The Importance of Interaction

Prophet of Islam started a mission in Arabia, which was completely peaceful. But at that time people did not have the religious freedom that we have today. They were, therefore, greatly angered by his initiatives and ultimately started a war against him. A war-like situation did not favour the Prophet. He wanted to convey his message to everyone but, with such adverse circumstances, all normal contacts were almost totally severed. This was particularly acute on the occasion of the confrontation between the Prophet and his companions and the non-Muslim forces at Hudaybiyyah. The Prophet and his followers wanted to proceed to Makkah from Hudaybiyyah to perform their religious rites at the Kaaba. But the other party stopped them from doing so. The Prophet, wanting quite naturally to normalize the situation, initiated peace talks between the two parties, which lasted two weeks. These have been recorded in history as the Hudaybiyyah Treaty. Interaction should definitely be engaged in, whatever the situation. The Prophet discovered that the other party, with their negative mindset, was in no way ready to halt their militancy. He offered, therefore, to accept all their conditions unilaterally, provided that they agreed to end the hostilities. This offer was accepted, resulting in a ten-year no-war pact between the two parties. When this peace treaty was finalized, God revealed the verses given above in the Quran. At face value, the Hudaybiyyah Treaty was like a defeat, for the price paid by the Prophet was his unilateral acceptance of all the conditions laid down by the other party. But the Quran, in the above verses, declared it as a ‘clear victory’. In what sense was it a clear victory? The answer is