Sirah

The Pact of the Virtuous

Hilf al-Fudul, an oath to defend the wronged, c. 590 CE

c. 590 CE

Imagined 360° reconstruction of The Pact of the Virtuous

Educational historical reconstruction

Where

The house of Abdullah ibn Jud'an, Makkah, near the sanctuary

21.4233, 39.8255 · View on OpenStreetMap

Background

In the years before the call to prophethood, the clans of Quraysh at Makkah entered into a covenant remembered as Hilf al-Fudul, the Pact of the Virtuous. By the account of Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Sa'd it arose after a merchant from outside Makkah was cheated of his due by a powerful Makkan and could find no one to compel the wrongdoer; the affair stirred several clans, who gathered in the house of Abdullah ibn Jud'an, a leading man of Quraysh known for his hospitality, and swore a binding oath that they would stand together with any person wronged in Makkah, whether of the town or a stranger to it, until his right was restored to him and injustice put down. The young Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), then in his early manhood, was present at the pact, and after Islam he is reported to have said that he had witnessed in the house of Abdullah ibn Jud'an a covenant he would not exchange for the choicest of wealth, and that were he called to its like in Islam he would answer, so fully did he approve of an alliance for the defence of the wronged. The pact is remembered in the Sunni tradition as an example of a pre-Islamic custom of justice that Islam confirmed rather than abolished, and as part of the noble character of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) before his mission. This scene depicts the assembly place and the covenant only: the courtyard of a substantial Makkan house, cushions set around the gathering, a written scroll with inkstand and reed pen, and beyond the wall a glimpse of the valley town and its sanctuary. In keeping with the Sirah tier no person is shown.

What you see

The courtyard of a substantial Makkan house, cushions set out around an assembly, the dwelling of a leading man of Quraysh in the town below the sanctuary; a gathering of notables rather than a market or a mosque.

An agreement is being set down: a written scroll, an inkstand and reed pen on a low table among the cushions, the instrument of a solemn covenant among the clans.

This is Hilf al-Fudul, the Pact of the Virtuous, sworn by several clans of Quraysh in the house of Abdullah ibn Jud'an, binding themselves to stand with any wronged person in Makkah, townsman or stranger, until his right was restored.

A covenant for justice that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) attended in his youth and of which he later said that he would still answer such a call in Islam, were he invited to it, so much did he approve of it. The scene shows the assembly place and the pact, not the men's faces.

Beyond the courtyard wall a glimpse of the valley town and the open sanctuary precinct at its heart places this in Makkah, in the years before the call to prophethood.

Hilf al-Fudul is recorded by Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Sa'd, and the Prophet's later approval of it is preserved in the Sunni tradition (al-Bayhaqi, Musnad Ahmad). In the Sirah tier no person is depicted.

Primary sources

Ibn Ishaq via Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya: The principal narrative of Hilf al-Fudul, its occasion in the house of Abdullah ibn Jud'an, and the clans who swore it.

Ibn Sa'd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra (9th c.): Sunni record of the pact and the Prophet's presence at it in his youth.

al-Bayhaqi, al-Sunan al-Kubra / Dala'il, and Musnad Ahmad: The Prophet's later approval of the pact, that he would answer such a call in Islam; the Sunni transmission of the saying.

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