During this time the Prophet(sa) saw a vision which is mentioned thus in the Qur’an:
You will certainly enter the Sacred Mosque, if God will, in security, some having their heads shaven, and others having their hair cut short; and you will not fear. But He knew what you knew not. He has in fact ordained for you, besides that, a victory near at hand (48: 28).
That is to say, God had decided to let Muslims enter the precincts of the Ka’ba in peace, with heads shaven and hair cut (these being the external signs of pilgrims to the Ka’ba), and without fear. But Muslims did not know exactly how God was to let this happen. Moreover, before Muslims performed their pilgrimage in peace, they were to have another victory, a precursor of the victory promised in the vision.
In this vision God foretold the ultimate victory of Muslims, their peaceful march into Mecca and the conquest of Mecca without the use of arms. But the Prophet(sa) understood it to mean that Muslims had been commanded by God immediately to attempt a circuit of the Ka’ba. The Prophet(sa)'s error in interpreting the vision was to become the occasion of the victory 'near at hand' promised in the vision. In error, therefore, the Prophet(sa) planned a march towards the Ka’ba. He announced his vision and his interpretation of it to Muslims and asked them to prepare. "You will go," he said, "only to perform a circuit of the Ka’ba. There were, therefore, to be no demonstrations against the enemy." Late in February 628, fifteen hundred pilgrims1, headed by the Prophet(sa), set out on their journey to Mecca. A mounted guard of twenty went some distance ahead to warn the Muslims in case the enemy showed signs of attacking.
The Meccans soon had reports of this caravan. Tradition had established the circuit of the Ka’ba as a universal right. It could not very well be denied to Muslims. They had announced in unambiguous terms that the purpose of their march was to perform the circuit, nothing else. The Prophet(sa) had forbidden demonstrations of every kind. There were to be no disputes, no questionings or claims. In spite of this, the Meccans started preparing as for an armed conflict. They put up defences on all sides, called the surrounding tribes to their aid and seemed determined to fight. When the Prophet(sa) reached near Mecca, he was informed that the Quraish were ready to fight. They were clad in tiger skins, had their wives and children with them and had sworn solemnly not to let the Muslims pass. The tiger skins were a sign of a savage determination to fight. Soon after, a column of Meccans marching in the van of their army confronted the Muslims. Muslims could not now advance except by drawing the sword. The Prophet(sa), however, was determined to do nothing of the kind.
He employed a guide to show the Muslim caravan an alternative route through the desert. Led by this guide, the Prophet(sa) and his Companions reached Hudaibiya, a spot very near Mecca.
The Prophet's(sa) dromedary stopped and refused to go any farther.
"The animal seems tired, O Prophet(sa) of God. Better change your mount," said a Companion.
"No, no," said the Prophet(sa). "the animal is not tired. It seems rather that God wants us to stop here and to go no further. I propose, therefore, to camp here and to ask the Meccans if they would let us perform the Pilgrimage. I, for one, will accept any conditions they may choose to impose" (Halbiyya, Vol. 2, p. 13).
The Meccan army at this time was not in Mecca. It had gone out some distance to meet the Muslims on the main road to Medina. If the Prophet(sa) wanted, he could have led his fifteen hundred men into Mecca and taken the town without resistance. But he was determined to attempt only the circuit of the Ka’ba, and that only if the Meccans permitted. He would have resisted and fought the Meccans only if the Meccans had chosen to strike first. Therefore, he abandoned the main road and camped at Hudaibiya. Soon the news reached the Meccan commander, who ordered his men to withdraw and post themselves near Mecca. Then the Meccans sent a chief, Budail by name, to parley with the Prophet(sa). The Prophet(sa) explained to Budail that he and the Muslims wanted only to perform the circuit of the Ka’ba; but if the Meccans wished to fight, the Muslims were ready. Then Urwa, son-in-law of Abu Sufyan(ra), the Meccan commander, came to the Prophet(sa). He behaved most discourteously. He called the Muslims tramps and dregs of society and said the Meccans would not let them enter Mecca. More and more Meccans came to have talks and the last thing they said was that at least that year they would not let Muslims perform even the circuit of the Ka’ba. The Meccans would be humiliated if they permitted the circuit this year. The following year, they might do so.
Some tribes allied with the Meccans urged upon the Meccan leaders to let the Muslims perform the circuit. After all, it was only the right of circuit they wanted. Why should they be stopped even from this? But the Meccans remained adamant. Thereupon the tribal leaders said, the Meccans did not want peace and threatened to disassociate themselves from them. Out of fear, the Meccans were persuaded to try to reach a settlement with the Muslims. As soon as the Prophet(sa) got to know of this, he sent Uthman(ra) (later the Third Khalifa of Islam) to the Meccans. Uthman(ra) had many relatives in Mecca. They came out and surrounded him, and offered to let him perform the circuit, but declared that they would not let the Prophet(sa) do so until the following year. "But," said Uthman(ra), "I will not perform the circuit unless it is in the company of my Master." Uthman's(ra) talks with the chiefs of Mecca became prolonged. A rumour was mischievously spread that he had been murdered. It reached the ears of the Prophet(sa). Upon this the Prophet(sa) assembled the Companions and said, "The life of an envoy is held sacred among all nations. I have heard that the Meccans have murdered Uthman(ra). If this is true, we have to enter Mecca, whatever the consequences." The Prophet(sa)'s earlier intention to enter Mecca peacefully had to be changed, under the changed circumstances. The Prophet(sa) went on, "Those who promise solemnly that if they have to go further, they will not turn back save as victors, should come forward and take the oath on my hand." The Prophet(sa) had hardly finished speaking, when all the fifteen hundred Companions stood up and jumped over one another to hold the Prophet's(sa) hand and take the oath. This oath possesses a special importance in the history of early Islam. It is called the "Pledge of the Tree". When the oath was taken, the Prophet(sa) was sitting under a tree. Everyone of those who took the oath remained proud of it to the end of his days. Of the fifteen hundred present on the occasion, not one held back. They all promised that if the Muslim envoy had been murdered, they would not go back. Either they would take Mecca before dusk, or they would all die fighting. The taking of the oath was not over when Uthman(ra) returned. He reported that the Meccans did not agree to let the Muslims perform the circuit until the following year. They had appointed their delegates to sign a settlement with the Muslims. Soon after, Suhail, a chief of Mecca, came to the Prophet(sa). A settlement was reached and recorded.
1 In this pilgrimage planned a year after the Battle of the Ditch, only one thousand five hundred men accompanied the Prophet(sa). The number of Muslim combatants in the Battle of the Ditch could have been less but not more than this number. Historians who put the number of the Muslim combatants in the Battle of the Ditch at three thousand, therefore, are wrong. The number can quite reasonably be put at one thousand two hundred.