EXECUTION OF THE TREATY

The significant point in the treaties reached by the Prophet (pbuh) is that there exist no articles against Islam. As a matter of fact, the proposition of Ta’if people was turned down since it was in violation of Islam, and they could only be reached after the provisions were modified in accordance with Islam. Moreover, in order for the treaty to remain valid, it was stipulated that the seal of Prophet and the names of the witnesses be recorded at the end of the text.

The treaties made by Prophet Muhammad were signed at the tribe to which the agreement was to be contracted or in Medina before the delegate of the other party. Before the agreements were written, the conditions were mutually debated, and as the parties reached an agreement over the articles of the treaty, the issuing phase was put into effect. If a written proposition was brought, the articles were examined, and the sections that needed to be modified were edited after the parties approved them.

The Prophet ordered that the writing of the treaty be started with the phrase “in the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful” and subsequently had the phrase “Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah” added to the treaty. Upon this, in Hudaybiyah, Suhayl bin Amr raised an objection to the phrase “in the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful” and the phrase “Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah”, thus the wish of Suhayl bin Amr was fulfilled and these phrases were replaced with the phrases: “Oh Allah! In the name of You!” and “Muhammad, the son of Abd Allah”. After this incident, Umar became furious, and Ali, the scribe for this treaty and the Prophet’s nephew, abstained from changing these phrases.

The Prophet would dictate the text of the treaty to his clerks given that he knew not how to read or write. Generally Ali performed this duty. The treaty would be prepared in two copies: one copy for Prophet Muhammad and one copy for the other party. During the debate and writing of the treaty, the witnesses of the parties would attend and their names were also written at the end of the treaty. As a matter of fact, on the Hudaybiyah treaty, the witnesses from the Muslims were Abu Bakr, Abdurrahman bin Avf and others, and the witnesses of the mushriks were Mikraz bin Hafs and others. Furthermore, the treaty would be embossed with the seal of the head of the parties.

To ensure adherence to the treaties, the Prophet used expressions like “until there still remains a drop in the sea enough to wet a feather” or “as long as Mount Uhud exist”.