It was under a tree, that the men aligned with Muhammad took a pledge to fight to the death for the rite of their religion. This pledge is known as Bayt-e-Ridwan. “Allah was well-pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree.” Al-Fatah 18 (translation by Malik) In light of a fast-developing and potentially bloody struggle a treaty was hammered out between the men of Qureysh and the followers of Muhammad. The recounting of the development of this document, whether Qur’an or Sunnah, provide a practical corpus juris for Islamic crafting of treaty which seeks entrance and egress, and possible concessions regarding land borders.

Now stupidity bores me. But intellectual dishonesty evokes quite a different response. In examining both context and the spirit of the law of just one aspect of this treaty it is glaringly apparent that Hamas has violated the principles set forth in seeking such a truce.

tammy swofford: The Challenge for Khalid Meshaal – 4/28/2008

Tammy dredged up the article from the deeps of her blog on my sharing with her this piece from a July 2013 post by Palestinian Media Watch:

PA minister: PA agreements are modeled
after Muhammad’s Hudaybiyyah
Peace Treaty

Muhammad signed a 10-year truce
at Hudaybiyyah with the tribes of Mecca,
but two years later he attacked and conquered them

PA Minister of Religious Affairs Al-Habbash,
in the presence of Mahmoud Abbas,
compared PA agreements with Israel
to Muhammad’s pact that led not to peace
but to defeat of the peace partners:
“This is the example and this is the model”

I suspect failures of creativity in language and in living have the sorriest correlations with reversions to violence and barbarism.

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