Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Understanding and Compromise

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Understanding and Compromise

The Holy Prophet (PBUH) was on his way to Makkah from Madinah for pilgrimage. He was accompanied by a number of his fellows or followers. They had taken the animals for sacrifice and did not carry any kind of weapon. It was a clear sign that they were on their way for worship and performing the religious pilgrimage called ‘Umrah.’ But the non-believers in Makkah called ‘Quraish’ had reservations. They feared that the Holy Prophet (PBUH) might attack and capture Makkah from them. So their elders assembled to discuss the situation and sent a number of their leaders to meet the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and learn their objectives. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) told them the same, i.e., they wanted to come to the holy city of Makkah for pilgrimage. Although they trusted the Holy Prophet (PBUH) more than their own relatives but at the same time, they were afraid of the increasing power of Muslims. They sent three of their tribal elders and our Holy Prophet (PBUH) told all of them the same.

In the end, one of their leaders Sohail bin Umro came and demanded that there should be a peace deal between Muslims and Quraish so that they should know that there is not going to be any kind of war. For this our Holy Prophet (PBUH) agreed and asked a person to write the deal. Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) said, ‘Write in the name of Allah, the most merciful and gracious’ but for this Sohail said, ‘We don’t believe in this. In old times we used to write, ‘In the name of Allah’ and same should be written now’. Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) accepted this and the same was written. Then our Holy Prophet (PBUH) said, ‘Write that this is an agreement between Quraish and Muhammad, the messenger of Allah.’ For this, Sohail again made objection, saying that Quraish did not believe in Muhammad as the messenger of Allah and as for his wishes, it was written like this, ‘This is an agreement between Muhammad (PBUH), son of Abdullah and Quraish.’ The next condition was that, Quraish would let the Muslims go for a pilgrimage inside Makkah but they did not agree on this as well and it was decided that Muslims will return to Madinah this year and they will come back the next year for pilgrimage.

Although it was a difficult condition but our Holy Prophet (PBUH) agreed to this as well. Then Quraish put their next condition that if anyone accepts Islam and goes to Madina from Makkah, he should be handed over to the people of Quraish on their request. It was a difficult condition because Quraish used to badly torture those who converted into Islam. When this condition was under discussion, a new Muslim-convert by the name of Abu-Jandal bin Suhail bin Umro (the son of Sohail) came to the Muslims camp. After he became Muslim, he was chained and tortured and he had managed to escape from Quraish and reached to the camp of Muslims. Sohail demanded that as first example of the agreement, his son should be handed over to Quraish. Our Holy Prophet (PBUH) requested for a special permission for Abu-Jandal but it was turned down and he was handed over to the Quraish. Although the agreement was not completed till then and he could have been exempted from it, but as a sign of sustaining peace and avoiding any kind of conflict, our Holy Prophet (PBUH) agreed to give him back to Quraish. This decision was very difficult as he was once again going to face the torture of his clan and many of the followers of our Holy Prophet (PBUH) including Hazrat Umar were not happy of this decision, but in order to keep up his promise, our Holy Prophet (PBUH) had to take this bitter decision. Then, according to the conditions of the agreement, our Holy Prophet (PBUH) and his companions returned back to Madinah and could not go for pilgrimage.

This agreement, famous by the name of ‘Hudaibia Pact’ is one of the milestone events in the history of Islam. Thought it looks that Muslims showed too much flexibility in this regard and accepted all the conditions of Quraish but this pact was termed to be ‘The evident or clear success’ in Holy Quran and following circumstances proved that it was a great success for Muslims.

This pact is the best example of being tactical because at that time Muslims were not in strong position to get into any kind of conflict and more importantly, this pact was going to give birth to a number of other conditions that were in favor of Muslims in the long run.

Later on, Muslims got so strong that they ruled almost half of the world and everyone admired them for their knowledge, wisdom, business expansion, contribution in sciences, disciplined form of government and gentle treatment of minorities. Then, they were not weak to accept the unfair conditions of their opponents and they were strong enough to talk on the level of equality. That golden period of the rise of Muslims is remembered for peace, stability and economic and scientific expansion and at the same time, Europe was called a ‘dark continent’ because of its poverty, internal fights and backward civilization. Later on, the moral and knowledge decline in the Muslim countries and the industrial revolution of Europe reversed the situation and now Muslims, more or less, are in the same condition as they were in the beginning of Islam. Though they are comparatively large in number but their weak position in the fields of economy, science, social civilization, scientific knowledge and other fields of life has turned them into an undisciplined group which is not in position to get into conflict with anyone.

In this situation, there are numerous Islamic thinkers and scholars who emphasize on the importance of being tactical and avoiding clash with anyone, especially the economically and technologically strong Europe and America. As is the case with being tactical, we sometimes come along a situation when we find no option except to accept the unfair conditions and circumstances. But this kind of logical reasoning doesn't fit to the minds of those whose are still mentally living in the medieval ages. At the same time, such a strategy is very difficult to be digested for those youngsters whose emotional blood doesn't let them to comprehend the situation completely. But as we see that, such a conflict has done no good to anyone and resulted in the further weakness of Muslims in different parts of the world.

At the same time, there are also present a lot many people who talk of ‘Jihad’ or ‘a holy war’ against the enemies of Islam. No doubt that many Muslim countries are under the occupation of different countries of the world and fighting against them for the liberation of these countries is not wrong but it should not be forgotten that we are internally so weak that we cannot handle our own internal problems, let alone fighting with an enemy that is equipped with latest and most powerful technology. In such circumstances, ‘Jihad’ is like banging your head with a concrete wall that would do no harm to the wall but would definitely break your head. It must also be kept in mind that, today’s nations excel by science, technology and knowledge and best form of ‘Jihad’ is to work in these fields. When we will get strong enough in science and technology and with this our economy will be strong, no power in the world would dare to ignore our importance.

Mohammad Rasool Shah is the permanent writer of Daily Outlook. He can be reached at muhammadrasoolshah@gmail.com

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