Hilf al-Fudul () was an alliance or confederacy created in

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

in the year 590 AD, to establish justice for all through collective action, especially for those who were not under the protection of any clan. Because of Muhammad's role in its formation, the alliance plays a significant role in

Islamic ethics Islamic ethics () is the "philosophical reflection upon moral conduct" with a view to defining "good character" and attaining the "pleasure of God" (''raza-e Ilahi''). It is distinguished from " Islamic morality", which pertains to "specific norms ...

. Because commonly means "virtuous" the alliance is often translated as League of the Virtuous.

Historical background

The pact, or in Arabic, took place one month after the end of the

Fijar Wars The Fijar Wars () were a series of battles that took place in the late 6th century mainly between two major tribal confederations of Arabia, the Quraysh and the Hawazin. According to the sources, the fighting took place on eight days over the cou ...

, in month of Dhu al-Qi'da.

Montgomery Watt William Montgomery Watt (14 March 1909 – 24 October 2006) was a Scottish historian and orientalist. An Anglican priest, Watt served as Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh from 1964 to 1979 and was also a prom ...

notes that the war resulted in Meccan control of the commercial road between

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

al-Hirah Al-Hira ( Middle Persian: ''Hērt'' ) was an ancient Lakhmid Arabic city in Mesopotamia located south of what is now Kufa in south-central Iraq. The Sasanian Empire, Sasanian government established the Lakhmid state (Al-Hirah) on the edge of the ...

. Martin Lings notes the historical importance of a justice system in Mecca. In the years preceding the pact, the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

were involved in intermittent conflicts. The war, as usual, was a result of an unsettled murder. The effect was growing discontent with the form of justice that required fake war. Many Quraysh leaders had travelled to Syria, where they found relative justice prevailed. Similar conditions also existed in Abyssinia. No such system, however, existed in Arabia.Lings, Martin (1983). ''Muhammad: His Life based on the earliest Sources''. p. 31-2 The principle of was established previously by

Hashim ibn Abd Manaf Hāshim ibn ʿAbd Manāf (; ), born ʿAmr al-ʿUlā (), was the great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the progenitor of the ruling Banu Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe in Mecca. At some point in his life before his father's deat ...

as a way to set up new alliances between merchants of similar power, whether they be Meccans or foreigners. It allowed the formation of alliances outside of Mecca and the modification of the balance of power with respect to trade inside Mecca. sometimes resulted in the formation of new tribes, as with the

Banu Hashim Banu Hashim () is an Arab clan within the Quraysh tribe to which the Islamic prophet Muhammad belonged, named after Muhammad's great-grandfather Hashim ibn Abd Manaf. Members of this clan, and especially their descendants, are also referred ...

.Ibrahim, Mahmood (Aug. 1982). "Social and Economic Conditions in Pre-Islamic Mecca." ''International Journal of Middle East Studies'', 14(3): 355.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

. Those transformations reshaped the traditional tribe colonisation and the social relations in Mecca.

Formation

A Yemeni merchant from

Zabid Zabid () (also spelled Zabīd, Zabeed and Zebid) is a town with an urban population of around 52,590 people, located on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. Ho ...

had sold some goods to

al-As ibn Wa'il Al-As ibn Wa'il () was the father of the a major Companion of Muhammad, 'Amr ibn al-'As, who conquered Egypt thrice and was involved in the Islamic conquest of the Levant, and Hisham ibn al-A'as. He robbed a Yemeni of his goods in a trade. The H ...

al-Sahmi (the father of

Amr ibn al-As Amr ibn al-As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi (664) was an Arab commander and companion of Muhammad who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt and served as its governor in 640–646 and 658–664. The son of a wealthy Qurayshite, Amr embraced Islam in and was ...

). Having taken possession of the goods, the Qurayshi refused to pay the agreed price, knowing that the merchant had no confederate or kinsman in Mecca whom he could count upon for help. The Yemeni merchant, instead of letting it pass, appealed to the Quraysh to see that justice was done. But due to al-As ibn Wa'il's preeminent place among the Quraysh, they refused to help the Yemeni merchant. So the merchant went to the mountain Abi Qays to recite poems asking for justice : Al-Zubayr ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, Muhammad's uncle, is believed to have been the first to call for a pact. Muhammad, the future prophet of Islam, took part in the . A few clans met in Dar al-Nadwa, a building north of the

Kaaba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and Holiest sites in Islam, holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Sa ...

, the gathering place of the clan's leader (''malaʾ''), where they decided to take up the defense of the Yemeni merchant and to cover his losses. A meeting was hosted at the house of Abd Allah ibn Jad'an. At the meeting, various chiefs and members of tribes pledged to assist anyone who was treated unjustly, to collectively intervene in conflicts to establish justice and to defend people who were foreigners in Mecca or who were not under the protection of a clan:Ramadan, Tariq (2007). ''In the footsteps of the prophet''. p. 20-2 Al-Zubayr b. c Abd al-Muttalib spoke the following verses about this pact: To make the pact imperative and sacred, the members went into the

Ka'aba The Kaaba (), also spelled Kaba, Kabah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaba al-Musharrafa (), is a stone building at the center of Islam's most important mosque and holiest site, the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is consi ...

and poured water into the receptacle so it flowed on the

black stone The Black Stone () is a rock set into the eastern corner of the Kaaba, the ancient building in the center of the Masjid al-Haram, Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is revered by Muslims as an Islamic relic which, according to Muslim tradi ...

. Thereupon each man drank from it. Then they raised their right hands above their heads to show they would stand together in this endeavor. The pact was written and placed inside the

, the place where the participants believed it would be under the protection of God. They retrieved the goods from al-As ibn Wa'il. Another aspect of the pact was that it would open up the Meccan market to Yemenite merchants, who were hitherto excluded.Watt, W. M. ''Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

Clans involved

The following clans joined this pact :

Banu Zuhra Banu Zuhrah () is a clan of the Quraysh tribe. Akhnas ibn Shariq al- Thaqifi and the Banu Zuhrah were with the Meccan as part of the escort that preceded the battle of Badr, but since he believed the caravan to be safe, he did not join Qurais ...

, Banu Muttalib,

Banu Asad Banu Asad () is an Arab tribe, descended from Asad ibn Khuzayma. They are Adnanite Arabs, powerful and one of the most famous and influential tribes. They are widely respected by many Arab tribes, respected by Shia Muslims because they have buri ...

and

Banu Taym Banū Taym (; alternatively transliterated as ''Banu Taim'') was a clan of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. The first caliph, Abu Bakr, hailed from the Banu Taym, as did another prominent companion of Muhammad, Talha ibn Ubaydallah. Ancestry The tr ...

. Montgomery Watt notes the continuity with the previous ''hilf al-Muthayyabun'' during the conflict for Qusay's succession. It featured the same opposing groups of clans, with a group of clans known as the opposing the Banu Makhzum and the Banu Sahm, grouped in the . An exception to this were the

Banu Nawfal Banu Nawfal () is a notable Arabic sub-clan of the Quraish tribe. Its progenitor is Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf. References Nawfal {{islam-stub ...

and the powerful 'Abd Shams ( Banu Umayya), that had become wealthy from their commercial enterprise, split from the ''Muṭayyabūn'' faction in 605 and engaged in business with the ''Aḥlāf''. According to Watt, the fact that Makhzum and 'Abd Shams had taken control of the trade routes with Yemen following the Fijar war meant that lesser clans would be excluded from commerce with Yemen if Yemeni merchants were to stop coming to Mecca. This would explain the necessity for them to defend the Yemeni merchant. He also notes that the same clans remained in conflict until the

Battle of Badr The Battle of Badr or sometimes called The Raid of Badr ( ; ''Ghazwahu Badr''), also referred to as The Day of the Criterion (, ; ''Yawm al-Furqan'') in the Qur'an and by Muslims, was fought on 13 March 624 CE (17 Ramadan, 2 AH), near the pre ...

, where all Meccan leaders belonged to the same clans who opposed the .

Legacy

That pact marked the beginning of some notion of justice in Mecca, which would be later repeated by Muhammad when he would preach Islam. Later on, after proclaiming Islam,

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

still acknowledged the validity and value of the pact, despite most of its members being non-Muslim.

Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...

is also said to have agreed to this pact. This presumption is based on the fact that Abdullah ibn Jad'an, whose house was the venue for this pledge, was Abu Bakr's fellow clansman. In the time of the first Umayyad caliph

Mu'awiya Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...

, the governor of Medina

al-Walid ibn Utba ibn Abi Sufyan Al-Walīd ibn ʿUtba ibn Abī Sufyān () (died 684) was an Umayyad ruling family member and statesman during the reigns of the Umayyad caliphs Mu'awiya I () and Yazid I (). He served two stints as the governor of Medina in 677/78–680 and 681–6 ...

('Abd Shams), who was a nephew of the caliph, committed an injustice to

Husayn ibn Ali Husayn ibn Ali (; 11 January 626 – 10 October 680 Common Era, CE) was a social, political and religious leader in early medieval Arabia. The grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Alids, Alid (the son of Ali ibn Abu Talib ibn Abd a ...

. Husayn threatened to take the case to the members of Hilf al-Fudul. As influential Meccans like

Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam (; May 624October/November 692) was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the Umayyads from 683 until his death. The son of al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Asma bint Abi Bakr, and grandson of t ...

(Assad), al-Miswar ibn Makhrama (al-Zuhri) and

Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf (; born ʿAbd Amr ibn ʿAwf; ) was one of the companions of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. One of the wealthiest among the companions, he is known for being one of the ten to whom Paradise was promised. Background ...

(al-Taymi) swore to help Husayn in agreement with the pact, the Umayyad governor stepped back, afraid of the possible consequences.

Islamic ethics

Anas Malik sees the pact as an example of libertarianism in Islam,Malik, Anas.
The Case for Minarchist Libertarian Political Islam
''. Presented at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

’s Critical Islamic Reflections conference. and Anthony Sullivan considers it as a support for Muslim democrats. The pact holds significance in

. According to Anthony Sullivan, the pact represents Islam's interest in human rights and protection of such rights.Sullivan, Antony T.
Islam, America, and the political economy of liberty
'' Muhammad, later as a Muslim, accepted the substance of the agreement made by primarily non-Muslims.

Tariq Ramadan Tariq Ramadan (, ; born 26 August 1962) is a Swiss Muslim academic, philosopher and writer. He was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at St Antony's College, Oxford and the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, He is ...

draws three principles from this: *Islam embraces values derived from the human conscience, that are outside of the Islamic tradition. This is because Muhammad had acknowledged a pact before revelation, in the pre-Islamic era. *Islam acknowledges the righteousness of non-Muslims. In this case, the non-Muslims had defended justice and the oppressed. *Islam, instead of building allegiance to a closed community, requires allegiance to a set of universal principles. The message of Islam is not a closed value system, or at variance or conflict with other value systems.

References