Freedom of opinion and expression in Islam (Part 9)

* The Prophet did not show any enmity to war criminals in the conquest of Mecca and did not force anyone to convert to Islam.

In the previous episodes, we dealt with the freedom of opinion and expression in the Quran, which reached the point of God bringing down dialogue to the level of human beings to establish the argument against them. Then we moved to that freedom in the Prophet’s biography and talked about the Prophet’s dealings (peace and blessings be upon him) with the Quraish, the Jews and the hypocrites, and how God, Glory be to Him, legislated freedom for them and preserved it even after they mocked His verses and His Prophet, and the most that He commanded of His Messenger was to turn away from them. Now we review the Prophet's dealings with war criminals during the conquest of Mecca.

War criminals during the conquest of Mecca

It is well known that the ruling regarding a prisoner of war in Islam is: murder, enslavement, or graciousness by releasing the captives with or without ransom.

It was mentioned in the book “Al-Mabsoot” by Muhammad Al-Sarakhsi (1) that some jurists do not allow the killing of a captive, and that he concluded this due to killing not being mentioned in God Almighty’s saying: {So when you meet the disbelievers [in battle], strike [their] necks until you have thoroughly subdued them, then bind them firmly. Later [free them either as] an act of grace or by ransom until the war comes to an end. So will it be. God could have defeated them Himself if He had willed, but His purpose is to test some of you by means of others. He will not let the deeds of those who are killed for His cause come to nothing} [Surah Muhammad: 4].

Hence, in our opinion, it is not permissible to enslave a captive or kill him, because the verse did not mention enslavement, just as it did not mention murder.

This is the ruling of the prisoner because of his participation in the fighting, and if he had other blames, he is taken to account for them and is judged according to what each sin is related to, and those who have blames in wars other than participating in the fighting, they are now known as “war criminals”.

Among the war criminals in the conquest of Mecca was a group that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) excluded from its people, as he had obligated his Muslim commanders, when he ordered them to enter Mecca, not to fight except those who fought them from the Quraish, and he excluded from that a group of people, whom he ordered for them to be killed even if they clung to the coverings of the Kaaba. There was difference of opinion regarding their number, as some said they numbered ten, while others said fifteen. These are their names:

1. Abdullah ibn Khatal: He had migrated to Medina as a Muslim before the conquest of Mecca. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent him to take alms from some tribes, along with a man from the Ansar to serve him, so he stayed in some houses and ordered the Ansari to prepare food for him. Then he slept until that food was prepared for him, and when he woke up, he found the man hadn’t made anything, so he passed by the man and killed him and apostatized as a polytheist. Then he returned to Mecca and stayed there, and he was a poet, so he started saying poetry ridiculing the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

2. Fartana: She was a slave woman of Abdullah ibn Khatal, and she used to sing about what her master used to write about ridiculing the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace).

3. Qaribah: She was also a slave of Abdullah ibn Khatal, and like her companion, she sang ridiculing the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace).

4. Habbar ibn Al-Aswad ibn Al-Muttalib ibn Asad ibn Abdil Uzza ibn Qusay: He in the way of Zainab, the daughter of the Prophet (peace be upon him), when she migrated from Mecca to Medina, and she was pregnant. He punched the camel she was on until she fell on a rock and miscarried her fetus, and she was still unwell from the effects of that until she died.

5. Al-Huwairith ibn Nuqaidh ibn Wahb ibn Abd ibn Qusay: He participated with Habbar in punching Zainab’s camel, and he committed another crime of the type. He got in the way of Fatima and Umm Kulthum, the daughters of the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace), when then emigrated, and Al-Abbas ibn Abd Al-Muttalib was carrying them on a camel from Mecca to Medina, so Al-Huwairith punched the camel carrying them, and it threw them to the ground.

6. Miqyas ibn Subabah: He had migrated from Mecca to Medina proclaiming Islam, and he had a brother who had emigrated before him named Hisham ibn Sababah, who was killed by mistake during the Battle of Banu Al-Mustaliq by a man from the Ansar from the group of Ubadah ibn Al-Samit who thought he was one of the enemies. When Miqyas came to the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) from Mecca, he said to him, “O Messenger of God, I have come to you as a Muslim, and I have come to you to ask for the blood money of my brother, who was killed by mistake.” So the Prophet ordered the blood money for his brother be paid to him. He only stayed a little in Medina, then he passed by his brother's killer and killed him, and then he returned to Mecca as a polytheist.

7. Wahshi ibn Harb: He was the slave of Jubayr ibn Mut’im, and he killed Hamzah, the uncle of the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) during the Battle of Uhud.

8. Hind bint Utbah: She was the wife of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb. She had mutilated the Muslims killed in Uhud, as she and other women with her would cut off the ears and noses of the corpses and make necklaces out of them. She was also the one who cut open Hamza, the uncle of the Prophet (God’s prayers and peace be upon him), and extracted his liver and tried to eat it, although she was unable to swallow it, so she spit it out.

9. Abdullah ibn Saad ibn Abi Sarh ibn Al-Harith: He had embraced Islam and used to write for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) what was revealed to him of the revelation. Then he apostatized and claimed that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had dictated to him “All-Mighty, All-Wise”, but he wrote “All-Forgiving, All-Merciful” and then recited it to the Prophet, who said, “Yes, the same.” So he said, “If it was revealed to him, then it was revealed to me, and if God revealed it, then it was revealed like what God revealed.”

10. Ikrima ibn Amr (Abu Jahl) ibn Hisham Al-Makhzoumi: He and his father, Abu Jahl, were among the most severe polytheists against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the oppressed Muslims in Mecca faced harm from them that they did not encounter from anyone else.

11. Ka’b ibn Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma: He used to ridicule the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) in his poetry, and when his brother Bujayr converted to Islam, he reproached him and blamed him for his conversion to Islam.

12. Al-Harith ibn Hisham Al-Makhzoumi: He was the brother of Abu Jahl through both parents, and he was like him in the severity of his harm to Muslims.

13. Zuhayr ibn Abi Umayya Al-Makhzoumi: His crimes were like the crimes of Ikrima and Al-Harith.

14. Safwan ibn Umayya ibn Khalaf Al-Jamahi: His cousin, Umayr ibn Wahb, had sent him to Medina after the Battle of Badr to kill the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) out of revenger for those among the polytheists who were killed there. He grasped the Prophet and told him what he had come for, so the Prophet invited him to Islam, because it was a secret between him and Safwan.

15. Sarah: She was a slave of Banu Al-Muttalib and a singer in Mecca. She came to the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) in Medina and complained to him of her need and requested from him a gift, so he bestowed upon her and gave her camel as food. Then she returned to Mecca and repaid his kindness by singing ridiculing him.

These were the war criminals whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered to kill even if they were attached to the coverings of the Kaaba, and he excluded them from the people of Mecca when he ordered the fighting of those who fought among them and forbade fighting those of them who did not fight.

As for Abdullah ibn Khatal, he rode his horse on the day of the conquest, wore his armor, took a spear in his hand, and began to swear, “Muhammad will not enter it by force.” When he saw the horses of the Muslims, fear overtook him, so he went to the Kaaba and hung onto its coverings, thinking that this would save him from the killing he deserved for killing the Ansari who was serving him. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw him during his circumambulation while Abdullah was hanging onto the coverings of the Kaaba, and he said, “Kill him. The Kaaba does not protect a sinner, nor does it prevent from performing an obligatory punishment.” So Abu Barza Al-Aslami and Saeed ibn Huraith Al-Makhzoumi killed him.

As for Fartana, she ran away until protection was sought for her with the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace), and he protected her, so she converted to Islam, and he pardoned her and did not kill her.

As for Qaribah, she was killed and did not convert to Islam as Fartana had.

As for Habbar ibn Al-Aswad, he fled and then came upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who was leaving Al-Ju'rana, and they said, “O Messenger of Allah, Habbar ibn Al-Aswad.” He said, “I have seen him.” A man wanted to attack him, but the Prophet indicated for him to sit. Habbar stood and said, “Peace be upon you, O Prophet of God. I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. I ran away from you in the town and wanted to catch up with the non-Arabs, then I remember your goodness, your favor, and your forgiveness for those who were ignorant of you. O Messenger of God, we were a people of polytheism, but God guided us through you and saved us from perdition, so forgive my ignorance and that which has reached you about me. I admit my wrongdoing, and I confess my sin.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him, “I have forgiven you, and God has done good to you by guiding you to Islam, and Islam nullifies what came before it.”

As for Al-Huwairith ibn Nuqaidh, he entered his house and closed his door. Ali bin Abi Talib (God be pleased with him) went to kill him and was told that he was in the desert, so he stepped away from the door. Al-Huwairith went out, wanting to escape from another house, but Ali caught him and struck his neck.

As for Miqyas ibn Sababah, he was killed by Namila ibn Abdullah Al-Laithi, a man from his people.

As for Wahshi ibn Harb, he fled to Taif, and when a delegation from Taif went to Medina to present the Islam of its people to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the ways out narrowed for him, and he wanted to go to the Levant or Yemen or some other country. A man said to him, “Woe to you! By God, he does not kill anyone who enters his religion.” So he went to the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) and did not leave him without him standing on his head, bearing witness to the truth.

The Prophet said to him, “Sit and tell me how you killed Hamza.” So he sat and told him, and when he finished, the Prophet said to him, “Keep your face hidden from me.” The Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) would avoid wherever he was so that he would not see him until God seized him.

As for Hind bint Utbah, she hid in the house of her husband, Abu Sufyan, then converted to Islam and went to the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) while he was in the valley, and she said to him, and he did not know her, “Praise be to God who revealed the religion that he chose, for your mercy touched me, O Muhammad, for I am a woman who believes in God and trusts in Him.” Then she unveiled herself and said, “I am Hind bint Utbah.” So he said to her, “Welcome,” and then he pardoned her.

As for Abdullah ibn Saad ibn Abi Sarh, he resorted to Uthman bin Affan (God be pleased with him), as he was his brother through breastfeeding, and he said to him, “O brother, seek my safety with the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) before he strikes my neck,” so Uthman left him behind until the people calmed down and were at ease. Then he went to the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) and said, “O Messenger of God, I have given him safety, so take the pledge of allegiance from him.” So the Prophet looked at him carefully three times, all of that refusing his pledge, then he accepted his pledge after the third time and pardoned him.

As for Ka’b ibn Zuhayr, he was afraid and left until he came to Medina after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to it, so he embraced Islam in front of him and praised him with his poem: “Su’ad has departed, so on this day my heart is in pain. Tied after her is my heart, not freed but rather in chains.” When he reached the verse in his poem saying: “The Messenger is a light that illuminates. An Indian blade, a sword of Allah, drawn,” the Prophet threw his cloak on him, which Ka’b kept with him until the end of his life. When the matter came to Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, he offered him ten thousand dirhams for it, but he refused to sell it and said to him, “I would not prefer the thobe of the Messenger of God (God’s prayers and peace be upon him) that anyone else gave me.”

As for Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, he fled to throw himself in a well or die wandering in the land. His wife, Umm Hakim, converted to Islam and sought safety for him from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so she went out in search of him until she caught up to him and told him what she had done. So he went back with her, went to the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace), accepted Islam and was pardoned.

As for Al-Harith ibn Hisham and Zuhayr ibn Abi Umayya, they fled and hid with Umm Hani bint Abi Talib, as they were from the family of her father-in-law. Then her brother Ali bin Abi Talib (God be pleased with him) entered upon her and said, “By God, I will kill them.” She closed the door of her house on them and went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said to her, “Welcome, Umm Hani, what has brought you?” So she told him that Ali wanted to kill whom she had granted sanctuary, so he said to her, “We have granted sanctuary to the one whom you have granted sanctuary, and we have given safety to the one whom you have given safety, so he shall not kill them.”

As for Safwan ibn Umayya, he disappeared and wanted to throw himself in the sea, so his cousin Umayr ibn Wahb went to the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) and said to him, “O Prophet of God, Safwan is the master of his people, and he fled to throw himself into the sea. So, grant him safety, for you have granted safety to the red and the black.” And the Prophet said to him, “Catch up with your cousin, for he is safe.” So Umayr went out and caught up with him and brought him to the Prophet, and Safwan said to him, “This one claims that you have granted me safety.” The Prophet said, “He is right.” Safwan said to him, “Give me two months of polytheism.” The Prophet said, “You have four months.” Then Safwan went out to the Battle of Hunayn while he was upon his polytheism. When the spoils were divided, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave him a hundred camels, then another hundred, and then another hundred, and he saw Safwan staring at a people full of blessings that he wanted, so he said to him, “Do you like this?” Safwan said, “Yes.” The Prophet said to him, “It is yours and what is in it.” So Safwan said, “Kings are not pleased themselves with something like this. No one has ever been pleased with something like this except a prophet. I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”

As for Sarah, her safety was sought with the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace), so he granted her safety, and she went to him and converted to Islam, and he pardoned her.

If we look at this large number that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had ordered killed, we find that only four of them were executed, and only one of them was executed in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), namely Abdullah ibn Khatal, and he and Miqyas ibn Sababah were killed as retribution because they were murderers as previously mentioned. As for the other two, namely Al-Huwairith ibn Nuqaidh and Qaribah, the freed slave of Ibn Khatal, they were not killed in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and had they embraced Islam and went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he would have pardoned them, just as he had pardoned Habbar ibn Al-Aswad even though he had committed more severe crimes than them.

It remains after this to look at the reason for which the death sentence was dropped for those who were not executed. Did the guilt of their crimes remain after their conversion to Islam? The Prophet (God’s prayers and peace be upon him) pardoned by his right to pardon because their crime did not amount to the crime of murder that occurred from Ibn Khatal and could have occurred in the case of their polytheism, but he made some excuse for them and made pardoning them more important than punishing them. Or was their guilt gone due to their conversion to Islam, with no trace of it remaining? The Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) said, “Islam nullifies what came before it.” And God Almighty says: {Tell the disbelievers that if they desist, their past will be forgiven. But if they persist, then they have an example in those destroyed before them} [Surah Al-Anfal: 38].

There is no doubt that Islam has set a good example with this in dealing with war criminals in order to teach people that it is more important to pardon them after having power over them, and the ancients said in their parables, “Power removes resentment.”

The number of these criminals was fifteen, yet the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) pardoned eleven of them, and he did not look at what came from them in the case of their disbelief, because before Islam they lived in ignorance and misguidance and were affected by the conditions of their environment, so they have some excuse for that, and taking pardoning them was more appropriate and more worthy. Islam is a religion of guidance and mercy, not a religion of revenge and resentment. Its command is based on forgetting the offense and preferring to repel the bad with the good, to remove enmity with forgiveness, and to erase hostility with pardon, so that there is no enmity between people, but between them only peace and love.

Safety of the people of Mecca after the conquest

Abdul Mutaal Al-Saidi (2) clarifies that “among the exegetes are those who say that what is meant by ‘fitnah’ in the verse {fight them until there is no more fitnah, and all worship is devoted to God alone} is polytheism. But correlating fitnah with polytheism is far from its meaning and far from that according to which fighting with the polytheists of Mecca and others was conducted. In the conquest of Mecca, we have the greatest evidence that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) fighting its people was in response to their fighting against him and was not for the sake of bringing them into his religion. He marched to Mecca with a mighty army sufficient to realize his purpose if he wanted, but when God made it possible from them and called for safety regarding them before the conquest took place, he said, ‘Whoever enters the Kaaba is safe, and whoever enters his house and closes it to him is safe, and whoever enters the house of Abu Sufyan is safe.’”

The Prophet (God’s prayers and peace be upon him) did not mention in his safety for the people of Mecca that whoever embraced Islam was safe, lest they would have understood that he wanted to compel them to Islam so that they might believe in it, although he only wanted to open Mecca for Muslims to enable them to perform pilgrimage to it, which is an essential pillar of their religion.

The people of Makkah did not have the right to prevent the Muslims from performing the pilgrimage, because the Kaaba is not their house, rather it is God’s house.

If the majority of the people of Makkah had entered Islam after the conquest, then they entered it voluntarily, not unwillingly, and this is supported by the fact that some of them remained upon polytheism and did not convert to Islam, and they reached eighty some in number. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not compel them to Islam, and he did not show them any enmity, and he did not attack them with regard to themselves or their wealth, but rather he left them as they were before the conquest. When he marched from Mecca to the Battle of Hunayn, they wanted to go with him, so he took them with him and gave them from its spoils as he gave the Muslims, or rather he multiplied what some of them were given in order to align their hearts, so they embraced Islam obediently after they saw this generosity from him and after they saw some of his good deeds that are only valid for a prophet.

Footnotes:

1- “Al-Mabsoot” by Al-Sarakhsi 

2- “The Major Questions in Islam” by Abdul Mutaal Al-Saidi