Muhammad (saw) – The Perfect Man — Page 725
Muhammad sa The Perfect Man 725 killing of men and enslaving of the women and children of the vanquished nation. But the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa treated these blood- thirsty enemies with extreme kindness and saved their lives. Although Hadrat ‘Umar ra had suggested that the ringleaders of infidels and chiefs of Quraish should be killed, yet the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa enjoined mercy for them again and again and said, "Now God has given you power and control over them, while until yesterday they were your brethrens. " Then Hadrat Ab u Bakr ra requested, "O Messenger of All a h, forgive them and accept ransom from them. " The Holy Prophet Muhammad sa was very pleased with this suggestion and consequently it was decided to accept ransom and release the prisoners. 3 Every prisoner's ransom varied from one thousand Dirhams to four thousand Dirhams according to his capacity. While the poor and penniless prisoners were released free of ransom. These were the people like Ab u ‘Azzah ‘Amr bin ‘Abdull a h. 4 Some other prisoners, who could not afford ransom but were literate, were given the choice of freedom in lieu of teaching ten An sa r children. So when these children were able to read and write, the prisoners were released. 5 This kind treatment resulted in many prisoners accepting Islam. The number of such prisoners was sixteen and amongst them were