Discourse Features of the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyyah: A Functional and Speech Act Analysis

This study investigates the discourse features of the Treaty of Ḥudaybiyyah through an integrated application of Halliday’s Functional Model of Language and Austin’s Speech Act Theory. By analysing the treaty as a diplomatic and religious historical text, the research demonstrates how linguistic choices facilitated negotiation, conflict management, and the establishment of mutual recognition between the Muslim and Quraysh delegations. Halliday’s seven functions of language reveal how the treaty’s discourse simultaneously fulfils instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, representational, heuristic, and imaginative roles in shaping the communicative environment of the agreement. Austin’s speech act framework further uncovers the illocutionary forces embedded in the treaty, including commissives, directives, declaratives, and assertives that advanced peace-making objectives. The synthesis of both frameworks shows that the treaty’s language is not merely descriptive but performative, strategically mobilised to secure peace and manage face concerns within a sensitive socio-religious context. Findings show that the treaty’s linguistic structure was strategically constructed to promote conciliation, minimise conflict, and affirm legitimacy. The study contributes to Islamic discourse analysis by highlighting the centrality of language in early Islamic diplomatic practice and offering insights for contemporary peace linguistics and intercultural communication.