(Second chain) It is narrated from Sayyiduna Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of Hudaybiyyah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) made an agreement with the polytheists on three matters: one was that if anyone left the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and joined the Quraysh, the Quraysh would not return him, but if anyone from the people of Makkah came to the Muslims, they would return him; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions would come to Makkah the following year with the intention of performing ‘Umrah and would stay only three days, and they would not display weapons, they would have only swords and those too in their sheaths, and only bows, etc.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Quraysh made a treaty with the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and Suhail bin Amr was also in their delegation. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): Write“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”Suhail said: We do not know what“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful”is. Write only the phrase that we know, write“In Your name, O Allah.”The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Write,“This treaty is from Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah.”At this point, it is as mentioned, whereas in general narrations it is stated that if anyone from the people of Makkah becomes Muslim, he will not be able to go with you.

Upon this, Suhail said: If we believed that you are the Messenger of Allah, we would have followed you. Do this: write your name and your father's name. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Write,“This treaty is from Muhammad, son of Abdullah.”They made this condition with the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that if any of your people (comes to us), we will not return him, but if any of our men comes to you, you will return him to us. Upon hearing this, Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) submitted: O Messenger of Allah! Should we write this condition as well? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! Whoever leaves us and goes to them, may Allah keep him away from us.

It is narrated from Ma'qil bin Yasar (may Allah be pleased with him) that he was present with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of Hudaybiyyah, and when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was taking the pledge from the people, he was holding a branch from the branches of the tree with his hands and raising it above the blessed head of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The noble Companions pledged to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that they would not flee from the battlefield. On that day, the number of the Companions was one thousand four hundred.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that on the day of Hudaybiyyah our number was fourteen hundred. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was holding the hand of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Under the acacia tree, we pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that we would not flee from the battlefield. We did not pledge allegiance to him (peace and blessings be upon him) upon death.

Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) was holding the hand of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was taking the pledge of allegiance from us. When we finished the pledge, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: I have taken the pledge from you and have given you Allah’s religion and His promise. Abu Zubair says: I asked Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), what kind of pledge did you take with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that day? Was it the pledge of death? He said: No, we pledged to you that we would not flee. I said: Tell me also about the day of the tree. He said: On that day, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was holding the hand of Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him). I asked: How many people were you that day? He said: We were fourteen hundred, and except for Jad bin Qais, everyone else pledged allegiance at your hand; he had hidden behind the belly of a camel. That day, we sacrificed seventy camels, one camel for every seven men.

Abu Zubair narrated that he heard that Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked whether the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took the pledge at the place of Dhul-Hulaifah. He said: No, however, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed prayer there. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) certainly took the pledge near the tree at the place of Hudaybiyyah. Abu Zubair informed us that he heard from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made supplication at the well of Hudaybiyyah.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mughaffal (may Allah be pleased with him), this Companion is among those regarding whom this verse was revealed: {وَلَا عَلَی الَّذِینَ إِذَا مَا أَتَوْکَ لِتَحْمِلَہُمْ} … And nor upon those who, when they came to you so that you might provide them with mounts. (Surah At-Tawbah: 92). This Companion narrates that (on the day of Hudaybiyyah) the Companions were pledging allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and I was holding a branch of a tree, shading the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Companions said: We pledge allegiance to you unto death. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: No, rather you pledge that you will not flee from the battlefield.

It is narrated from Salamah bin Akwa’ (may Allah be pleased with him) that I pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (at Hudaybiyyah along with the other people), but then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“O son of Akwa’! Will you not pledge allegiance?”I said: O Messenger of Allah! I have already pledged allegiance to you. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Do it again.”I said: Upon what should I pledge allegiance, O Messenger of Allah? The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Upon death.”

(Second chain) It is narrated from Yazid bin Abi Ubaid that I asked Sayyiduna Salamah bin Akwa’ (may Allah be pleased with him): On what did you people pledge allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of Hudaybiyyah? He said: On death.

Saeed bin Musayyib narrates from his father, and his father was among those who pledged allegiance (Bay'at al-Ridwan) to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) under the tree. He said: When we went the following year with the intention of Hajj, it became difficult for us to recognize the place of that tree. (That is, it became difficult to determine under which tree and at which place we had pledged allegiance.) If that place has become clear to you, then you would know better about it. The purpose of the companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in saying this is that even in the following year, we could not have certain knowledge of that tree and its place. If someone after us has come to know about it, then his knowledge would be more than ours. The meaning is that no one has certain knowledge of it. (Abdullah Rafiq)