he keep it?' 'Yes', Abu Sufyan
replied. 'Did you ever fight against him?' inquired the Emperor. To
which Abu Sufyan answered: 'Yes. Sometimes we won, sometimes he won,
but he never broke his word in any agreement.' The emperor then asked:
'What does he say people must do?' 'To worship one God', said Abu
Sufyan. 'He forbids people to worship as their fathers worshipped, and
says they must pray to Allah alone, give alms, keep their word, and
fulfil their duties and responsibilities.' Abu Sufyan had spoken the
truth even though he was an enemy of the prophet (pbuh),
and did not become a Muslim until the very end of his life. But he was
afraid to lie before the members of his caravan who were also there
with him. The meeting ended with these words from the Emperor: 'I see
from this that he is indeed a prophet. You said that his followers do
not leave him which proves they have true faith, for faith does not
enter the heart and then go away. I knew he was coming and if what you
say is true, he will surely conquer me. If I were with him now, I
would wash his feet. You may leave now.'

It was not long after this that the messenger, Dihyah, arrived at the
Syrian court bearing the Prophet Mohammed's letter which said, 'If you
accept Islam you will be safe and Allah will give you a double reward.
If you do not, you will have to live with results of your decision.'
Heraclius grabbed the letter. He was so upset he could hardly control
himself. He said to Dihyah, 'I know your master is a true prophet of
Allah. Our books tell of his coming.
If I were not afraid that the Romans would kill me,
I would join Islam. You must visit Bishop Daghatir and tell him every
thing. His word is more respected among the people than mine.' So
Dihyah related the message to the Bishop and when he heard it,
Daghatir said, 'Yes, your master whom we call Ahmed is mentioned in
our scriptures.' He then changed from his black ropes into white ones
and went and spoke to the people gathered in the church. 'O Romans, a
letter has come to us from Ahmed, in which he calls us to Allah. I
bear witness that there is no Divinity but Allah and that Ahmed is his
slave and messenger.' (Ahmed is another name for the Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh).) But on hearing this the crowd grew angry and attacked
Daghatir, beating him until he was dead.
Heraclius was afraid that the same thing would happen to him, so he
spoke to his generals from a balcony saying, 'O Romans! A man has
written to me calling me to his religion I believe he is truly the
prophet we have been told to expect. Let us follow him so that we can
be happy in this world and the next.