The Forgiveness of Muhammad Shown to Non-Muslims

TheProphet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, wasdescribed as a “Mercy for all the Worlds”, as God said in the Quran:
“We have sent you as a mercy for all the worlds.” (Quran 21:107)

Therecipients of this quality were not limited to just the Muslim nation,but it also extended to non-Muslims, some of who spent all their efforttrying to harm the Prophet and his mission.Thismercy and forgiveness is clearly demonstrated in the fact that theProphet, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, never tookrevenge on anyone for personal reasons and always forgave even hisstaunch enemies. Aisha said that the Prophet never took revenge on hisown behalf on anyone. She also said that he never retued evil forevil, but he would forgive and pardon. This will, God willing, becomeclear after a deep analysis of the following accounts of his life.

Inthe earlier portion of his mission, the Prophet traveled to the city ofTaif, a city located in the mountains nearby to Mecca, in order toinvite them to accept Islam. The leaders of Taif, however, were rudeand discourteous in their treatment of the Prophet. Not being contentwith their insolent attitude towards him, they even stirred up somegangs of the town to harass him. This riff-raff followed the Prophetshouting at and abusing him, and throwing stones at him, until he wascompelled to take refuge in an orchard. Thus the Prophet had to endureeven more obstacles in Taif than he had had to face in Mecca. Theseruffians, stationed either side of the path, threw stones at him untilhis feet were injured and smeared with blood. These oppressions sogrievously dejected the Prophet and plunged him into in such a state ofdepression that a prayer, citing his helplessness and pitiablecondition and seeking the aid of God, spontaneously came from his lips:
“OGod, to You I complain of my weakness, lack of resources andhumiliation before these people. You are the Most Merciful, the Lordof the weak and my Master. To whom will You consign me? To oneestranged, bearing ill will, or an enemy given power over me? If Youdo not assign me any worth, I care not, for Your favor is abundant uponme. I seek refuge in the light of Your countenance by which alldarkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next isset right, lest Thy anger should descend upon me or Your displeasurelight upon me. I need only Your pleasure and satisfaction for only Youenable me to do good and evade the evil. There is no power and nomight but You.”
The Lord then sent the angel of mountains, seekingthe permission of the Prophet to join together the two hills and crushthe city of Taif, between which it was located. Out of his greattolerance and mercy, the Messenger of God replied,
“No! For, Ihope that God will bring forth from their loins people who will worshipGod alone, associating nothing with Him.” (Saheeh Muslim)

Hismercy and compassion was so great that on more than one occasion, God,Himself, reprimanded him for it. One of the greatest opponents ofIslam and a personal enemy, was Abdullah bin Ubayy, the leader of thehypocrites of Medina. Outwardly proclaiming Islam, he surreptitiouslyinflicted great harm to the Muslims and the mission of the Prophet. Knowing his state of affairs, the Prophet Muhammad still offered thefuneral prayer for him and prayed to God for his forgiveness. TheQuran mentions this incident in these words:
“And never (O Muhammad)pray for one of them who dies, nor stand by his grave. Lo! Theydisbelieve in God and His Messenger, and they died while they were evildoers.” (Quran 9:84)
Abdullah bin Ubayy worked all his life againstMuhammad and Islam and left no stone untued so as to bring him intodisrepute and try to defeat his mission. He withdrew his threehundered supporters in the battle of Uhud and thus almost broke thebackbone of the Muslims at one stroke. He engaged in intrigues andacts of hostility against the Prophet of Islam and the Muslims. It washe who tried to bring shame to the Prophet by inciting his allies tofalsely accuse the Prophet’s wife, Aisha, of adultery in order todiscredit him and his message.

Themercy of the Prophet even extended to those who brutally killed andthen mutilated the body of his uncle Hamzah, one of the most beloved ofpeople to the Prophet. Hamzah was one of the earliest to accept Islamand, through his power and position in the Quraishite hierarchy,diverted much harm from the Muslims. An Abyssinian slave of the wifeof Abu Sufyan, Hind, sought out and killed Hamzah in the battle ofUhud. The night before the victory of Mecca, Abu Sufyan acceptedIslam, fearing the vengeance of the Prophet, may the mercy andblessings of God be upon him. The latter forgave him and sought noretribution for his years of enmity.
After Hind had killed Hamzahshe mutilated his body by cutting his chest and tearing his liver andheart into pieces. When she quietly came to the Prophet and acceptedIslam, he recognized her but did not say anything. She was soimpressed by his magnanimity and stature that she said, “O Messenger ofGod, no tent was more deserted in my eyes than yours; but today no tentis more lovely in my eyes than yours.”
Ikrama, son of Abu Jahl, wasa great enemy of the Prophet and Islam. He ran away after the victoryof Mecca and went to Yemen. After his wife embraced Islam, shebrought him to the Prophet Muhammad under her protection. He was sopleased to see him that he greeted him with the words:
“O emigrant rider, welcome.”

Safwanbin Umaya, one of the chiefs of Mecca, was also a great enemy ofMuhammad and Islam. He promised a reward to Umair ibn Wahab if hemanaged to kill Muhammad. When Mecca was conquered, Safwan ran away toJeddah in the hope of finding a berth that would take him to Yemen bysea. Umair ibn Wahab came to Muhammad and said, “O Messenger of God! Safwan ibn Umayya, a chief of his tribe, has run away from fear ofwhat you might do to him and threatens to cast himself into the sea.” The Prophet sent him a guarantee of protection and, when he retued,he requested Muhammad to give him two months to come to a decision.. He was given four months, after which he became a Muslim by his ownwill.
Habir ibn al-Aswad was another vicious enemy of Muhammad andIslam. He inflicted a serious injury to Zainab, daughter of the NobleProphet when she decided to migrate to Medina. She was pregnant whenshe started her migration, and the polytheists of Mecca tried to stopher from leaving. This particular man, Habbar bin al-Aswad, physicallyassaulted her and intentionally caused her to fall down from hercamel. Her fall had caused her to miscarry her baby, and she herself,was badly hurt. He had committed many other crimes against Muslims aswell. He wanted flee to Persia but, when he decided to come toMuhammad instead, the Prophet magnanimously forgave him.