Life of the Prophet

crimes. But the Prophet of Islam forgave all of them unconditionally. This exceptional latitude deeply convulsed their consciences. Suddenly brought to their senses, they felt within their heart of hearts that their stance of opposition was in no way justified. After such a display of human greatness, they felt that they ought to enter the religious fold of the Prophet of Islam. And this is exactly what happened. All the insolent Makkans surrendered and joined him in his mission as his companions. After the victory, the Prophet appointed a governor to represent him in Makkah and then left for Taif, accompanied by ten thousand people. During the journey he reached a place, which in those days was called Hunayn. Here the path lay between two hills. The tribe of Hawazin of Taif lived on the upper slopes. They had not yet accepted Islam. The Prophet was quietly going along this path and the Muslims were still between the two hills, when 20,000 archers of the Hawazin, who had concealed themselves in a ravine, all of a sudden started raining their arrows down on them. The Prophet and his companions were in no way prepared for this sudden attack. In the initial stage, the Muslims were confounded and began to flee. But the Prophet remained steadfast. He called out: “O servants of God, come to me.” When the Muslims saw that their leader was standing firm in the face of the enemy, they returned with new determination and bravely fought their foes. Suddenly, the course of the battle changed. Now it was the enemy’s turn to take flight. The Prophet and his companions emerged victorious. This incident is known in Islamic history as the battle of Hunayan. After this victory, six thousand members of the Hawazin tribe were taken prisoner along with booty amounting to 24,000 camels, 40,000 goats and 40,000 ounces of silver. These six thousand prisoners were proven war criminals. According to the prevailing custom, they should all have been put to death. But the Prophet of Islam pardoned them all and set them free without imposing any conditions. This extraordinary treatment gave a severe jolt to their consciences. They had the most profound sense of how wrong their aggressiveness was; having been shown such unusual clemency by Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, they were honour-bound to enter the fold of the religion brought by him to mankind. And that is precisely what they did. All the people of the Hawazin tribe-both men and women-accepted Islam. Now the Prophet reached Taif, which was the only fortified town in the Arabian Peninsula. At his approach, the townspeople barricaded themselves inside the city. The Prophet and his companions stayed there for three weeks. When there was no sign of their surrendering, the Prophet retreated and left for Madinah. Makkah enjoyed the central position in ancient Arabia, playing the role of the leader. Now when Makkah was brought into the fold of Islam under the leadership of the Prophet, the entire situation changed. Now the other tribes of Arabia felt that they too should adopt the same religion, i.e. Islam, as had been adopted by the Makkans. Subsequently, Arabia witnessed the widespread and novel development of far-flung tribes