Through Force or Faith? — Page 73
Sanctions for Self-Defence in Islam 73 bread, he would offer it to him. He said that sometimes he was embarrassed and would try to return it but they insisted and returned the bread to him (because it was the directive, it were the Islamic teachings). Even the children had this attitude. These were the teachings of goodwill, the teachings of peace, the teachings of compassion, the teachings of safeguarding the rights of others that the Holy Prophet s as inculcated in his followers. Even the children understood that Islam is nothing other than peace and goodwill. In order to have good relations with all nations, cordial treat- ment of its envoys is essential. It was his directive that foreign ambassadors should be given special treatment. They are to be respected and honoured. Even if they make a mistake, you have to overlook and ignore it. In order to establish this peace, he said that if a Muslim is guilty of maltreatment of a prisoner of war, that prisoner should be released without ransom. Thus, these instruc- tions tell us that Islamic wars were not just for the sake of war; they were for Islam, for Allah, the Exalted; they were for estab- lishment of the freedom of conscience and religion and to provide peace and security of the world. With regard to the kind treatment of prisoners, Quranic injunction is that if there is no one to emancipate a prisoner or a slave and he does not have the means to do so on his own either, it is said: ِلاَّم ِهّٰللا ْۤيِذَّلا ْمُكىٰتٰا َو َنْيِذَّلا َنْوُغَتْبَي َبٰتِكْلا اَّمِم ْتَكَلَم ْمُكُناَمْيَا ْمُهْوُبِتاَكَف ْنِا ْمُتْمِلَع ْمِهْيِف اًرْيَخ َّو ْمُهْوُتٰا ْنِّم … And those of your slaves who desire a deed of liberation to be contracted, write it down for them if you see in them any good potential and give them out of that wealth which