The Conquest of Mecca and the Final Years

In the sixth year of the Hijra, the Prophet, peace be upon him, set out toward Mecca with approximately 1,400 Companions for the purpose of performing Umrah. The Quraysh blocked their path at a place called Hudaybiyyah. Negotiations followed, and the resulting treaty — the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah — was deeply difficult for many Companions to accept. It required the Muslims to return home without performing Umrah that year, to return any Meccan who came to Madinah without the permission of his guardian, and to accept a ten-year truce. Umar ibn al-Khattab was among those who expressed anguish at the terms. But the Quran revealed that this was a manifest victory, and history confirmed it: the treaty opened the door to mass conversion across Arabia, and within two years it would be rendered moot by Quraysh's own violation.

The Conquest of Mecca — Fath Makkah — came in the eighth year of the Hijra. The Quraysh had violated the treaty by aiding a tribe allied against the Muslims. The Prophet marched with an army of ten thousand in near-total secrecy. The Quraysh had no means to resist. Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, their longtime leader, came to the Prophet's camp and accepted Islam the night before the entry. The Prophet declared that whoever entered Abu Sufyan's house would be safe, whoever closed their door would be safe, and whoever entered the sanctuary would be safe.

The entry into Mecca was largely bloodless. The Prophet rode on his she-camel, head bowed in humility so low that his chin nearly touched the saddle, reciting Surah al-Fath. At the Ka'bah, he went around it on his mount, pointing with his staff at the 360 idols arranged around it, as they fell one by one. Then he went inside the Ka'bah, had its images destroyed, and prayed within its walls. Standing at its door, he addressed the Meccans who had persecuted him and his Companions for twenty years: 'What do you think I will do with you?' They said: 'A noble brother and the son of a noble brother.' He said: 'Go — you are free.'

Bilal ibn Rabah, the freed slave who had been tortured on the sands of Mecca, ascended to the roof of the Ka'bah and gave the call to prayer for the first time in the city of his persecution. Some of the Quraysh, who had not yet embraced Islam, found this difficult to witness. But it was the image of what Islam had come to establish: the scales of honor redrawn entirely.

The Battle of Hunayn followed shortly after, when the Hawazin and Thaqif tribes sought to reverse the Conquest. An initial rout of the Muslim advance guard threatened disaster, but the Prophet stood firm and the tide turned. The prisoners numbered in the thousands and the spoils were enormous.

In the tenth year, the Prophet performed the Farewell Pilgrimage with over 100,000 Muslims. At the plain of Arafat, he delivered the Farewell Sermon — a comprehensive ethical and legal address covering the sanctity of life and property, the rights of women, the abolition of tribal vengeance, and the finality of his message. He asked the gathering to bear witness that he had conveyed. The verse was revealed: 'Today I have completed your religion for you and perfected My blessing upon you, and I am pleased with Islam as your religion.'

The Prophet returned to Madinah and fell ill. He was sixty-three years old. In his final days, he continued to lead prayer when he could. He passed away on the twelfth of Rabi' al-Awwal, his head in the lap of Aisha. The community was stunned. It was Umar ibn al-Khattab — who had drawn his sword threatening anyone who said the Prophet had died — whom Abu Bakr calmed with the words: 'Whoever worshipped Muhammad, Muhammad has died. Whoever worshipped Allah, Allah is Ever-Living and never dies.'