The journey of the Prophet Muhammad of the Islamic world began with the Prophet Muhammad’s journey back to Mecca—a journey that speaks to well over two billion people today. The Prophet Muhammad, seen as the messenger of God to Muslims around the world, faced an unparalleled point in time to not alone spread the divine message of Islam to his people but to overcome resistance with an approach of peace to transform the city of Mecca into the foundation of the holiest city to the Muslim world today. As the year 630 CE passed, the Prophet Muhammad stood at what would be the most challenging journey of his time, his return to Mecca, the city that had once rejected him and resisted his message. After years in Medina, he utilized his time to gather followers, by building strong alliances throughout the city and building a following of those who accepted his divine message of Islam. His strong leadership, viewed by many as what a true leader should be in this world, helped build connections and the following of tribes that would join the Prophet in the journey back to the holy city of Mecca. With the Prophet’s strong following and leadership, he managed to negotiate a truce with the Quraysh, which was a strong, powerful, and influential tribe in Mecca. They would allow the Prophet and his followers to make his historic journey back to Mecca after ten years. This treaty was violated by the Quraysh tribe, which turned against the Prophet; but the Prophet would not give up, knowing this journey had to be done. The Prophet then prepared an army of over ten thousand men in preparation for a possible battle and resistance from the Quraysh and other tribes who called Mecca home. He did not seek conflict nor war, but was to make sure his journey was peaceful, and by doing so, he had to make sure they were prepared for anything and to overwhelm whatever resistance he might face. When the Prophet felt that he and his army were prepared, the journey began. He would go on to face little resistance from the tribes of Mecca as the tribes saw how powerful and influential the Prophet had become, with his army and followers growing by the day. Once the Prophet made it to the outskirts of Mecca, he sent his envoys to negotiate a peace deal with the Quraysh, the most powerful tribe in Mecca. The peace deal was designed to grant the tribes peace only if they would surrender and accept the divine message of Islam.¹

The Prophet Muhammad faced very difficult times in his earlier period in Mecca. Muhammad and his followers faced torture, ill-treatment, and harassment, and many were even killed in Mecca, which led Muhammad and his followers to flee to Medina, which is a city known today as the second holiest city in the Muslim world. The Prophet knew he would face resistance, as he tried to spread the message of Islam, but he did not give up easily. Once he reached Medina, he worked tirelessly to build his following, and he helped transform the city to a new beginning. The Prophet was a wise man who understood the conflicts of his time, knowing that while Mecca faced war, Medina, while safer, also faced conflict.² But the Prophet approached everything with the goal of peace; knowing the conditions of Medina, he knew what had to be done to unite the holy city. Once the message of Islam started spreading in Medina, the Prophet, according to Suleyman Sertkaya,

“first implemented social reforms, like establishing brotherhood among the Muslims and constructing a mosque that had religious, educational, judicial, social, as well as political importance, in order to strengthen and unite the Muslim community. He also established economic regulations for marketplaces. More importantly, he signed the constitution of Medina, known as the Medina Charter, with all communities (Muslims, polytheists, and Jews); this brought harmony and peaceful coexistence to the city.”³

The prophet understood the acceptance of all religions, knowing that uniting the people of Medina and showing them coexistence among all religions is part of the Islamic message that the Prophet sought to spread. This brought more followers and helped shape Medina into the history of Islam. Once Muhammad gained his followers, he knew he wanted to expand his message as far as he could and knew Mecca was going to be his biggest obstacle yet. That’s when he set out to negotiate a treaty with the most powerful tribe in Mecca, the Quraysh tribe. 

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah showed Muhammad’s diplomatic abilities and leadership. Knowing the Prophet wanted peace with the tribes in Mecca, he knew negotiations had to take place. As Betty Kelen says, “Peace was to be established for ten years, during which time there would be an absolute taboo on hostilities between Mecca and Medina.”⁴ This treaty was violated against the Prophet Muhammad’s allied tribes. This treaty would continue being violated against the prophet Muhammad’s allied tribes. As Muslims were on their conquest to Mecca, the Treaty of Hudaibiya was broken. This treaty was in place for almost two years before the Khuzaa tribe lost 23 people. The Khuzaa tribe was allied with the Prophet Muhammad. The tribe that cruelly attacked the Khuzaa tribe was planned by the Hawazin tribe.⁵

Muhammad then knew he would have to prepare his army for the worst-case scenario: war. The Prophet had an objective to peace, he knew his enemies could be deterred by a large show of force, but he was prepared for battle if battle were to come.⁶ The Prophet set out for Mecca, a journey in which no one knew their fate or how bad the battle might be. According to Leila Azzam and Aisha Gouverneur, “When the Muslim army, which numbered ten thousand, set out for Mecca, it was the month of Ramadan in the eighth year of the Hijrah. Many of the men kept the fast, even though they were not obliged to because they were traveling. Everyone was jubilant because they were going to Mecca, especially as some of them had not seen their homes in the city for eight long years.”⁷

 The journey because an opportunity for Muhammad to continue the spread of the message of Islam and claim Mecca. As Muhammad was nearing the city of Mecca, he sent envoys in to try and negotiate peace. The Prophet knew he outnumbered the Quraysh tribe, but he did not come for a fight. Later on that evening, as fires from all around the city of Mecca burned from Muhammad and his men’s camps, a man known to the Prophet and his followers as the enemy of Allah appeared. His name was Abu Sufyan, a powerful figure in the Quraysh tribe. Abu Sufyan rode into the Prophet’s camp to talk with the Prophet; however, many men begged to kill Abu Sufyan.⁸ The Prophet ordered his men to not kill Abu Sufyan, as he promised him safety at his camp.⁹ According to Leila Azzam and Aisha Gouverneur, “The Prophet (p.b.u.h.) then told Abu Sufyan to go back to Mecca and tell the people that the Muslims would enter the city the next morning.”¹⁰ This was still the question of concern: will the people of Mecca accept peace or choose to fight?

The entrance into Mecca was something the Prophet knew could get bloody if the Quraysh tribe and people of Mecca tried to fight the Prophet’s forces when entering Mecca. The next day during the morning hours, according to Leila Azzam and Aisha Gouverneur, “the Muslims entered Mecca from all sides. They had been ordered to cause no harm unless anyone tried to stop them from entering. When the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) arrived, he got off his camel, bowed down on the ground and thanked Allah for this victory. When the unbelievers saw this, they knew that the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) had come in peace.”¹¹ This was the wish of the Prophet Muhammad who desperately did not want bloodshed or war, but peace in Mecca. He knew he had achieved that when the people started to unite around the him and head towards the Ka’ab.  The first thing the Prophet Muhammad did was to clean himself in the Muslim tradition before praying before he went to the Ka’ab to perform his prayer. During his prayer, as he was giving thanks to God for his victory in Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad wanted peace and was willing to forgive all Meccans who tried to harm him and treat him and his fellow Muslims cruelly. The Prophet offered them peace, showing his forgiveness.¹²

The people of Mecca began accepting the Message of Islam, and, according to Stephen Burge, “from this moment, the Muslim community became firmly established as both a political and spiritual power in the region: in its confrontation with polytheism, Islam had won.”¹³ The Prophet Muhammad had to show his resilience in his struggle to spread the message of Islam, which he had achieved. The message of Islam spread effectively across the world through the process of faith dissemination in the early Muslim community in Mecca. According to Abdurrohim Abdurrohim, Adiyono Adiyono, and Makmur Harun, “It was found that oral communication, small group discussions, and the example of critical figures played a crucial role in spreading the teachings of Islam.”¹⁴