in any case. He, now, offers you a reasonable plan, so do what you please.”
Seeing an overwhelming tendency towards reconciliation among their chiefs, some reckless,  fight-prone  youngsters of Quraish devised a wicked plan that could hinder the peace treaty. They decided to  infiltrate into the camp of the Muslims and produce intentional skirmishes that might trigger the fuse  of  war. Muhammad bin Maslamah, chief of the Muslim guards, took them captives, but in view of the  farreaching  imminent results about to be achieved, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) set them free. In this  context Allâh says:
“And He it is Who has withheld their hands from you and your hands from them in the midst of
Makkah, after He had made you victors over them.” 48:24
Time passed. Negotiations went on but with no results. Then the Prophet (Peace be upon him) desired
‘Umar to see the nobles of Quraish on his behalf. ‘Umar excused himself on account of the personal  enmity of Quraish; he had, moreover, no influential relatives in the city who could shield him from  danger; and he pointed to ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan, who belonged to one of the most powerful families in
Makkah, as the suitable envoy. ‘Uthman went to Abu Sufyan and other chiefs and told them that the
Muslims had come only to visit and pay their homage to the Sacred House, to do worship there, and  that they had no intention to fight. He was also asked to call them to Islam, and give glad tidings to  the  believers in Makkah, women and men, that the conquest was approaching and Islam was surely to  prevail because Allâh would verily establish His religion in Makkah. ‘Uthman also assured them that  after the performance of ceremonies they would soon depart peacefully, but the Quraishites were  adamant and not prepared to grant them the permission to visit Al-Ka‘bah. They, however, offered
‘Uthman the permission to perform the pilgrimage, if he so desired in his individual capacity, but
‘Uthman declined the offer saying: “How is it possible that I avail myself of this opportunity, when the
Prophet (Peace be upon him) is denied of it?” The Muslims anxiously waited for the arrival of ‘Uthman  with mingled feelings of fear and anxiety. But his arrival was considerably delayed and a foul play was  suspected on the part of Quraish. The Muslims were greatly worried and took a solemn pledge at the  hand of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) that they would sacrifice their lives to avenge the death of  their Companion and stand firmly by their master, Muhammad (Peace be upon him), under all  conditions. This pledge goes by the name of Bay‘at Ar-Ridwan (a covenant of fealty). The first men to  take a pledge were Abu Sinan Al-Asadi and Salamah bin Al-Akwa‘, who gave a solemn promise to die  in  the cause of Truth three times, at the front of the army, in the middle and in the rear. The Prophet
(Peace be upon him) caught his left hand on behalf of ‘Uthman. This fealty was sworn under a tree,  with ‘Umar holding the Prophet’s hand and Ma‘qil bin Yasar holding a branch of the tree up. The Noble
Qur’ân has referred to this pledge in the following words:
“Indeed, Allâh was pleased with the believers when they gave their Bai‘a (pledge) to you O
Muhammad (Peace be upon him) under the tree.” 48:18
When Quraish saw the firm determination of the Muslims to shed the last drop of blood for the defence  of their Faith, they came to their senses and realized that Muhammad’s followers could not be cowed  down by these tactics. After some further interchange of messages they agreed to conclude a treaty of  reconciliation and peace with the Muslims. The clauses of the said treaty go as follows:
1. The Muslims shall return this time and come back next year, but they shall not stay in Makkah  for more than three days.
2. They shall not come back armed but can bring with them swords only sheathed in scabbards and  these shall be kept in bags.
3. War activities shall be suspended for ten years, during which both parties will live in full security  and neither will raise sword against the other.
4. If anyone from Quraish goes over to Muhammad (Peace be upon him) without his guardian’s  permission, he should be sent back to Quraish, but should any of Muhammad’s followers return  to Quraish, he shall not be sent back.
5. Whosoever to join Muhammad (Peace be upon him), or enter into treaty with him, should have  the liberty to do so; and likewise whosoever wishes to join Quraish, or enter into treaty with  them, should be allowed to do so.
Some dispute arose with regard to the preamble. For example, when the agreement was to be  committed to writing, ‘Ali bin Abi Talib, who acted as a scribe began with the words: Bismillâh ir-
Rahman ir-Raheem, i.e., “In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful” but the