The Prophet Muhammad A simple Guide to his Life
The Life of the Prophet
~ 26 ~
After this victory, six thousand members of the
Hawazin tribe were taken prisoner along with
booty amounting to 24,000 camels, 40,000 goats and
40,000 ounces of silver. These six thousand
prisoners were proven war criminals. According to
the prevailing custom, they should all have been
put to death. But the Prophet of Islam pardoned
them all and set them free without imposing any
conditions. This extraordinary treatment gave a
severe jolt to their consciences. They had the most
profound sense of how wrong their aggressiveness
was; having been shown such unusual clemency by
Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, they were
honour-bound to enter the fold of the religion
brought by him to mankind. And that is precisely
what they did. All the people of the Hawazin tribe-
both men and women-accepted Islam.
Now the Prophet reached Taif, which was the only
fortified town in the Arabian Peninsula. At his
approach, the townspeople barricaded themselves
inside the city. The Prophet and his companions
stayed there for three weeks. When there was no
sign of their surrendering, the Prophet retreated
and left for Madinah.
