A plain victory or subservience to the Quraish?
Having shaved his head and made his sacrifice, the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), returned to Madeenah. While they were journeying back to Madeenah, Allah The Almighty revealed that the truce of Hudaybiyyah was not humiliation but a victory in the verse (which means): {Surely We have given you a clear victory, that Allah may forgive you your former and later sins, and complete His blessing on you and guide you on a straight path and that Allah may help you with a mighty help.}[Quran, 48: 1-3]
'Umar ibn Al-Khattaab, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Is this a victory then, O Messenger of Allah?" To this, the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), replied: "Yes."
The result of the treaty of Hudaybiyyah:
Not long after the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), had returned to Madeenah, a man named Abu Baseer 'Utbah ibn Usayd came from Makkah to join the Muslims. The Quraish sent emissaries to fetch him back. They said, "Under the terms of the treaty which you made with us, you must hand him over." Therefore, the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), allowed them to take Abu Basir with them. However, on the way back to Makkah, he escaped from his captors and fled to the coast. Abu Jandal ibn Suhayl also escaped and joined Abu Baseer. All the people who had embraced Islam in Makkah and suffered persecution from the Quraish joined Abu Baseer until they comprised a group of seventy people. They set themselves up on a trade route. Whenever they heard that a caravan of the Quraish had left for Syria, they waylaid it, killed the merchants and took the goods they were carrying.
The treaty of Hudaybiyyah brought the polytheists into contact with the Muslims, giving them an opportunity to interact with one another. The polytheists soon came to appreciate and acknowledge the good qualities of the Muslims. Before a year had passed, many of them embraced Islam, which justified the leaders of Quraish being worried about the influence of the Muslims on their own community.
After the incident of the merchant caravans, the Quraish sent to the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), begging him in the name of Allah and their ties of kinship not to return the men to Makkah but to keep them with him in Madeenah. From then on, any one of them who embraced Islam and came to the Muslims from Makkah was safe.
All these events indicated that the treaty of Hudaybiyyah in which the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), accepted all the conditions set by Quraish had, in the end, been of benefit to the Muslims. The treaty had been a decisive step in gaining further victories for Islam and spreading the faith throughout the Arabian Peninsula. It ultimately led to the Conquest of Makkah and the opportunity to invite the kings of the world – Caesar, Chosroes, Muqawqis and the Arabian princes – to Islam. Allah The Almighty revealed (what means): {Yet it may happen that you will hate a thing, which is better for you; and it may happen that you will love a thing, which is worse for you. Allah knows, and you know not.} [Quran, 2: 216]
Indeed, two of Islam's greatest generals and military commanders accepted Islam after the treaty of Hudaybiyyah. These were Khaalid ibn Al-Waleed and 'Amr ibn Al-'Aas, may Allah be pleased with them both. Khalid ibn al-Waleed, may Allah be pleased with him, was formerly the general of the Quraish cavalry and the hero of great battles. After embracing Islam, he fought bravely in the way of Allah The Almighty and would later become the conqueror of Syria. 'Amr ibn Al-'Aas, may Allah be pleased with him, was another great commander who subsequently became the conqueror of Egypt. After they had been from among those fought Islam bitterly and were its greatest adversaries, they became among those who fought under the banner of Tawheed (Islamic monotheism).
Indeed, as Allah The Almighty Said, with hardship comes ease, and the Muslims were led, by the example of their Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), to be patient, discipline and have staunch faith in Allah The Almighty. Far from becoming subservient to the Quraish, the Prophet, sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ), emerged victorious in the end.
