ABSTRACT
Revealed about the time of the expedition to al-Ḥudaybiya in March 628. Muḥammad in a dream had seen himself performing the pilgrimage rites with his followers. When, however, with about 1,600 men and their sacrificial victims, he approached Mecca, the Meccans barred his way. He halted at al-Ḥudaybiya on the edge of the sacred territory of Mecca, and eventually a treaty with the Meccans was signed, by which the Muslims agreed to retire for that year but were allowed to perform the pilgrimage in the next year. To many of Muḥammad's followers this may have seemed a defeat, but the Meccans had in fact recognized him as a person with whom they made treaties on equal terms. Cf. Medina, 46–52.
