Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 231
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 231 The pre - emptive expeditions undertaken by the Holy Prophet, were not only conceived in wisdom for the safeguarding of the security of Muslims and of Medina, but also in beneficence towards his opponents. Altogether there were more than five - dozen such expe ditions, big and small, led by the Holy Prophet himself or under his directions, by Zaid or some other Companion of the Holy Prophet. There was little loss of life and very small other damage suffered by his opponents. As time passed and opposition to him and the Muslims spread over a larger and larger area, the expeditions had to be undertaken over longer and longer distances. The total loss of life suffered by the opponents of Islam in pitched battles between comparatively large forces as well as pre - empt ive expeditions was 759 and by the Muslims 259. Military operations of one type or the other carried on during ten years, with an interval of about two years after the Truce of Hudaibiyya, involved only a total of 1,018 deaths. Yet, till quite recent times , Western writers had represented the Holy Prophet as a bloodthirsty fanatic who carried fire and sword over large areas in the attempt to impose his false creed upon unwilling people at the point of the sword. Nothing could be farther from the truth and f rom reality. It is true that very often in the course of these expeditions an individual or a group embraced Islam, and these were welcomed as brethren in the faith. As the only cause of hostility between the Muslims and their opponents was a difference of belief, anyone who professed belief in Islam thereby laid aside his hostility and was no longer an enemy and could not be treated as such. What is relevant is that no one was at any time forced to