Holy Prophet of Islam was a great benefactor of mankind, and throughout his life he helped the poor and the needy to his utmost ability, and showed mercy to them. He was the most kind and compassionate person ever appeared in the history. Almighty God says in the Holy Quran:
And We sent thee not but as a mercy for all mankind. (Holy Quran, 21:108)
When he was about 25 years old he became the member of an association, which was formed to help the victims of aggressive and unjust treatment. It was a league for the relief of the distressed. This association was known by the name of Hilful-Fudul, which was named after the common name, “Fadl” of all the participants, and “Hilf” means treaty. So Hilful-Fudul means a pact, which was made between men having part of their name “Fadl”.
The members of this association took a responsibility under oath in the following terms:
“They will help those who were oppressed and will restore them their rights, as long as the last drop of water remained in the sea. And if they do not do so, they will compensate the victims out of their own belongings.”
The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was always anxious to solve the problems in the society and to establish peace and harmony among the people through his God gifted wisdom and intelligence. Once it so happened, when he was in his thirties, that the tribes of Quraish found it necessary to rebuild the Kaaba in order to prevent it from collapse. When they got to the point in the construction to fix the Black Stone, the tribes began to argue with one another for the honor of placing the stone in its place. This continued for a number of days until the situation became extremely unstable. Blood pacts were consummated between the various tribes to fight to the death. The war was on the verge of breaking out between them over this matter. At this point someone suggested that any one who would be the first person to enter the door of the Holy Kaaba the next morning, should be the one to receive this honor of placing the stone in its place and they should all abide by his judgment. So in this way they came to a peaceful compromise. So it so happened that the first person to enter the Holy Kaaba was Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Upon seeing him all the tribes were overjoyed and proclaimed, “It is Al-Amīn (the trustworthy), we accept him! It is Muhammad!”
Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) called for a sheet of cloth, laid it upon the ground, and then placed the stone in the middle of it. He then asked all of the tribes to select a single representative from the each of the tribe who was then asked to grasp an edge of the cloth. All of the chosen representatives then carried the stone together to the Kaaba. When they reached to the proper place, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) placed it in the wall.
When he was assigned the duty of prophethood, every moment of his life was dedicated for calling the people towards Islam. He took every risk to convey the message of God to the people, to bring them closer to God and to save them from His anger and Hellfire. He had an overwhelming pain for the people, for not recognizing their Creator, that Almighty Allah has mentioned it in the Holy Quran, the agony and pain he felt for the others:
Haply thou wilt grieve thyself to death because they believe not. (Holy Quran, 26:4)
If we know the meaning of the Arabic word “Bakhi‘un” mentioned in the above verse of the Holy Quran, then it is possible to have the idea of the pain and suffering of the Holy Prophet, for his people.
“Bakhi‘un” means the suffering, which someone feels by cutting the jugular vein, when the knife reaches the back tissues of the neck.
The Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) remained under intense persecution and suffering for about three years in Shi‘b Abi Talib, when he was boycotted by his opponents. When the Quraish had blocked the locality from every side so that no supplies of any kind could reach the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). During this period Abu Talib, the uncle of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the wife of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), Hazrat Khadijah, who had been a source of peace and consolation for him ever since the beginning of the call, passed away. During that extreme persecution, when the Muslims were dying with hunger, it so happened that hunger spread in Mecca due to draught, and people started dying there. But Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was so merciful that when he received this news, he offered fervent supplications to God, “O my Lord have mercy upon them, and save them from the punishment of hunger.” Just imagine that Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) himself was suffering with hunger, due to the boycott of the same people, but he was praying for them, that God should help them, to save them from hunger. So Almighty God heard the prayers of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and there were heavy rains, and draught was over.
The battle of Ta’if was with those people who severely persecuted the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). And after the opponents were defeated many of them fled away but a large number of them were arrested. These people were from the tribe of Tay, and they fought under the leadership of the son of Hatim. When they were defeated, the son of Hatim ran away but Afshanah, the daughter of Hatim, was arrested. When the prisoners of war were brought to the court of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the daughter of Hatim came before the Prophet, she addressed him in the following words:
“Messenger of Allah, my father is dead; my brother, my only relation, fled away into the mountains on the approach of the Muslims. I count on your generosity for my deliverance. My father was an illustrious man, the prince of his tribe, a man who ransomed prisoners, protected the honor of women, fed the poor, consoled the afflicted.”
The Prophet replied, “Your father had the virtues of a true Muslim.” Then, addressing the Muslims around him, he said, “The daughter of Hatim is free. Her father was a generous, kind and compassionate person. Allah loves the kindhearted people.” At this Afshana addressed to the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said, “The generosity of my father was not limited to any individual or any group of people rather that was for all without discrimination of any people or tribe. So your mercy should also not be limited to me only. I cannot leave my people as prisoners, and enjoy liberty.” At this the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) made an open announcement for the people of Tay that they were all free along with the daughter of Hatim. Not only that, he ordered a troop of army to make arrangement for the safe journey of Afshana and her people to go back to their town, named Joshiah. In a procession Afshana was taken to her home. When this procession reached near Joshiah, the people of the town were surprised to see it, because the only news they had was about their awful defeat from the Muslims. In such situation they could not even think about a procession and jubilation of the people. Adi, the son of Hatim, was also surprised, because he knew well the situation of war that they were defeated and he had run from the field, even leaving his sister there in the hands of the Muslims as prisoner. When he got near to the procession, he saw that his sister was among the people. She came down from the camel, and addressed her brother, “Shame on you, you are coward, you ran from the battle and left me there in the hands of the enemy; but Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is generous and so merciful that he not only forgave us but also arranged for our journey to reach our home safely.” When Adi heard about the generosity, kindness, and mercy of the Prophet of Islam, he was really shaken and touched by the gratitude of the Prophet. He hastened to the city of Medina, where he was kindly received by the Prophet. He professed Islam and returned to his people and persuaded them to abandon idolatry. They all submitted and became devoted Muslims. This is how the Prophet of Islam won the hearts of the people, not by sword, rather through mercy and forgiveness.