years. Another of its terms was that if anyone from the idolaters of Quraysh came to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—as a Muslim, the Prophet would send him back, whereas if anyone from the Muslims went over to Quraysh, they would not return him to the Prophet. Other stipulations were included in this celebrated pact.
The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and his Companions thereupon released their iḥrām (ritual consecration) and turned back after the treaty had been ratified. The Prophet honoured every article of it, but Quraysh later violated the agreement, and their breach became the very cause of the noble conquest of Mecca—praise be to Allah.
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From the incident and the treaty that arose out of it we learn the permissibility of entering into an armistice with the unbelievers by suspending hostilities between them and the Muslims. This is not a cancellation of jihad but merely a postponement dictated by the overarching public interest of the Muslims.
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Such reconciliation and cessation of hostilities must therefore be limited to a known, fixed period. Al-Rawḍ al-Murbiʿ says: “An armistice is a contract concluded by the Imam or his deputy to withhold fighting for a specified period, even a lengthy one, so long as need requires it.”
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Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn said: “It is permissible to conclude it for a set term; once fixed, that term is binding on both parties and must be observed unless the enemy violates it. If the Imam dies or is deposed, those who succeed him are still obliged to uphold his agreement.”
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It is also valid to stipulate that anyone who apostasises from Islam and seeks refuge with the unbelievers will not be returned to the Muslims, while anyone who embraces Islam and comes to the Muslims from the unbelievers will be sent back to them. Acceptance of this latter clause is only allowed when need dictates it and the benefit of the treaty for the Muslims is evident.
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Although agreeing to this condition may seem, on the surface, disadvantageous to the Muslims, it actually contains the benefit Allah intended. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—explained: “Whoever departs from us to them, may Allah cast him far away, for he has apostasised from Islam, and there is no good in him…”