Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 39609 — The Hudaybiyah campaign

Hisham narrates from his father that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) set out for al-Hudaybiyah. The event of al-Hudaybiyah took place in the month of Shawwal. The narrator says: So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) set out until, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) reached the place Usfan, a man from Banu Ka'b met him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we left Quraysh in such a state that they have gathered against you their people of mixed descent and are feeding them khazir (a mixture of mince and flour). They intend to bar you from the House of Allah." So he (peace and blessings be upon him) set out until, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) came out of the place Usfan, Khalid bin al-Walid, the scout of Quraysh, met him (peace and blessings be upon him), and he came face to face with him (peace and blessings be upon him) on the road. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said (to the Companions): "Come over here!" So he (peace and blessings be upon him) went between two trees and turned aside from the level road until he (peace and blessings be upon him) reached al-Ghamim. 2. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) halted at al-Ghamim, he (peace and blessings be upon him) addressed the people. He (peace and blessings be upon him) praised Allah Almighty and extolled Him as befits His majesty. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "To proceed: Quraysh have gathered against you their scattered groups and have begun feeding them khazir (a particular mixed food), and they intend to bar us from the House of Allah. So inform me of your opinion. Do you wish to go (to fight) the chief (that is, the people of Makkah), or do you wish to go (to fight) their helpers, so that we come behind them upon their women and children? If they sit still, they will sit helpless and defeated. And if they seek (battle with) us, they will seek us with a weak and feeble seeking; then Allah Almighty will disgrace them." 3. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), our opinion is that we advance toward the chief, for Allah Almighty is your (peace and blessings be upon him) helper, your supporter and the One who will make you prevail." Sayyiduna al-Miqdad bin al-Aswad (may Allah be pleased with him) said, while he was at his saddle: "By Allah, O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we will not say to you what the Children of Israel said to their prophet (peace be upon him): 'Go, you and your Lord, and fight; we will remain sitting here' [Al-Ma'idah: 24]. Rather we will say: You and your Lord go and fight, and we will fight alongside you." 4. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) set out (from there) until, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) drew near the Sacred Precinct and entered its boundaries, his (peace and blessings be upon him) she-camel al-Jad'a' knelt down. The people said: "This she-camel has balked." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By Allah, the she-camel has not balked, nor is balking her habit; rather she has been held back by the One who held back the elephants from Makkah." (Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:) "(If) Quraysh invite me to honor the sacred things, they will not be able to outstrip me in that." (He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the Companions:) "Come this way." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) took the path on the right side of the mountain pass called Dhat al-Hanzal until he (peace and blessings be upon him) reached al-Hudaybiyah. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) camped there, the people began drawing water from a well. Not all the people had yet quenched their thirst when the well ran dry. The people complained of this to him (peace and blessings be upon him). So he (peace and blessings be upon him) took an arrow from his quiver, gave it to the people and said: "Plant this arrow in the well." They planted the arrow in the well, and the well began to gush with water and its water rose, until the people had drunk their fill. 5. When Quraysh heard of this, they sent to him (peace and blessings be upon him) the brother of Banu Hulays, who was from a people among whom the sacrificial animals were held in reverence. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Make the sacrificial animals stand up." When he saw the sacrificial animals, he did not speak a word to them, and he turned back from where he was to Quraysh and said: "O my people, the garlands, the camels and the sacrificial animals!" He warned them and made much of it to them, but they reviled him, frowned at him and said: "You are only a rough Bedouin. We do not wonder at you; rather we wonder at ourselves for having sent you. Sit down." Then they said to Urwah bin Mas'ud: "Go to Muhammad, and let no harm come to us from your direction." Urwah set out until he came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Muhammad, I have not seen any man of the Arabs march against the like of what you have marched against. You have marched with the riffraff of people against your own kin and your own stock, from which you were hatched, in order to destroy their whole multitude. You know that I have come to you from Ka'b bin Lu'ayy and Amir bin Lu'ayy, who have put on leopard skins beside their milch camels with their young, swearing by Allah that no proposal will be put to them without their putting to you one more bitter than it." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "We have not come to fight; rather we wish to complete our Umrah and slaughter our sacrificial animals. Will you go to your people? For they are people of the camel saddle, and war has frightened them, and there is no good for them in war consuming more of them than it already has. So let them leave the way open between me and the House, so that we complete our Umrah and slaughter our sacrificial animals, and let them set a term between me and them, during which we will move their women away (from harm) and in which their travelling parties will be safe, and let them leave me and the people alone. For by Allah, I will fight the red and the black over this matter until Allah makes me prevail or my neck is severed. If the people get me, that is what they want; and if Allah makes me prevail over them, they will have a choice: either to fight fully prepared, or to enter into peace with their numbers intact." The narrator says: Urwah returned to Quraysh and said: "You must know, by Allah, that there is no people on earth dearer to me than you. You are my brothers and the dearest of people to me. I sought help for you from the people in the gatherings, and when they did not help you, I came to you with my family and camped with you, wishing to stand by you. By Allah, I do not love life after you. You must know that the man has offered a fair settlement, so accept it. You must know that I have visited kings and seen great men, and I swear by Allah that I have never seen a king or great man more revered among his companions than he is. None of them speaks until he asks his permission; if he permits him he speaks, and if he does not permit him he remains silent. Moreover, when he performs ablution, they race for the water of his ablution, pouring it on their heads and taking it as a source of mercy." When they heard his words, they sent Suhayl bin Amr and Mikraz bin Hafs to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Go to Muhammad; if he grants you what Urwah mentioned, then settle with him on condition that he goes back from us this year of his and does not reach the House, so that those of the Arabs who hear of his march will hear that we have barred him." Suhayl and Mikraz set out until they came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and mentioned that to him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) granted them what they asked. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Write: Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)." They said: "By Allah, we will never write this." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "How then?" They said: "We will write: Bismika Allahumma (In Your name, O Allah)." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This too: write it." So they wrote it. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Write: This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), has settled upon." They said: "By Allah, we differ only on this." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What shall I write?" They said: "State your lineage: write Muhammad bin Abdullah." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This too is good; write it." So they wrote it. Among their conditions was that between us there is a sealed bag, and that there will be no aghlal and no aslal. Abu Usamah said: Al-aghlal means coats of armor and al-aslal means swords, and by the sealed bag he meant his Companions, whom he would restrain from them. (Also among the conditions was) that whoever of us comes to you, you will return him to us, and whoever of you comes to us, we will not return him to you. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Whoever joins me has the same terms as mine." Quraysh said: "Whoever joins us is one of us, with the same terms as ours." Banu Ka'b said: "We are with you, O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)," and Banu Bakr said: "We are with Quraysh." While they were at the document, Sayyiduna Abu Jandal (may Allah be pleased with him) came, shuffling in his fetters. The Muslims said: "This is Abu Jandal." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "He is mine." Suhayl said: "He is mine." Suhayl said: "Read the document," and it was in Suhayl's favor. Sayyiduna Abu Jandal (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Messenger of Allah, O company of Muslims, am I to be returned to the polytheists?" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Abu Jandal, here is this sword; he is only one man against one man." Suhayl said: "You have helped against me, O Umar." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Suhayl: "Give him to me." He said: "No." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Then grant him protection for my sake." He said: "No." Mikraz said: "I have granted him protection for you, O Muhammad." And so he was not harassed.