Al-Risala (English), February 1990

Barbaric behaviour is to be abhorred at all times.

1990 2 February 10 Barbaric behaviour is to be abhorred at all times. (88) Suhayl ibn Amr was one of those taken captive by the Muslims at the battle of Badr. A famous orator of the Quraysh he had been wont to make vehement attacks on the Prophet. Umar asked the “Prophet for permission to break two of Suhayl’s front teeth, so that in future he would be deterred from making such speeches. This the Prophet refused, saying: “I will not disfigure him; if I were to do so, God would disfigure me, even though I am His messenger.

(Akhlaq an Nabi)

God Protects the Preacher

1990 2 February 10 God Protects the Preacher (190)

Apostle, proclaim what is revealed to you from your Lord: if you do not you will surely fail to convey His message. God will protect you from all men (5:67).

The Prophet was resolved to communicate the word of God to mankind – come what may – and it was determination on his part which elicited God’s protection at every stage in his life. He followed to the letter the Quranic injunction:

Apostle, proclaim what is revealed to you from your Lord: if you do not you will surely fail to convey His message. God will protect you from all men (5:67).

For example, in the twelfth year of his prophethood, the antagonism of the people of Mecca became so intense that it seemed as if the history of Islam was doomed to be lost, new avenues opened to the Prophet’s mission in Medina, whereupon he emigrated to that town and set about establishing a new religious base there. Such was the power of da’awah that, within a very short time, “there was not a house belonging to the Ansar (inhabitants of Medina) in which there were not Muslim men and women