A Critique of Professor Arnold G. Toynbee’s Understanding — Page 41
41 his elevated spiritual station of prophethood, and manifested himself as an ordinary king. He accused him of using force and coercion. How unjust and cruel an allegation this is! We have mentioned a few incidents above from the life of the Holy Prophet. Th ey show his kind treatment and forgiveness of his bitterest enemies. The grand hearted gestures that the Holy Prophet displayed are reproduced above, and the testimony of non - Muslim writers is mentioned above under the heading, “Fall of Makkah in the eyes of other historians”. Can anyone show us any examples of such behavior anywhere else? He forgave at the time of fall of Makkah when the neck of every enemy of Islam was literally un der the sword of Islam. The guarantee of their life at that time, was solely dependent on the forgiveness and mercy of the Holy Prophet. History bears witness that not one among his enemies was put to the sword in retaliation. No sign of any vengeance is v isible anywhere. Contrast this with the account of William the Conqueror and some of the other worldly leaders that is preserved in the annals of history. 1t is recorded that despite the fact that it was the fault of his own men; William the Conqueror, put his opponents to the sword. The sharp contrast between the noble character of the Holy Prophet and the detestable and ugly example of injustice and cruelty of William the Conqueror is clear. This is not a hidden or secret issue. Worldly kings and Caesars love money, and possess a great greed for wealth. For them, wealth is power. They keep thinking of getting richer and richer. Seeing any well off person among their own people