Jesus In India — Page 20
10 JESUS IN INDIA decided unanimously that this man, the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, should in any case be put to death. It was at that time that God, who is the Supporter of His loved ones and of the truthful and the righteous, informed him that nothing but evil was left in the town, that the people were bent upon murdering him and that he should leave the town at once. Then in response to divine command, he migrated to Medina. Even then, his enemies did not leave him alone; they pursued him, and tried by every means to annihilate Islam. When their savagery reached these limits, and their crime of killing inno- cent people had made them only too fit to be punished, Muslims were given the permission to fight in self-defence. And those peo- ple and their helpers did deserve punishment for killing many innocent persons and robbing them of their possessions, not in any fair fight or battle, but out of sheer mischief. But in spite of all this, at the time of victory of Mecca, our Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, pardoned them all. It is, therefore, utterly wrong and unfair to suppose that the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, or his companions ever fought to spread Islam, or forced anyone to join its fold. It is also worth remembering that because at that time all nations were highly prejudiced against Islam, and thinking it to be a new religion and its followers only a tiny group, its opponents were occupied in all manner of schemes to destroy and annihi- late it. And everyone was anxious to see to it that somehow these people should be wiped out at the earliest, or should become so torn apart as to pose no danger of any growth. This is why the Muslims had to encounter hostility at every step, and anyone