When the clauses for the Treaty of Hudaybiyah had been fixed and time came to write them down, the Prophet dictated to Ali: 'Write that this is what has been agreed upon between Muhammad the Prophet of God and the Quraysh.' The representatives of Quraysh objected to the words 'Prophet of God' because they did not accept that the Prophet was indeed a messenger sent by God. They demanded that 'Muhammad ibn Abdullah' be written instead of 'Muhammad the Prophet of God'. The Prophet did not argue with them nor did he make any delay. He immediately said to Ali: 'Write that this is what has been agreed upon between Muhammad ibn Abdullah and the Quraysh.' This shows that whenever there is any agreement of such kind, it should be done according to the conditions laid down by the other party. If one seeks to do an agreement on one's own conditions, nothing would work out. This principle about reaching an agreement is the same as that given by Otto von Bismarck about politics. He had once said: 'Politics is the art of the possible.' An agreement between two sides is possible only when the other side is ready to accept it. If it does not accept it, then an agreement would not happen at all. This is why in this matter, one must unilaterally accept whatever conditions are presented by the other side.
