Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 179
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 179 Islam, even in the course of fighting, he was to be spared as no danger was apprehended any longer from him. In the course of fighting on one occasion an enemy combatant, when confronted with Usama bin Zaid, who was about to kill him, declared that he embr aced Islam, but Usama killed him nevertheless. When this was reported to the Holy Prophet, he was greatly displeased and inquired from Usama, ‘Why did you kill him after he had declared his acceptance of Islam?’ Usama submitted, ‘Messenger of Allah, he mer ely said so out of fear. He was not sincere. ’ The Holy Prophet retorted, ‘Had you cut open his heart to make sure whether he was sincere or not?’ The Holy Prophet went on repeating, ‘How will you justify your action before Allah on the Day of Judgment?’ Us ama was so unhappy over the Holy Prophet’s severe displeasure, that in relating the incident afterwards, he said, ‘I wished that I had not been a Muslim before this event and had embraced Islam only after it, so that I should not have been the cause of suc h severe displeasure on the part of the Holy Prophet. ’ On the other hand, there are also instances in which the Holy Prophet himself did not accept the declaration of a person’s embracing Islam if he was satisfied that he was making it only out of fear or temptation. A case is mentioned in Muslim that in a battle a prisoner was taken who belonged to a tribe who were allies of Banu Thaqeef. When the Holy Prophet passed near him he