The sojourn of Mohammad at Al-Hudaibiyah extended over nineteen or twenty days. He gave the signal to return; and his soldiers who, until the last moment, secretly hoped to march on the enemy, obeyed him without murmuring, despite their deep disappointment. On arriving at Al-Madinah, fresh scenes of the kind they had just witnessed, produced a heartbreaking effect. Nothwithstanding, they were much gratified to find that the Prophet refused to give up to the idolaters several Moslem women who had fled from Makkah, such as: Ummi-i-Kulsum bint Ogbah, Sabiyah bint Al-Haris, etc., a Revelation having taught him that women were not to be included in the treaty: "O Believers! when believing women, fleeing from idolatry, come over to you as refugees, then make trial of them ... and if ye have ascertained them to be Believers, let them not go back to the unbelievers; they are not lawful for them, nor are the unbelievers lawful for these women. But give the husbands back what they have spent for their dowers." (The Qur'an, lx, 10.) By way of compensation, the clauses of the treaty concerning men were scrupulously respected.
Like Abu Jindal, there was a Believer named Abu Basir who had escaped from his persecutors and he was given back to a tribesman of the Banu Amar, accompanied by a slave; these two having been sent to Al-Madinah to claim the refugee. They took him away in full view of the Believers who would have preferred to sink into the earth sooner than be forced to remain powerless and witness such a sight. Alone, among them all, the Prophet who saw what they could not see, remained unmoved and promised freedom by the aid of the Almighty to his ill-fated disciples.
At Zu'l Holifah, the three men sat down in the shade of a wall to rest awhile. The tribesman of the Banu Amar, priding himself on the success of his mission, thought he would act the part of an invincible hero and, unsheathing his sabre, he flourished it, bawling: 'With this good sword, I could cut down Ansars from daybreak to nightfall and never feel tired!'—'Is thy blade really so sharp as all that?' asked Abu Basir. 'Let me see if it is, O my brother!'
Blinded by pride, the man of the Banu Amar cast all distrust from his mind. He allowed the edge of the steel to be examined by Abu Basir who, suddenly pulling it out of the conceited wretch's hands, brandished it over the Infidel's head and with a single blow, stretched him dead at his feet. Seeing this, the slave, overcome by terror, fled to Al-Madinah where he implored Mohammad's protection. At the same moment, Abu Basir arrived, bestriding his victim's she-camel which he had captured. He made the animal kneel before the Mosque and, with the sabre in his grasp, he went and addressed the Prophet, saying: 'Thou canst not be blamed for what hath occurred, for thou didst remain true to thy word in giving me into the hands of my enemies. But Allah hath delivered me from their persecution! Here are the spoils. A fifth part is due to thee, Take it!'—'I can touch no plunder coming from that foe without being false to my oath. Away with thy booty; and now, go whither it pleaseth thee.' When Abu Basir was gone, after taking leave of him, the Prophet added: 'Woe to his people! That man is a brand of war! Would that he were accompanied by a few comrades as determined as he!'
Abu Basir went to Al-Aish, near the seashore, on the road to Syria trodden by the Quraish caravans. Once there, he was met by Abu Jindal and seventy other Mussulmans who, having heard that the Prophet could not be held responsible for those who freed themselves without his assistance, had made good their escape from the idolaters. These refugees were quite as determined as Abu Basir. They elected to remain in that part of the country because it was very woody and well suited to the irregular warfare of partisans in ambush. They captured all the convoys venturing in those regions and their success and the enticement of booty caused them to be joined by many Arabs of the Ghifar, Aslams, and Buhaunah tribes, etc., who became converts to Islam and formed a "jihsh" of more then three hundred highwaymen.
It was then that the Believers began to fathom the reasons for the Prophet's placidness when he accepted the paragraph, seemingly so unfavourable, concerning the restitution of fugitives. Hungered by the stoppage of all revictualling caravans, the Quraish finished by sending written entreaties, begging him to suppress the very clause which at first pleased them so much. They informed Mohammad that all Mussulmans who should get out of Makkah to join him, could remain under his protection; and he was begged to recall Abu Basir and his fellow-raiders. So it turned out that when Mohammad gave the Quraish satisfaction, he had the advantage of doing a generous act at the same time as he increased his fighting strength to a most appreciable extent.
The results, therefore, of the expedition of Al-Hudaibiyah, to all appearances so poor, were of great importance. In the Qur'an, it is set down as being almost equal to the battle of Badr. In fact, at the moment when the Mussulmans thought they ought to attack the Holy City, all of them, whether Makkan Mohadjirun, or Ansars of Al-Madinah, took the oath of fealty without hesitation. After the Prophet's death, the tree under which he accepted the pledge was so celebrated that numerous were the Faithful who came to pray in its shade; and Umar was obliged to have it felled, because he feared lest it became the object of a cult tainted with fetichism.
To crown all and complete these results, the following verses came down: "Well pleased now hath Allah been with the Believers when they plighted fealty to thee under the tree; and He knew what was in their hearts: therefore did He send down upon them a spirit of secure repose, and rewarded them with a speedy victory. * And with the rich booty which they took." (The Qur'an, xlviii, 18, 19.)
