Another proof of the fact that these wars of the Holy Prophet(sa) were not for the forceful propagation of Islām, is the Ghazwah of Makkah. When Makkah was conquered at the hands of the Muslims; and the Holy Prophet(sa) and his Companions entered Makkah as victors, at that time, although various people from the Quraish of Makkah became Muslim at their own will, many among the Quraish remained firm in their disbelief and there was absolutely no hostility whatsoever towards them. Thereafter, as the hearts of people were gradually opened towards Islām, they continued to become Muslim at their own will. The number of such people was in the hundreds, rather, perhaps ran into the thousands. As such, Ṣafwān bin Umayyah, who was the son of Umayyah bin Khalf, a chieftain of the Quraish, and who was a staunch enemy of Islām, did not become a Muslim at the Victory of Makkah either. It was in this very state of disbelief that he sided with the Holy Prophet(sa), and participated in the Ghazwah of Ḥunain. Many other idolaters also took part in this war. However, gradually the truth of Islām began to manifest itself upon him due to the beautiful character of the Holy Prophet(sa) and then, ultimately, he became a Muslim at his own will.1 Now the question is that if the Holy Prophet(sa) and his Companions would forcefully convert people to Islām, why were people not coerced to enter Islām after the Victory of Makkah, when the Quraish had lost their strength completely, and the Muslim army was dominant? After the Victory of Makkah, what better opportunity could the Muslims have found for their forceful propagation, when a very large community could have been made to enter Islām at the slightest wave of the sword? However, Islām brought a message of religious freedom and it was ordered that there should be no compulsion in the matter of religion. Therefore, it was with utmost honesty that the Holy Prophet(sa) and his Companions left every single individual free to his own conscience, so that everyone could follow the religion of their choosing. However, Islām was not such a religion that, if the idolaters of Arabia were to receive an opportunity to calmly contemplate, they would not be won over by its qualities in comparison to their own religion. Hence, it was not the iron sword, but the sword of argumentation and signs, which did its work and in a very short time, the region of Arabia was cleansed of the element of polytheism.
1 Al-Iṣābah Fī Tamīziṣ-Ṣaḥābah, By Aḥmad bin ‘Alī bin Ḥajar Al-‘Asqalānī, Volume 3, pp. 349-351, Ṣafwān bin Umayyah, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon (2005)
Usdul-Ghābah Fī Ma‘rifatiṣ-Ṣaḥābah, By ‘Izzuddīn Ibnul-Athīr Abul-Ḥasan ‘Alī bin Muḥammad, Volume 2, pp. 420-421, Ṣafwān bin Umayyah, Dārul-Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon (2003)
Al-Istī‘āb Fī Ma‘rifatil-Aṣḥāb, By Abū ‘Umar Yūsuf bin ‘Abdillāh, Volume 2, pp. 274-275, Ṣafwān bin Umayyah, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon (2002)