The conquest of Makkah is a very important event in the history of Islam for various reasons.
It has a background, some important events and the importance of this event. This event occurred on 8 A.H after the battle of Mu’tah.
So, let’s start from the very beginning of the topic without further introductions.
The background:
In 6 A.H, the Muslims signed the treaty of Hudaibiya with the Quraish of Makkah which had certain clauses. This was the time when a tribe known as Banu Bakr was an ally of the Quraish while the Banu Khuza tribe was the ally of the Muslims.
Muslims and the Quraish of Makkah were keen to safeguard the interests of their allies. However, the battle of Mu’tah was considered the weakness of the Muslims.
The Quraish misinterpreted and miscalculated the situation and they persuaded Banu Bakr (their ally) to attack and kill some men of Banu Khuza (an ally of the Muslims).
What happened was that the Quraish successfully instigated the men of Banu Bakr and they killed several innocent people of the Banu Khuza tribe.
The people of Banu Khuza immediately approached the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) who was keen to safeguard the interests of the people of Banu Khuza.
The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) demanded the Quraish to take action on the situation and he offered them three alternatives. The three alternatives were:
- Pay blood money (Qisas)
- Dissolve their treaty with Banu Bakr
- Dissolve their treaty with the Muslims (meaning to be ready for battle).
The first two options were against the pride and prestige of Quraish and therefore, they opted for the third alternative which was to go into a fight against the Muslims.
The Quraish soon realised their mistake and their leader Abu Sufiyan tried to negotiate. However, the negotiations failed as the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was keen to avenge the deaths of the innocent men of Banu Khuza.
Events of the conquest of Makkah:
The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) asked his companions to quickly prepare to move towards Makkah. The Muslim army until it reached Makkah was around 10,000 men (because the neighbouring tribes joined the Muslim army).
Fight in the way of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress limits…
Surah Al-Baqarah (2:190)
The Muslims camped at Marr-uz-Zahran (a place around 10 miles from Makkah). This was a very strategic point as it gave the complete view of Makkah and here the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) played a very wise tactic.
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He ordered his companions to light up their torches and as it was night, the Muslim army seemed twice to the Quraish of Makkah than it actually was.
Due to this, the Quraish of Makkah were dishearted and they were not ready to compete with the Muslim army.
The was a time when the leader of the Quraish, Abu Sufiyan ibn Harb, was caught spying. With this, the events continued and the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) divided the Muslim army into four battalions.
The four batillions were under:
- Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه)
- Hazrat Zubayr ibn Awan (رضي الله عنه)
- Hazrat Abu Ubaidah bin Jarrah (رضي الله عنه)
- Hazrat Khalid ibn Waleed (رضي الله عنه)
All of the above-mentioned commanders were excellent and brave soldiers with exceptional military tactics.
However, in the morning, the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) gave a general pardon before entering Makkah. Some of the important commandments were:
- To not cut trees or destroy crops and other valuable resources.
- The women, children and old people were not to be attacked or harmed in any way.
- Anyone who took refuge in the Kaaba or the house of Abu Sufiyan or their own house was not to be harmed.
- Any unarmed men were not to be attacked.
- Muslims should not attack, they were to defend themselves only.
With this, the Muslims entered Makkah and only the battalion under Hazrat Khalid ibn Waleed (رضي الله عنه) was attacked and successfully killed the enemies. Other than that, the Quraish of Makkah surrendered.
Aftermath:
With this, the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) entered Makkah and he showed utmost simplicity and humility. His blessed forehead was lowered because he was not proud of his victories.
He was aware that all of this was the blessings of God almighty. The Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) offered tawaf (circumambulation around the Kaabah seven times) and then entered the Holy Kaaba where he destroyed 360 idols.
About this, the Quran says:
And say “Truth has (now) arrived and falsehood perished for falsehood (by its nature) bound to perish.
Surah Isra (17:81)
The forgiveness of the enemies:
This was the time when all the bitter enemies of the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) were in front of him. He asked them about their punishment for which they replied:
“You are a noble brother and son of a noble brother”.
After listening to this, the Prophet Muhammad forgave all his bitter enemies and said to them that “you are free”.
Only some of the people were executed for their deeds. History has never witnessed an incident such as this.
All the enemies that were constantly planning to harm the Prophet (PBUH), he not only forgave them but also held no grudge against them.
This event brought about massive conversions to Islam and therefore, the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) stayed in Makkah to teach his religion, Islam.
He handed the keys of Kaaba to Usman bin Talha when the threat of the battle of Hunain was adjacent.
The Importance:
- The importance of the conquest of Makkah is that this event proved that Islam is a religion of peace and harmony as elaborated by the conduct of Muslims during this event.
The power of Islam was shown to the entire world and the conversions to Islam increased rapidly.
- Moreover, the Muslims now were no longer in threat by the Quraish of Makkah as their power against Islam was completely crushed.
Furthermore, the conquest of Mecca was also important because Madinah was now secure from the North as well.
- The deaths of the innocent people of Banu Khuza were avenged showing that the wrongdoers will not go unpunished.
Conclusion:
With this, the article regarding the conquest of Makkah has come to an end. I hope that all your queries had been answered.
If you find any kind of mistake in the text, you can report it through the comments. Other than that, thank you very much for reading and staying with me till the end.