Islam and the Freedom of Conscience — Page 117
~ 117 ~ criminals, granted a universal pardon; and, nobly casting into oblivion the memory of the past, with all its mockery, its affronts and persecution, he treated even the foremost of his opponents with a gracious and even friendly consideration. Not less marked was the forbearance shown to Abdullah and the disaffected citizens of Medina [that is, the hypocrites], who for so many years persistently thwarted his designs and resisted his authority, nor the clemency with which he received submissive advances of tribes that before had been the most hostile, even in the hour of victory. '' 59 Although he wrote in several places in opposition to the Quran etc. , here he wrote: ''It is strongly corroborative of Mahomet’s sincerity that the earliest converts to Islam were his bosom friends and the people of his household; who, intimately acquainted with his private life, could not fail otherwise to have detected those discrepancies which, more or less, invariably exist between the professions of the hypocritical deceiver abroad, and his actions at home. '' 60 59 Sir William Muir. Life of Mu h ammad. (Volume IV). Smith, Elder and Company. , London. pp. 303‐307 (1861) 60 Sir William Muir. Life of Mu h ammad. (Volume II). Smith, Elder and Company. , London. pp. 97‐8 (1861)