Murder in the Name of Allah — Page 6
Murder in the Name of Allah form of punishment, torture and torment suffered by the earlier prophets and their followers. . Early Muslims were laid out in the blazing sun. Burning stones were put on their chests; they were dragged through the streets of Mecca like dead animals. They were shunned, and kept hungry and thirsty. They were thrown into dungeons, their belongings were seized and their families were broken up. Pregnant women were thrown off camels, their inevitable deaths the cause of merriment. Their dead bodies were cut asunder the liver of the Prophet's uncle was even eaten. They were cut down with swords and pierced by arrows. The Prophetsa was stoned by ruffians and vagabonds and was chased and pelted by urchins till the cobblestones of Taif ran red with his blood. And at the battle-ground of. Uhud the Prophetsa was seriously wounded. . This bloodshed took place in the name of religion, because Muslims said Rabbunallah, our Lord, is Allah. This persecution and torture was perpetrated in the name of religion because, according to the polytheists of Mecca, the Prophets and the Muslims were apostates. The polytheist called the Prophets and his followers 'Sabi'- people who discard their ancestral religion and adopt a new one. In order to put down this ‘evil”, the Meccans adopted methods of torture and suppression which had been used by their predecessors. Muhammadsa and his followers suffered patiently and with fortitude for a long time to prove that evil is caused by anti-religious people and not by followers of the truth. . The Prophets, exalted by Allah to a position with no equal, showed his persecutors only unsurpassable love, mercy and forgiveness in return for their evil. When victory finally came and the polytheists of Mecca were subdued by the Prophets, he ordered a general amnesty. There was no massacre and no punishment for his persecutors. No arrests were made. No executions took place. Instead of retribution there was the. Quranic proclamation: 'Let no reproach be on you this day. May Allah forgive you. He is the most merciful of the merciful. '. That day the cruellest of the cruel were pardoned. Those who had tormented helpless slaves on the burning sand were forgiven. Those who had dragged Muslims through the streets like dead animals were absolved. Those who had breached the peace were pardoned, as were those who had stoned defenceless Muslims - even the woman who had eaten the liver of the Prophet'ssa uncle. . If the history of the world from Adamas to the present day were ever lost and with it the record of every persecution and of every charter of 6. A