Islam and the Freedom of Conscience — Page 45
~ 45 ~ Sharia of God, so that he may be forgiven by God. He went to visit him on his sick bed and asked him most affectionately to accept Islam. Hadrat Anas ra narrates that: The Holy Prophet sa had a Jewish slave who fell ill. The Holy Prophet sa went to visit him and asked him to accept Islam. Another tradition relates that he [the Jew] looked at his elders; anyhow, whether on being given the permission or of his own accord, he accepted Islam. 18 This acceptance was certainly borne out of the loving and affectionate treatment given to this young man when he was a slave; he must have realised that certainly Islam was a true religion and that there was salvation in accepting it. He would have never imagined that an embodiment of affection and love such as the Holy Prophet sa was, would ever think of anything bad for him. Certainly, he was on the truth and always called others to what was the best, and always advised about what was the best. Such was the freedom that he had established and there can be no (other such) example of this in the world. The Holy Prophet sa preferred freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, and freedom in life even before his claim to prophethood and he disliked slavery. When after 18 S a hih Bukh a r i , Kit a bul ‐ Jan a’ iz , b a bo 'idh a aslama s ‐ S abiyyu … Hadith No. 1356