Through Force or Faith? — Page 190
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 190 place after the three major battles in the sixth year after Migration and nineteen years after his ministry, had this as one of its stip- ulations that if someone recants Islam and goes to Makkah, no one shall stop him, nor shall he be returned; whereas if anyone wants to become a Muslim and migrate from Makkah, he shall be returned to Makkah. ( Bukh ā r ī , Book of Military Expeditions led by the Prophet; Chapter on ‘Umr a h Qa dā. Tradition No. 3920) Despite this, not even a single incident can be found where any Muslim deserted the Holy Prophet s as and took refuge with his rel- atives in Makkah. So then where did those people go whom the Holy Prophet s as had made Muslims forcibly? Bear in mind that this Treaty was signed nineteen years after the call to propheth- ood and took effect just four years before his demise, and it proves that no one had been made Muslim forcibly, at least till that time. It is also very striking that Islam spread very little in the first nineteen years but no sooner was this treaty signed—that anyone who renounces Islam and goes to Makkah would be free to do so but if any Meccan becomes a Muslim, he shall have to return to Makkah and he shall be at the Mercy of Meccans—Islam made instantaneous progress. At the occasion of the Treaty of Hudaibiyyah, Muslims were numbered at 1,400 ( Ibn Hish ā m ) and it was the outcome of nine- teen years of labour; whereas just three years after this treaty, at the time of the conquest of Makkah, Muslims were 10,000 in number. This also clearly shows that the spread of Islam was not due to any war or coercion but was the result of preaching in the environ- ment of peace. That is why Islam was preached extensively in the ensuing peace in the land and the Holy Prophet s as sent delegations