Hudaybiyya's Terms: The Erased Words, Abu Jandal in Chains, and Who Broke the Treaty First
At Hudaybiyya the words "Messenger of Allah" were erased from the treaty, Abu Jandal was handed back in chains, and within two years the truce was dead. Bukhari 2731 preserves the whole scene, clause by clause. Who kept faith and who broke it first — the texts are quoted here as they are, and the verdict is yours.
By John Shaqi · July 24, 2026 · 15 min read
The Pen Stops at Two Words
Dhul-Qa'da, 6 AH — March 628 CE. Fourteen hundred men in pilgrim dress are camped at the wells of Hudaybiyya, a day's walk from Mecca. They carry no weapons of war beyond the sheathed sword of a traveller. They have brought garlanded sacrificial camels. They want one thing: to circle the Ka'ba.
Mecca refuses. Envoys come and go. Finally Suhayl b. Amr sits down opposite Muhammad ﷺ, and a scribe — Ali b. Abi Talib — takes the parchment. The dictation begins: "In the name of Allah, al-Rahman, al-Rahim..." Suhayl objects. It begins again: "This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has agreed..." Suhayl objects a second time — and the pen stops at two words: "Messenger of Allah."
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