He then asked them in a voice full of compassion and tenderness:

'0 people of Quraysh! What do you think I will do with you?'

One of them, Suhayl ibn Amr, who had fought against the Prophet, replied on behalf of the Makkans:

'We think (you will treat us) well, noble brother, son of a noble brother.'

A radiant smile flashed across the face of the beloved Prophet of God and, in a spirit of magnanimity and tolerance, he said:

"I shall speak to you as Yusuf [Joseph] spoke unto his brothers: 'There is no reproach against you today; God will forgive. He is the most Merciful and the most Compassionate.' " (Quran,12:92)

And he added:

'No more responsibility burdens you today.
'Idhhabuu... wa antum at-tulaqaa - Go, for you are free.'

Instantaneously Makkah was transformed, and overnight practically the entire population was won over to Islam. Nothing else could have won them over so profoundly and sincerely. They were not the inhabitants of a defeated and occupied country, but equals with the victors in rights as well as obligations. When a Messenger of God is the liberator of a town, nothing less exalted could be expected.

Without leaving a single companion of his to garrison the city, the Prophet soon returned to Madinah, leaving Makkah to be governed by a Makkan just converted. He never had to regret this later. This is how human hearts are won. In the entire episode, thirteen lives were lost.

'I am the Prophet of Battle; I am the Prophet of Mercy,' he is reported to have said. But it was destined for Muhammad to demonstrate that even in battle, he was the "Prophet of Mercy".

The above account has been partly compiled from the book, Battlefields of the Prophet, by the renowned scholar Muhammad Hamidullah. This book lists the number of people killed in battle on both sides in all the engagements led by the Prophet. This number is given as less than 500 (see box). It is clear neither revenge nor hatred, greed nor domination was ever the driving passion in the wars that the noble Prophet engaged or were forced into. His purpose was primarily to win over people to the truth. He did not see his enemies as irredeemable infidels, but as potential forces for the good, for their own selves and for others. And he gave them the opportunity and the space to transform themselves.

Casualties in the main military expeditions led by the Prophet

This article is courtesy of The Muslim Council of Britain's publication "The Quest for Sanity"

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