Victory and After

VICTORY AND AFTER At the very outset, the Prophet put vengeance aside, thus eliminating all possibility of adverse reaction on the part of his new subjects. A nation defeated on the field of battle usually resorts to clandestine resistance. By granting a general amnesty, the Prophet nipped resistance in the bud. Forces, which might have sought to destroy the fortress of Islam, were thus engaged in building it. When the Prophet entered Makkah after the city’s conquest, he gave his commanders orders not to battle with anyone unless they were attacked. He forgave all those who had committed outrages against him. Only a few, who were to be killed “even if they took refuge beneath the curtain of the Kaaba,” were sentenced to death. Ibn Hisham, and other biographers of the Prophet, have mentioned them individually. Here are their names and the nature of their cases: 1. ‘Abdullah ibn Sa’d, who had become Muslim and been appointed as a scribe of revelation by the Prophet. He later reneged and joined the infidels. After the Conquest of Makkah, when he heard that the Prophet had ordered his execution, he took refuge with his foster milk brother ‘Uthman. The latter sheltered him, then took him to the Prophet with a request again to accept his conversion to Islam. The Prophet remained silent. Then ‘Uthman asked again after the Prophet got ‘Abdullah ibn Sa’d’s oath of allegiance. The latter subsequently became governor of Egypt during the