Understanding The Prophet's Life
From Issue: 666 [Read full issue]
Promoting Higher Good
After three major battles and a few smaller skirmishes with his Meccan adversaries, Muhammad (peace be upon him) established something close to a military parity between his adopted city of Medina and his hostile hometown of Mecca. At this point, he boldly led a sizeable group of Muslim companions to Mecca, where they intended to make the minor pilgrimage (umrah) and worship God at the Abrahamic shrine of the Kaba. Before they reached the city, they were stopped at a place called Hudaybiah by representatives of the Meccans, who wanted to prevent Muhammad and his companions from entering the city. Much to the concern of many of his companions, Muhammad agreed to postpone the pilgrimage for a year as part of a peace treaty he negotiated with a Meccan representative there on the spot. The treaty included a non-aggression pact for ten years, as well as Muhammad's promise to send back any young Meccan who came to him as a convert without the explicit permission of his Meccan father or guardian. On the other side, any Muslim or resident of Medina wanting to seek asylum in Mecca would not be sent back.
For this and other reasons, many of his companions voiced very strong objections to the Prophet's decision, but he went ahead anyway, commanding the Muslims to abide by every bit of it. What they did not know was that Islam would spread considerably while the treaty was in effect and that, once the treaty was violated and dissolved a few years later, it gave justification for the Muslims to march on Mecca to take the city without bloodshed.
This telling episode demonstrated to Muhammad's companions and to all future Muslim leaders that the Prophet, as leader, was not to be accountable to their wishes, no matter how strongly felt or voiced. Instead, he was bound by a higher accountability, which included the higher goods of peace, security, and the eventual winning of Mecca without violence. This admittedly difficult element of Muslim leadership has challenged Muslim leaders of every place and time. In what ways are religious leaders challenged to go against the wishes of their communities in order to promote a higher good? Is being sensitive and responsive to our communities the same as being obedient to their wishes and demands? If so, then who is leading whom? In what ways does our accountability to God cause us to clash with the wishes of those we are supposed to lead? These and other questions naturally arise from the Prophet's decisive turn from military action to negotiation and beyond.
Compiled From:
"In the Light of a Blessed Tree" - Timothy J. Gianotti, pp. 109, 110