The Life of Mohammad, the Prophet of AllahDinet, Etienne
Religion
The Life of Mohammad, the Prophet of Allah
Dinet, Etienne
Muhammad, Prophet, -632
Al-Uhayha, the slayer of Hamzah, was pardoned likewise, after becoming
a convert to Islam. Habbar who, by a blow of the shaft of his spear,
had brought about the death of Zainab, Mohammad's daughter, had fled,
fearing deserved punishment; and then, confiding in the infinite
clemency of the Prophet, came and gave himself up, after having
embraced the Islamic faith in all sincerity. 'Go thy way in peace,'
said Allah's Apostle. 'Thy conversion doth wipe out the past; but
never let me see thee more!'
Safwan, the second instigator of the ambush in which Khalid was to
have fallen, profited also by the victor's magnanimity; and as he
begged for a delay of two month's reflection before abjuring idolatry,
the Prophet replied: 'I grant thee four months.'
Ibn Abi Sarh was the only man who had great trouble in softening the
just wrath that his defection had kindled in Mohammad's heart. Ibn Abi
Sarh was well versed in the arts of calligraphy and horsemanship.
Formerly in the Prophet's employ as secretary, he had shamelessly
changed words and altered the sense of the Revelations whilst copying
them out, in order to make a mockery of the Word of Allah. When his
crime was discovered, he fled to Makkah and reverted to idol-worship.
When the town was taken, he took refuge under the roof of Usman ibn
Affan, his foster-brother. After having kept the faithless scribe in
hiding for some time, Usman made up his mind to take him to the
Prophet and beg for mercy, but in vain. At each supplication, he
averted his head. Finally, giving way to fresh and pressing
entreaties, Mohammad consented to grant a free pardon, but when the
guilty wretch was gone, the Prophet said to his companions: 'If I kept
silence just now, it was but to give one of you time to kill
him.'--'We were only waiting for one glance of thine eyes to put him
to death.'--'A sign by a look of the eye is a treacherous act,' he
replied, 'ill befitting one of Allah's Messengers.'
From the foregoing examples, it can be seen how carefully the Prophet
tried to win over his fellow-countrymen by gentleness, but
nevertheless never deviating from inexorable firmness when anything
concerning idolatry was in question. His mercy led to results which
could never have been obtained by sanguinary repression.
He conquered all hearts. With the exception of the Hawazin and the
Saquifs, all the neighbouring tribes came in at once and made their
submission. From that day onwards, no one could earn the title of
Mohadjer by emigration, because Islam was as firmly establised in
Makkah as in Al-Madinah.
[Sidenote: GHAZWAH OR EXPEDITION OF HUNAIN (_6th day of Shawwal,
Year VIII of the Hegira, 28th of January, A.D. 630_)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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