The Treaty of Hudaibiyah (Hazrat Musleh Mau'd's (ra) Narration)
Whilst mentioning the incidents surrounding the Treaty of Hudaibiyah, Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) states,
“When the disbelievers of Mecca learned that the Holy Prophet (sa) had set out to perform Tawaf of the Ka‘bah, they sent a chief to him in order to tell him that he could not perform Tawaf that year. The chief reached the Holy Prophet (sa) and began conversing with him. In the midst of the conversation, he touched the Holy Prophet’s (sa) blessed beard and asked him not to perform Tawaf that year, and postpone his plans for another year.”
Hazrat Musleh-e-Maud (ra) continues,
“It is common practice among the people of Asia to touch the beard of a person whom they wish to convince of a matter as a plea, or they touch their own beard to say ‘Look here, I am an elder and a leader of my people, therefore accept what I am saying.’ Hence, the chief touched the beard of the Holy Prophet (sa) as an appeal. Seeing this, a companion stepped forward and struck his hand with the handle of his sword, saying to the chief, ‘move your impure hands’. The chief recognised the person who struck him with the handle of his sword and said, ‘Are you not the same person for whom I did a favour on such and such occasion?’ Hearing this, the companion fell silent and moved away. Again, as an entreaty, the chief touched the Holy Prophet’s (sa) beard. The companions said that it enraged them to see the chief touch the Holy Prophet’s (sa) beard in such a manner, however, there was none among them for whom this chief had not done some sort of favour. At that time, their hearts desired to find someone whom the chief had not favoured. In the meantime, one of them stepped forward, who was clad in armour from head to toe, and he passionately addressed the chief, saying, ‘remove your impure hand.’ The person who said this was Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra). When the chief recognised him, he said, ‘I cannot say anything to you, for I have no favour upon you.’”
(Hindustani Uljhanon ka Asan Tareen Hal, Anwar al-‘Ulum, Vol. 18, p. 560)