Abū Jandal in Chains

And suddenly Abū Jandal appears. Who is Abū Jandal? Subḥān Allāh, he is the son of Suhayl, who is writing the agreement with Muḥammad. He had fled from Makkah. He was in chains; he had been imprisoned in Makkah because he was a Muslim. He heard the news that the Muslims were nearby, so he made his way on foot through the valleys and mountain passes until he reached al-Ḥudaybiyah, and at last he was happy to be in the Muslim camp. Suhayl ibn ʿAmr saw him and said: this is the first person whose case I take up; you must return him to me. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: allow me to have him. He said: either this or nothing. If you refuse to give up Abū Jandal, I refuse the agreement. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: we have not signed it yet. But Suhayl was persistent, and he refused to back down.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to Abū Jandal: you must be returned. Abū Jandal said: O Messenger of Allah, will you send me back to the disbelievers, to be tested in my religion? The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him: Abū Jandal, be patient and bear your situation for the sake of Allah. He will certainly provide for you, and for those who are suffering with you, a way out of your hardship. We have made a peace agreement with these people, giving them a pledge by Allah that we will be faithful to the terms of our agreement; we shall not violate our pledges.

ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) was walking beside Abū Jandal as he was being dragged away, and he kept pushing the hilt of his sword close to Abū Jandal, intending that Abū Jandal pick up the sword and strike his father. ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Abū Jandal spared his father and did not want to kill him, and the matter was over. ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) had been whispering to Abū Jandal and telling him: these people are disbelievers; they are worthless; the blood of any one of them is no more precious than the blood of a dog. He was inciting him to do something against his father, but Abū Jandal did not take any action.

To the Companions — men who had dignity, men who had honour, men who had their full trust in Allah — to see their Muslim brother taken back to the disbelievers was disastrous. This incident of Abū Jandal was very difficult for the Muslims to swallow. Now, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did it only because he had a promise from Allah — because we do not want anybody to argue and say that the Muslims may be handed over to the kuffār. This was done because the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) had a promise from Allah that Allah would provide them with a way out: inna Allāha jāʿilun laka wa li-man maʿaka min al-mustaḍʿafīna farajan wa makhrajan — Allah will make for you, and for the oppressed who are with you, relief and a way out. This was not forecasting by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him); this was waḥy. This is a promise: Allah will provide you with a way out; Allah will provide you with a solution to your problem.

But it was very difficult for the Muslims. So when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) ordered the Muslims to slaughter their animals and shave their heads, no one moved. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would only have to indicate an order, and they would immediately rush to perform it. But this time, suddenly, no one moved. Now, some scholars say that this was not disobedience on the part of the Companions. They were just delaying a bit, in the hope and expectation that perhaps the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) would receive a revelation that would change the situation — perhaps there was still a glimmer of hope that they might be able to go into Makkah, because they were so eager to make ṭawāf. They had come with that intention, and now they were going back empty-handed. So they said: maybe if we wait a bit, the situation could change.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went back, and he was very angry and upset. He told Umm Salamah: the Muslims are ruining themselves; I have given them an order, and they have not obeyed. Umm Salamah, the wise Umm al-Muʾminīn, said: Messenger of Allah, do not talk to them about it. They have been under great pressure because of all the trouble you have taken to achieve this peace settlement, and because they now realise that they have to take the long road home without achieving their purpose. And then she told him: if you want them to follow your order, go out and do it in front of them. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) called his barber to cut his hair, and then he slaughtered his animals, his camels, and then all of the Companions immediately carried out the order of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) — but they were in a very, very sad and depressed state.

The Muslims returned. The whole of al-Ḥudaybiyah took between two weeks and twenty days. On the way there were two questions on the minds of the Muslims. The first question was: we were promised that we would make ṭawāf, so what happened? The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said to ʿUmar: did I tell you that you would do it this year? ʿUmar said: no. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him: then you will make the ṭawāf. And the second issue: how can we return Muslims to them? The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: if we return someone to them, Allah will provide a way out for him. If somebody comes to us from them and he is Muslim, we send him back, and Allah will provide him with a way out. But if somebody leaves us for them, then Allah has rid us of him. Why would we want such a person to remain with us? A person who has given up his Islam and run away — why would we want him to stay with us?

Now, an exception was made to this rule for Muslim women: Muslim women are not to be returned, and an āyah was revealed to clarify that issue. Is this āyah an abrogation, a naskh, of the contract, or is it something that was not explicit in the contract, which the āyah clarifies? Allah knows best. This āyah is in Sūrat al-Mumtaḥinah:

O you who believe, when believing women come to you as refugees, examine and test them; Allah knows best as to their faith. If you are certain that they are believers, then do not send them back to the unbelievers: they are not lawful wives for the unbelievers, nor are the unbelievers lawful husbands for them. But pay the unbelievers what they have spent on their dowry, and there will be no blame on you if you marry them on payment of their dowry to them. But do not hold on to the ties of unbelieving women: ask for what you have spent on their dowry, and let the unbelievers ask for what they have spent. Such is the command of Allah; He judges with justice between you, and Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.