The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) – Volume III — Page 169
V - A Comparison between Islām’s Power of Peace and War 169 on the other hand, after that, in a time of peace, two years of peaceful preach - ing increased that number by 8,600. This astonishing increase came about be - cause on one hand during an era of war there was very little opportunity for disbelievers and Muslims to meet and for this reason, the disbelievers received very little opportunity to hear and be influenced by the attractive teachings of Islām. On the other hand, people who were in fact influenced by the teach - ings of Islām, were unable to come forward upon witnessing the severe trials and tribulations of that era. However, when war ended and an environment of peace prevailed, it was as if that large barrier which had previously held back the flow of the sea of Islām, suddenly came crashing down. Once the life-giving water of Islām cut a clear path, Islām grew at the astonishing pace that we see before us. Upon witnessing these clear facts can any just individual dare raise the allegation that Islām was spread by the sword? Look and ponder, for when the sword was unsheathed, a long effort and struggle of nineteen years merely produced 1,400 Muslims. When this sword was sheathed however, a short span of two years brought 8,500 individuals to the feet of the Holy Prophet sa. It is these hard and solid facts and figures which the bigotry of even the most preju - diced of individuals cannot obscure. Let us further explore these facts and figures to fully calculate the weight of Islām’s strength in peacetime as opposed to its strength in wartime. Generally speaking, we have seen that nineteen years of war produced 1,400 Muslims and in comparison to that, two years of peace added 8,600 to that number. However, if this is looked upon with a deeper mathematical eye, the nineteen year period we have counted, in fractions, is actually between eighteen and nineteen years, i. e. , approximately 18½ years. Similarly, it is ascertained by authentic narrations that the number of 1,400 which we have stated as being present at the Treaty of Ḥudaibiyyah is actually between 1,400 and 1,500. 1 In other words this number is best stated as 1,450. In addition to this however, there is still one more variant which must be removed in order to arrive upon a precise mathematical total. The variant being that history and Ḥadīth substantiate that the Holy Prophet sa spent the first three years of his commission to Prophethood in complete silence, preaching on an individual 1 Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 3, p. 171, Amrul-Ḥudaibiyyah, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)