Treaty of Hudaybiyyah
Treaty of al-Hudaybiyya defers Muhammad’s pilgrimage and establishes a truce
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Original prompt & settings (JSON) ↗A young man arrived at the camp staggering in fetters — only to learn that his own father had just negotiated the clause requiring his return.
Stopped short of Mecca
According to the early Islamic narrative, Muhammad left Medina in 628 with roughly 1,400 to 1,500 followers intending to perform the lesser pilgrimage, carrying about seventy marked sacrificial camels.
Quraysh barred their approach to Mecca, and the party camped at al-Hudaybiyya.
March 628 is the conventional conversion of Dhu al-Qa‘da 6 AH; no securely established Gregorian day survives, and the party’s size is a prominent traditional figure rather than an uncontested headcount.
“Son of Abdullah”
After negotiations, the Quraysh envoy Suhayl ibn Amr and Muhammad agreed that the Muslims would leave without entering Mecca, return for a three-day pilgrimage the next year, and observe a ten-year truce in which other tribes could ally with either side.
The traditional account says Ali wrote the agreement, and that at Suhayl’s insistence its wording identified Muhammad as “Muhammad son of Abdullah” rather than “the Messenger of God”.
It also required a Meccan fugitive arriving under a guardian’s authority to be returned. Suhayl’s son Abu Jandal arrived in fetters during the negotiations and was handed back.
Nobody moved
After the document was completed, Muhammad ordered his followers to sacrifice their animals and shave.
They initially remained motionless. After Umm Salama advised him to perform the rites himself first, they followed him and prepared to return to Medina.
The Muslims did not perform the umrah that year; access was deferred until the next.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 5 sources not yet audited Traditional date
How this was checked
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Traditional date. Conventionally dated here; the research places it at 0628-03.
What the sources leave uncertain
- March 628 is the conventional conversion of Dhu al-Qa‘da 6 AH; no securely established Gregorian day is available.
- The surviving narrative is preserved in later sira and hadith literature. Reports disagree about the party’s size—traditions range considerably beyond the commonly repeated 1,400—and about what weapons were carried.
- The return clause’s scope requires care: later tradition distinguishes male fugitives from emigrating women, whom Quran 60:10 instructed the Muslims not to return.