The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said,
“Write: ‘In Your name, O Allah.’”
So it was written. He continued,
“Write: ‘This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has agreed upon with Suhayl ibn ʿAmr.’”
Suhayl objected, “Had I acknowledged you as the Messenger of Allah I would never have fought you; write instead your name and your father’s name.”
The Prophet ﷺ therefore said, “Write: ‘This is what Muhammad son of ʿAbd Allah has agreed upon with Suhayl ibn ʿAmr.’”
They agreed to lay down arms for ten years, during which people would enjoy security and each side would refrain from attacking the other. It was stipulated that anyone from Quraysh who came over to Muhammad without the permission of his guardian would be returned, whereas anyone who left Muhammad to join Quraysh would not be returned. Between the two parties there would be no hidden malice, no stealthy seizure and no treachery. Whoever wished to enter the pact and protection of Muhammad might do so, and whoever wished to enter the pact and protection of Quraysh might do so.
At this the clan of Khuzaʿah jumped up, declaring, “We align ourselves with Muhammad and his covenant,” while the tribe of Banū Bakr declared, “We align ourselves with Quraysh and their covenant.”
It was further stipulated that you shall turn back from us this year and not enter Mecca, but that next year we will withdraw from it for you so that you may enter with your companions, stay three days, and carry nothing but the weapons of a traveller—sheathed swords in their scabbards and nothing more.
While the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was drafting the document with Suhayl ibn ʿAmr, Suhayl’s own son, Abū Jandal, arrived dragging his chains; he had slipped away and made his way to the Prophet ﷺ. The Companions had set out certain of victory because of a vision the Prophet ﷺ had seen, and when they witnessed the truce, the order to turn back, and the burden the Prophet ﷺ had accepted, distress overwhelmed them.
When Suhayl saw Abū Jandal he stood, struck him in the face, and seized him by the collar, saying, “Muḥammad, the agreement between you and me was concluded before this man reached you.”
The Prophet ﷺ replied, “You have spoken the truth,” whereupon Suhayl began yanking his son’s collar to drag him back to Quraysh. Abū Jandal cried out at the top of his voice, “O assembly of Muslims, will I be returned to the idolaters so they can persecute me in my faith?!”—which only increased the people’s anguish.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Abū Jandal, be patient and seek your reward with Allah. He will soon grant relief and a way out for you and for the oppressed who are with you. We have concluded a treaty with these people; we have pledged to them by Allah’s covenant and they have pledged to us. We will not betray them.”
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb leapt up and walked alongside Abū Jandal, saying, “Be patient, Abū Jandal; they are only idolaters—one of them is worth no more than a dog’s blood.” He kept lowering the hilt of his sword toward him; ʿUmar later said, “I was hoping he would seize the sword and strike his father.” But the man spared his father, and the agreement stood.
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ finished the document he called witnesses to the treaty—some Muslims and some idolaters: Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, ʿAbd Allah ibn Suhayl ibn ʿAmr, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, Maḥmūd ibn Maslama, and Mukriz ibn Ḥafṣ—who on that day was still an idolater—as well as ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, who wrote it down, for he was the scribe of the document.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was encamped outside the Sacred Precinct (al-Ḥill) yet would enter the Haram to pray. When the treaty was completed he went to his sacrificial animals and slaughtered them, then sat and had his head shaved—the one who shaved him that day was Khirāsh ibn Umayyah ibn al-Faḍl al-Khuzaʿī. When the people saw that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had slaughtered and shaved, they rose as one and began slaughtering their animals and shaving their heads.