Sirah
The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah and the Pledge of Ridwan
The plain of Hudaybiyyah on the edge of the Haram, Dhul-Qa'dah 6 AH
6 AH / 628 CE
Educational historical reconstructionWhere
Hudaybiyyah, on the Makkan edge of the Haram boundary, west of Makkah
21.4000, 39.6700 · View on OpenStreetMap
Background
In Dhul-Qa'dah of the sixth year after the Hijra (628 CE), the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) set out from Madinah with some fourteen hundred Companions to perform the lesser pilgrimage ('umra), entering the state of ihram and driving garlanded sacrificial animals to make plain that they came in peace, not for war. The Quraysh barred them, and the two sides halted at Hudaybiyyah, a plain on the edge of the Haram west of Makkah. After tense exchanges of envoys, including 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (radiyallahu 'anhu), whose detention prompted a rumour of his killing, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gathered the Companions under a tree and took from them a pledge to stand firm: the Bay'at al-Ridwan, the Pledge of Good Pleasure, praised in the Qur'an (Q 48:18). A truce was then negotiated with the Qurashi envoy Suhayl ibn 'Amr and written down: a ten-year cessation of war, the Muslims to return without 'umra this year and perform it the next, and other terms that struck many Companions as a humiliating concession. The long account in Sahih al-Bukhari (Kitab al-Shurut, hadith 2731-2732) preserves the negotiation in detail, including 'Umar's (radiyallahu 'anhu) distress and the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) acceptance. On the return journey Surat al-Fath was revealed, opening 'Indeed, We have granted you a manifest victory' (Q 48:1): the truce opened the way to da'wa, to the conquest of Khaybar, and within two years to the conquest of Makkah itself. This scene depicts the encampment on the plain, the lone acacia, the garlanded budn, the parley tent, the pilgrims in ihram halted at the boundary, without depicting the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or any named Companion.
What you see
A dry open plain at the edge of the Makkan sanctuary, ringed by low bare hills, a day's travel short of the town itself. This is a threshold place, close enough to the Haram to be in sight of its boundary, but outside the sacred precinct the pilgrims are barred from entering this year.
A lone acacia tree (samura) stands on the plain, with people gathered closely around it. Under just such a tree the famous pledge was taken; the tree is the visual anchor of the scene, set apart from the camp.
Garlanded sacrificial camels (al-budn), marked and bridled for offering, wait at the edge of the camp, the unmistakable sign of pilgrims who came for 'umra in a state of ihram, not an army come for war.
The travellers wear the plain undyed cloth of ihram, two unsewn sheets, rather than armour; weapons are sheathed and set aside. The intent is pilgrimage, and the bearing is of restraint under provocation.
A simple parley tent stands between the camp and the direction of Makkah, where envoys come and go, the negotiation that produced the written truce. No fighting is shown; the drama is diplomatic, a tense standoff resolved by a document.
A well on the plain gives the place its character: the host is halted at water on the boundary, not advancing. Beyond the hills to the east lies Makkah, unreachable this season by the terms being struck.
The scene reads as a setback that the revelation named a manifest victory: it was on the return from here that Surat al-Fath was revealed, 'Indeed, We have granted you a manifest victory' (Q 48:1), and the pledge under the tree is the Bay'at al-Ridwan praised in Q 48:18.
Primary sources
Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Shurut (hadith 2731-2732): The long Hudaybiyyah narration: the march in ihram, the barring by Quraysh, the envoys, the pledge under the tree, the negotiation with Suhayl, and the terms of the truce. The primary frame.
The Qur'an, Surat al-Fath (48:1, 48:18): The 'manifest victory' revealed on the return, and the praise of those who pledged under the tree (Ridwan). Used for the event's meaning, not the physical scene.
Ibn Hisham, al-Sira al-Nabawiyya (Ibn Ishaq recension): Early Sirah narrative of the expedition, the sacrificial animals, and the diplomacy. Cross-reference to the hadith.
al-Waqidi, Kitab al-Maghazi (early 9th c.): Detailed maghazi account of numbers, route, and the halt at Hudaybiyyah. Used with the usual caution applied to al-Waqidi's specifics.
al-Tabari, Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk (9th-10th c.): Sunni historical synthesis of the year 6 AH, corroborating the Sirah and hadith accounts.
Further reading & cross-references
Safi al-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, al-Rahiq al-Makhtum (20th c.): Modern Sunni synthesis used for the chronology, the terms of the treaty, and its strategic aftermath.
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