Issues of Ijtihad

goal was to purify the House of God from idols and lead the people of Makkah away from polytheism and toward the worship of the one true God. By turning hostile individuals into friendly ones, he laid the groundwork for the revolution he was sent to initiate. The Prophet’s one-sided kindness led all the people of Makkah to embrace Islam. The narrator states: They appeared as if they had risen from their graves, then embraced Islam. (Al-Sunan al-Kubra by al-Bayhaqi, Hadith No. 18275-18276) If, on the other hand, the Prophet had taken revenge for their earlier cruelty, a cycle of retaliation would have started. One act of revenge would have triggered another, and the situation would have become so negative that the entire constructive mission would have fallen apart. Reactive versus Reflective Response When someone encounters something that conflicts with their temperament, there are two possible responses: an emotional reaction or a non-emotional reaction. An emotional response is precisely what, in medical terms, is called an allergy. Allergy is defined as: an abnormal reaction to normal things. For example, becoming angry when hearing criticism is like having an allergy. If someone criticizes you, the natural