8th October 2025

Dr Nasim Rehmatuallah, Naib Amir USA

President Trump’s Gaza peace plan represents an important step toward ending the devastating conflict, yet when compared to the golden standard of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, it reveals further opportunities for creating a more balanced and enduring peace.

Foundational principles: Recognising equal dignity

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah’s greatest strength was its mutual recognition principle – the Quraysh acknowledged the Holy Prophet^sa as an equal leader, giving tacit recognition to the Islamic State of Medina. This established both parties as legitimate entities with equal standing.

Trump’s plan, while mentioning Palestinian self-determination, lacks this foundational equality. To align with Hudaybiyyah’s model, the plan could explicitly recognise Palestinian leadership and sovereignty rights from the outset, not just as a distant possibility. This recognition would transform the entire framework from one of submission to one of negotiated partnership.

Balanced consequences and accountability

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah included reciprocal obligations – both Muslims and Quraysh faced similar restrictions and benefits. The current plan, however, places all disarmament requirements and behavioural constraints on Hamas and Palestinians, while Israel faces no comparable restrictions or accountability measures.

A Hudaybiyyah-aligned approach would include mutual de-escalation commitments: Palestinian disarmament paired with Israeli settlement freezes, withdrawal from occupied territories, and military restraint guarantees. This creates shared stakes in peace rather than unilateral surrender.

Genuine prisoner exchange framework

The Treaty of Hudaibaiyyah included reciprocal prisoner exchange without imposing different standards on each party. Trump’s plan requires Hamas to release all hostages within 72 hours, while Palestinian prisoner releases follow a different timeline and criteria.

Following the Hudaybiyyah model, simultaneous prisoner exchanges could occur with equal dignity, with all captives and prisoners released according to identical timelines and procedures, thereby demonstrating mutual respect for human life.

Freedom of tribal alliance and self-determination

Hudaybiyyah’s brilliance lay in allowing tribes to freely choose alliances without coercion from either side. This principle respected autonomy and prevented forced allegiances.

Trump’s plan could incorporate this by allowing Palestinian factions and communities a genuine choice in their governance structures, rather than externally imposed technocratic committees. Local communities could participate meaningfully in determining their future leadership and alliances.

Neutral territory and equal negotiation

The Treaty designated Hudaybiyyah as neutral territory where both parties could meet as equals. Trump’s “Board of Peace” concept, while innovative, places him as chairman, potentially creating perceived bias.

A more balanced approach might establish a truly neutral international body with equal representation from Muslim nations, Arab states and international partners, creating genuine neutral ground for ongoing negotiations.

Long-term peace commitment

Hudaybiyyah established a 10-year peace commitment that gave both sides security and breathing room to develop trust. Trump’s plan lacks this temporal framework and long-term mutual security guarantees.

Adding a multi-year peace commitment period with mutual non-aggression pacts would provide the stability both peoples need to rebuild and develop trust, following the Hudaybiyyah model of patient, sustained peace building.

Economic development through partnership

While Trump’s plan includes economic development for Gaza, it’s structured as aid rather than partnership. Hudaybiyyah’s approach emphasised mutual benefit and shared prosperity.

The economic framework could be restructured as a Palestinian-Israeli economic partnership with shared investment, joint ventures, and mutual benefit arrangements that create interdependent prosperity rather than dependency relationships.

Path forward: Hope through balance

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was successful because it treated both parties with equal dignity and created shared stakes in maintaining peace. While Trump’s plan shows a genuine commitment to ending suffering, aligning it with Hudaybiyyah’s principles of mutual respect, balanced obligations, and equal recognition could transform it into a truly historic peace agreement.

This comparison reveals not criticism but opportunity – the chance to elevate a seemingly well-intentioned plan into one that honours both people’s dignity and creates lasting peace through the time-tested wisdom of Islamic diplomatic tradition.

The framework exists; it simply needs the balancing touch of Hudaybiyyah’s golden principles to become the transformative peace both peoples deserve. If some solution based on these or comparable elements is not achieved, the drift toward debasement, dehumanisation, death and destruction could further accelerate.

source https://www.alhakam.org/trumps-peace-plan-gaza-treaty-of-hudaybiyyah/