Hilf al-fudul

Hilf al-fudul

Messenger of Allah was present at the Hilf al-Fudul.

This was the most renowned alliance ever heard of in Arabia. It was formed because a man from Zabid had arrived in Makkah with some merchandise and `Al-'As ibn Wa'il, one of the Quraysh nobles, bought goods from him and then withheld payment. The Zabidi asked the Quraysh nobles for help against Al-' As ibn Wa'il, but they refused to intervene because of his position. The Zabidi then appealed to the people of Makkah as a whole for support.

All the fair-minded young men were full of enthusiasm to put the matter right. They met in the house of 'Abdullah ibn Jud'an who prepared food for them. They made a covenant by Allah that they would unite with the wronged man against the one who had wronged him the matter was settled. The Arabs called that pact Hilf Al-FuduI, 'The Alliance of Excellence'. They said,

'These people have entered into a state of excellence.'

Then they went to al-' As ibn Wa'il and took from him

what he owed to Zabidi and handed it over.

The Messenger of Allah was proud of this alliance.

He held it in such high esteem that, after receiving the message 'of Islam, he said, 'In the house of 'Abdullah ibn

Jud'an, I was present at an alliance which was such that if I was invited to take pad in it now in Islam, I would still do so.' The Quraysh pledged to restore to everyone what was their due and not to allow any aggressor to get the better of those he had wronged.

In Allah's wisdom, His Messenger was allowed to grow up unlettered. He could neither read nor write. Thus, he could never be accused by his enemies of altering other ideologies. The Qur'an indicates this when

it says, `Before this you did not recite any Book nor

write it with your right hand, for then those who follow

falsehood would have doubted.' (29: 48)

The Qur'an called him 'unlettered' and said, 'those

who follow the Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet,

whom they find written down with them in the Torah

and Evangel.' (7: 157)