Hilf al-Fudul (Arabic: حلف الفضول) was a 7th-century alliance created by the prophet Muhammad (PBUH)and various Meccans, to establish justice for all through collective action, even for those who had no connections to the powerful. Because of Muhammad’s role in its formation, the alliance plays a significant role in Islamic ethics. Because fudul commonly means “virtuous” the alliance is often translated as League of the Virtuous.
Historical Background
In the years preceding the pact, the Quraysh were involved in intermittent conflict. The war, as usual, was a result of an unsettled murder. The effect was growing discontent with the form of justice that required sacrilegious 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.
Following the Fijar War, the Quraysh realized that the deterioration of their state and the loss of Mecca’s prestige in Arabia were the result of their inability to solve disagreements, creating internal division.
It is believed to have been founded by Az-Zubayr ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib.
Yemeni Merchant
A Yemeni merchant from Zabid had sold some goods to a notable member of the clan of Sahm. Having taken possession of the goods, the man from Sahm refused to pay the agreed price. The wrong doer knew very well that the merchant had no confederate or kinsman in Mecca, whom he could count upon for help. But the merchant, instead of letting it pass, appealed to the Quraysh to see that justice was done.
Formation
In response a meeting was hosted at the house of Abdullah ibn Jada’an. At the meeting, various chiefs and members of tribes pledged to:
- respect the principles of justice, and
- collectively intervene in conflicts to establish justice.
To make the pact imperative and sacred, the members went into the Ka’aba and poured water into the receptacle so it flowed on the black stone. 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 Ka’aba, the place where the participants believed it would be under the protection of God.
Among the members who agreed to the terms of the pact was Muhammad (PBUH). Later on, after proclaiming Islam, Muhammad (PBUH) still acknowledged the validity and value of the pact, despite most of the members being non-Muslim. Abu Bakr is also said to have agreed to this pact. This presumption is based on the fact that Abdullah ibn Jada’an, whose house was the venue for this pledge, was Abu Bakr’s fellow clansman. Amongst the clans, Banu Hashim, Banu Zuhra and Banu Taym participated in its formation. Neither the Banu Nawfal, nor the powerful Banu Umayya took part in it.
That pact also marked the beginning of some notion of justice in Mecca, which would be later repeated by Muhammad (PBUH) when he would preach Islam. Another aspect of the pact was that it would open up the Meccan market to Yemenite merchants, who were hitherto excluded.
Legacy
Husayn ibn Ali once threatened the Medinan governor, who Hussayn believed gave an unjust decision, that he would take the case to the members of Hilf al-Fudul.
Anas Malik sees the pact as example libertarianism in Islam, and Anthony Sullivan considers it as a support for Muslim democrats.
Islamic Ethics
The pact holds significance in Islamic ethics. According to Anthony Sullivan, the pact represents Islam’s interest in human rights and protection of such rights. Muhammad (PBUH), later as a Muslim, accepted the substance of the agreement made by primarily non-Muslims. Tariq Ramadan draws three principles from this:
- Islam embraces values derived from the human conscience, that are outside of the Islamic tradition. This is because Muhammad (PBUH) 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.