|
 Another
great quality of Muhammad was that he never took revenge on anyone
for personal reasons and always forgave even his firm enemies. His
wife `A'ishah reported that Allah's Messenger was not unseemly or
obscene in his speech, nor was he loud-voiced in the streets, nor
did he return evil for evil, but he would forgive and pardon. The
people of the Quraysh rebuked him, taunted and mocked at him, beat
him and abused him. They tried to kill him and when he escaped to
Madinah, they waged many wars against him. Yet when he entered
Makkah victorious with an army of 10000, he did not take revenge on
anyone. He forgave all. Even his deadliest enemy, Abu Sufyan, who
had fought so many battles against him, was forgiven, as was anyone
who stayed in his house.
Muhammad
also pardoned the leaders of Ta'if, who had engaged ruffians to pelt
him with stones when he visited that town to invite them to Islam.
`Abdullah
ibn Ubayy, the leader of the hypocrites of Madinah, worked all his
life against Muhammad and Islam and left no stone in trying to
defeat his mission. He withdrew his three hundred supporters in the
Battle of Uhud, which almost broke the backbone of the Muslims. He
engaged in intrigues and acts of hostility against the Prophet of
Islam and the Muslims. He tried to discredit Allah’s Messenger by
spreading slander about his wife `A’ishah. About this incident
Almighty Allah says: "Lo! They who spread the slander are a
gang among you. Deem it not a bad thing for you; nay, it is good for
you. Unto every man of them will be paid that which he has earned of
the sin; and as for him among them who had the greater share
therein, his will be an awful doom." (An-Nur: 11) Yet Muhammad
forgave him and offered his funeral prayer and prayed Allah to
forgive `Abdullah. But afterwards, Allah revealed: "And never
(O Muhammad) pray for one of them who dies, nor stand by his grave.
Lo! They disbelieve in Allah and His Messenger, and they died while
they were evil doers." (At-Tawbah: 84)
An
Abyssinian slave who had killed Muhammad’s beloved uncle Hamzah in
the Battle of Uhud was also forgiven when he embraced Islam after
the victory of Makkah. The wife of Abu Sufyan, who had cut open
Hamzah’s chest and torn his liver and heart into pieces in the
Battle of Uhud, quietly came to the Prophet and accepted Islam. He
recognized her but did not say anything. She was so impressed by his
magnanimity and stature that she said, "O Allah's Messenger, no
tent was more deserted in my eyes than yours; but today no tent is
more lovely in my eyes than yours."
Habar
ibn al-Aswad was another vicious enemy of Muhammad and of Islam. He
had inflicted a grievous injury to Zaynab, daughter of the Prophet.
She was pregnant when she emigrated from Makkah to Madinah. The
polytheists of Makkah obstructed her and Habar ibn al-Aswad
intentionally threw her down from the camel. She was badly hurt and
miscarried as a result. Habar committed many other crimes as well.
He wanted to run away to Persia but then he came to Muhammad, who
forgave him.
Muhammad
was all for forgiveness and no amount of crime or aggression against
him was too great to be forgiven by him. He was the complete example
of forgiveness and kindness, as mentioned in the following verse of
the Qur'an: "Keep to forgiveness (O Muhammad), and enjoin
kindness, and turn away from the ignorant." (Al-A`raf: 199)
He
always repelled evil with good, for, in his view, an antidote was
better than poison. He believed and practiced the precept that love
could foil hatred and aggression could be won over by forgiveness.
He overcame the ignorance of the people with the knowledge of Islam,
and the folly and evil of the people with his kind and forgiving
treatment. With his forgiveness, he freed people from the bondage of
sin and crime, and also made them great friends of Islam. He was an
exact image of the following verse of the Qur'an: "Good and
evil are not alike. Repel evil with what is better. Then he, between
whom and you there was hatred, will become as though he was a bosom
friend." (Fussilat: 34) |
