Pledge of the Tree
event in early Islamic History
The Pledge of the Tree (Arabic: بيعة الشَّجَرَة, romanized: bayʿat ash-shajara) was a pledge that was sworn by companions to the Islamic prophet Muhammad prior to the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya (6 AH/628 CE). Sworn under a tree, it was to avenge the rumoured death of Uthman.
Background
In March 628 CE (6 AH), Muhammad traveled to Mecca to perform the ritual pilgrimage of Umrah. The Quraysh deployed forces around Mecca to prevent the Muslims from entering the city, determined to offer resistance even though the Muslims had no intention or preparation for battle. Muhammad camped outside Mecca at Hudaybiyyah and sent Uthman ibn Affan as his envoy to meet with the leaders of Quraysh and negotiate their entry. Uthman remained in Mecca longer than expected, and his prolonged absence led to rumors that he had been killed by the Quraysh. On this occasion, Muhammad gathered his nearly 1,400 Sahaba and called them to pledge their loyalty and readiness to fight if necessary after reports of Uthman's death. This pledge took place under a tree and was thus known as the Pledge of the Tree.
Aftermath
The pledge was successful in demonstrating to the Quraysh the determination of the Muslims. They soon released Uthman and sent an ambassador of their own, Suhayl ibn Amr, to negotiate the terms of a treaty that later became known as the Treaty of Al-Hudaybiyah.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pledge of the Tree” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.