Through Force or Faith? — Page 13
Refutation of the Allegations Made Against Islam 13 with a scythe; in such a raging battle, Ikrimah charged into the heart of enemy forces with his comrades. Some people pleaded with him that the battle was getting too dangerous and it was not advisable to charge into the enemy forces like that, but Ikrimah did not concede. He charged onward, saying, ‘I have fought against Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah for the sake of L ā t and ‘Uzz ā. 1 Today I shall not hold back in fighting in the cause of God’. And at the end of the battle, his corpse had innumerable wounds of spears and swords. It is recorded about his financial sacrifices, that whatever Ikrimah ra received in spoils, he would give it away in charity. He would spend in the service of the Faith without holding any- thing back. These changes that take birth in the hearts cannot be produced by the might of the sword. ( I s ābah, Usudul-Gh ā bah, Istī‘ ā b) The allegation of non-Muslims is that the religion [of the Makkans] was changed through coercion. History is replete with examples that refute such charges. We have seen what the teachings of the Holy Prophet s as were. An incident is mentioned: The Holy Prophet s as proclaimed: ِ مَن ْ قَتَل َ مُعَاهَدًا لَم ْ يَرَح ْ رَائِحَة َ الْجَنَّة , meaning that if a Muslim commits the murder of such a non-Muslim who has entered the asylum of an Islamic government, as a result of any verbal or viable agreement; he shall remain, besides the punishment of this world, deprived of the breeze of Paradise on the Day of Judgment ( S a hih Bukhārī, 1. Two of the hundreds of idols worshipped by the Makkans prior to accepting prior to Islam. [Publisher]