THE HUDAIBIYA METHOD

What was the special power of the Hudaybiya Method that unlocked the doors to a clear victory? The Prophet’s march to Makkah eight years after he moved to Medina gives us a clue. When the Prophet had undertaken the journey to Makkah two years earlier, he was accompanied by 1,400 companions. This time, however, he was accompanied by 10,000 companions. On the occasion of his first journey, the Makkans had forced him to return to Medina; they did not allow him to pass beyond Hudaybiya. On the occasion of this second journey, the Makkans were so awestruck upon seeing the huge number of the Prophet’s people that they accepted defeat and put up no resistance. The secret of supreme success, or clear victory, of the Prophet lies in the Hudaibiya Method. From this incident we learn that the Hudaybiya Method is the pacifist method of conquering people. The military option or the violent method causes death and destruction, while the Hudaybiya Method conquers the hearts of people. What characterizes the method of war is hatred, while what characterizes the Hudaybiya Method is love. The events of Hudaybiya took place twenty years after the Prophet Muhammad attained prophet hood. Why was there a delay in adopting this method? The companions of the Prophet were told that God could have given them His permission to wage war upon the Quraysh, and that they would have been victorious. However, they were denied this permission on account of the innocent people of Makkah who would have been in danger. The Quran says: It was they who were bent on denying the truth, and who debarred you from the Sacred Mosque and who prevented your offering from reaching its place of sacrifice. And had it not been for the believing men and believing women [in Makkah] whom you might unwittingly have trampled underfoot, and on whose account you might have, unknowingly, become guilty, [God would have commanded you to fight it out with them; but He ordained it thus] so that He may bring whoever He will into His mercy. If they [the believers] had been clearly separated, We would have punished those who were bent on denying the truth with a painful punishment. THE QURAN 48: 25