Muhammad a Prophet For all Humanity
9. The Prophetic Method
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The Thaqif consulted among themselves.
They saw that they would not now be able to
fight against all the Arabs around them who
had sworn allegiance to the Prophet, and
accepted his Faith.
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In the year A.H. 9 (A.D. 630) a delegation from Ta’if
arrived in Madinah. They expressed their willingness
to accept Islam, but only under certain quite unusual
conditions. They denied right of passage to the
Muslims’ army through their territory; they refused
to pay land tax; they declined to participate in
jihad;
they also said that they would not pray, or recognize
any ruler who was not from their tribe. The Prophet
accepted all their conditions, but made it clear that
there was no good in a religion, which did not
include bowing down to God. The Companions were
amazed that the Prophet should accept their Islam,
along with all these reservations. But the Prophet was
looking further into the future, and put their minds at
rest with these words:
Once they have submitted to God, they will,
after a while, give alms and strive in the path
of God.
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