The Personality of the Prophet of Islam

believers found the opportunity to convert the city of Makkah, a city which had become a centre of idolatry for centuries – into a center of monotheism. There is great guidance for us in this sunnah of the Prophet. Careful study shows that in present times we are faced with the same state of affairs as prevailed at the time of Hudaybiya in the first phase of the Islamic revolution. Here the Prophet’s sunnah shows us the way to follow this prophetic policy in today’s circumstances and be held deserving by God of a ‘clear victory’ once again. The Muslims of present times have waged jihad with other nations for more than a hundred years. They have received nothing in return save death and destruction. Now the demand of sunnah of the Prophet is to put all such confrontations to an end unilaterally and engage all our efforts in the positive construction of Islam and Muslims. There is simply no other path to success for present-day Muslims. The Hudaybiya principle is not jut a sunnah in the simple sense of the word. Rather it is an eternal law of nature. If this law were to be put into practice not only by Muslims but also by non-Muslim nations, they would reap the same benefits in their respective fields. One example of this is provided by modern Japan. By the time of the Second World War Japan was of the view that it could fulfill its national goals by means of military action. But it suffered a severe defeat in this war. Its economy was destroyed. After the war, a new thinking surfaced amongst the Japanese. Removing themselves from the field of war and confrontation they centered all their efforts on the fields of education, commerce and industry. The result of this change was that an annihilated Japan could stand up once again and become an international economic power. The event of Hudaybiya is explained in the Quran in chapter 48 which is called ‘al-Fath. We can understand the Hudaybiya spirit by studying this verse: While those who deny the truth made it a prestige issue [in their hearts]—the bigotry of the days of ignorance—God sent His tranquillity down on to His Messenger and believers and firmly established in them the principle of righteousness, for they were indeed better entitled to it and more worthy of it. God has full knowledge of all things. (The Quran, 48:26) This verse revealed on the occasion of the peace treaty of Hudaybiya, (like other verses of the Quran) also has a general and extended application. In this respect we find in it an eternal teaching of Islam, relevant, like other teachings of Islam to all later times. Looked at from this angle, we find that the point made in this verse is that in the present world, for various reasons, individuals and communities often clash and come into confrontation with one another. This verse of the Quran guides us as to what course we must adopt in such situations. In accordance with this verse, there are only two possible modes of behaviour in such