"Islam: An Important and Easy Faith"

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

The Prophet’s (peace be upon him and his family) Great Concern for Islam’s Good Reputation

In a noble hadith narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), he said:

"If it were not that I disliked it being said: ‘Muhammad sought the help of a group, and once he triumphed over his enemy, he killed them,’ I would have surely struck the necks of many people."

The meaning of this statement is that the Prophet peace be upon him and his family refrained from executing them so that no pretext would be given to the enemies of Islam to portray the religion as one of terror, violence, and bloodshed. Otherwise, they might claim that when Islam was weak and emerging, it gathered supporters, but once it became strong, it turned on them and killed them.

In this hadith, quite astonishingly, we see that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) considered many people — including some of his companions and associates — deserving of execution. Beheading, at times, reflects deep-seated anger, ancient pain, and profound grief. Some individuals obstructed the cause of religion to such an extent and caused such sorrow to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) that, by any standard — whether political, religious, or martial — they merited death.

There is no doubt whatsoever in the truthfulness of the Prophet’s words. Although he judged these individuals deserving of death due to the damage and harm they brought, the special circumstances prevailing in the nascent Islamic society necessitated a different approach — an approach that brought about many positive effects for the Muslim community.

Nevertheless, the good reputation of Islam was something the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) would not easily jeopardize. He cited the preservation of Islam’s image as the sole reason for refraining from killing those saboteurs and traitors. He feared that future generations might point accusing fingers at Islam and tarnish the radiant face of the noble Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), who is free from all defect and flaw, by falsely claiming that once he gained power with the help of his companions, he turned against them and eliminated them.

Those familiar with the pure and luminous character of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) would categorically reject such claims.
However, what could be done about those beyond the borders of Islam — in non-Muslim lands — who might lack clear knowledge of the Prophet’s character and misconstrue the execution of these disruptors as driven by worldly motives? God forbid that the noble Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) could ever be thus misrepresented.

The Merciful Conduct of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) Toward the Traitors

Treachery, according to the logic of all nations throughout history — among politicians and rulers — is considered a crime worthy of death. This principle has been seen throughout human history, everywhere and always.
Those individuals — who outwardly appeared among the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) — repeatedly committed acts of treachery, attempted to harm the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), incited numerous wars against the Muslims, and despite all this, deceitfully claimed to be Muslims and to be among the Prophet’s (peace be upon him and his family) companions and friends.
Nevertheless, their disgraceful behavior became apparent to the Muslims time and again. Moreover, the Almighty God, in numerous verses of the Qur'an, pointed out their vile deeds and impure intentions.

Such immense acts of treachery, as we mentioned, would ordinarily — according to political reasoning — be met with execution.
However, the Noble Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), who was the herald of compassion and mercy for all mankind, did not kill them, so that the good name of Islam would continue to adorn the pages of human history. This way, people of the world, when referring to the luminous history of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), would recognize his pure intentions and humanity. They would understand how many betrayals were committed against him, yet he never handed the traitors over to the gallows or the edge of the sword.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) strove to ensure that Islam would never be seen as a religion of fear and terror.
His actions were always governed by mercy and forgiveness.

When we carefully examine the behavior of the Noble Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) — as the Qur'an describes him as a perfect example to follow — we realize that the foundation and essence of Islam is prioritizing mercy.
Islam imbues everything with the spirit of mercy.
The Qur'an opens each of its chapters with the verse: "In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate".
Even if a chapter contains only four or five verses, one of them is necessarily this verse, which proclaims the mercy and compassion of the Almighty.
Thus, it is clear that Islam places enormous emphasis on mercy.
We can rightly say that mercy is the core and central message of Islam to humanity.

The Manifestation of Islam’s Mercy in War

All of the battles involving the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) — as recorded in history — were imposed upon him.
We have discussed this in detail elsewhere.
Despite the numerous battles forced upon him, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), alongside the Muslims, only engaged in defense.

Throughout these tens of battles that were forced upon the Noble Messenger (peace be upon him and his family), the total number of those killed, at the very minimum, reached about one thousand, and according to other reports — which cite a higher number — it did not exceed one thousand five hundred.
No other prophet faced as many enemies as the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), nor endured as many severe wars.

Had it been anyone else besides him, the number of casualties might well have reached half a million or even one million.

Despite all this — despite facing attacks from the polytheists, Jews, Christians, and the Arabs from all sides — the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) exercised such restraint in war and killing that, in total across all battles, no more than a little over a thousand people from both sides were killed.

This statistic, when we study the history of those battles and the conditions of that era, clearly reveals to us the merciful spirit and character of the Noble Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family).

The Prophet’s (peace be upon him and his family) Revolution Against Intellectual and Moral Corruption

Islam is a religion that was firmly established by the capable hands of the Noble Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family).
When examining the propagation of Islam — from its earliest stages to its spread across the farthest regions of the Arabian Peninsula — it appears as a comprehensive revolution that advanced steadily, persistently, and unwaveringly, successfully confronting all forms of corruption and decay.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) stood firmly against the worship of various idols — made of metal, gold, silver, wood, and other materials — and purified the people’s belief from the fruitless worship of such idols.
At the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), society was mired in numerous moral corruptions: wars and bloodshed were widespread, and even practices as horrific as burying newborn girls alive were common.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) stood resolutely against all these deviations and corruptions and, through a revolution against these vain beliefs and corrupt habits, brought a higher and more blessed way of life to the people.

A Unique Difference Between the Prophet’s (peace be upon him and his family) Battles and Others

Since mercy is the foundational element in the Prophet’s (peace be upon him and his family) teachings, and because Islam itself is built upon mercy, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) even treated his enemies — those who sought to kill him — with mercy during warfare.
There are many examples of his merciful conduct on the battlefield.

Similarly, Imam Ali (peace be upon him), the rightful successor of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), also faced three bloody wars during his leadership.
Numerous accounts from these battles highlight Imam Ali’s (peace be upon him) merciful perspective, even towards his enemies.

One of the most important manifestations of mercy in the battles of both the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and Imam Ali (peace be upon him) was the avoidance of vengeance after the war — a practice that was extremely rare at that time.

In most wars, once the fighting ended, the victors would imprison, torture, and mistreat the captives, and often the cycle of revenge and cruelty would continue.
However, in the history of the Prophet's (peace be upon him and his family) and Imam Ali’s (peace be upon him) battles, we find no trace of such practices.
Once the fighting ceased, so did all hostilities: there was no mistreatment of captives, no unnecessary imprisonment — it was as though no war had ever taken place, and no swords had been raised against them.

Even in modern wars — such as the First and Second World Wars and many others before and after — we see that enmities continued long after the wars ended: prisoners were taken, mistreated, and imprisoned for years, and many other atrocities followed.

Even among comrades who fought side by side in revolutions against a common enemy, once they seized power, internal conflicts often erupted, leading to bloodshed among themselves.
Sadly, such violent scenes have been repeated countless times throughout the history of human revolutions and wars.
In other words, mercy was abandoned not only toward enemies but even among allies themselves.
How vast is the difference between this tragic record and the culture of mercy embodied by the Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and Imam Ali (peace be upon him)!

Had the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) acted like other military commanders — given the number and intensity of wars waged against him — millions could have perished in retaliatory killings.
Yet, we see that historical records mention no more than about one thousand to at most one thousand five hundred deaths, including both Muslims and their enemies.

This comparison clearly demonstrates that Islam has never neglected mercy and human dignity, even on the battlefield.

As the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) stated — in the narration mentioned earlier — there were many within the Muslim community whose sabotage and treachery made them deserving of death.
However, out of concern for the greater good of Islam, and because the foundation of Islam is built on mercy, he refrained from killing them.

The Merciful Call of Islam

Like all the illuminating lessons in the radiant conduct of the Noble Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace be upon him), the importance of mercy in their lives is one of the essential aspects.
It is impossible to truly understand the reality of Islam without considering this crucial dimension.
Therefore, it is necessary for the people of the world — especially those who are unfamiliar with the true Islam — to view Islam through this lens and recognize the central role and significance of mercy in it.

The difference between this form of Islam and the version practiced by the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs — and others who held power over Islamic lands for many centuries without the slightest regard for Islam’s true teachings and essential aspects, like mercy — is as vast as the distance between earth and sky.
Drawing the attention of non-Muslims to these differences and acquainting them with the fundamental principles of Islam — with mercy being one of the most important — must be placed at the forefront of our priorities.

We have always emphasized that spreading these truths and introducing the world's non-Muslims to the beautiful and valuable realities of Islam — especially as manifested in the Prophetic conduct and the governance style of Imam Ali (peace be upon him) — is not solely the duty of a specific group.
The belief that such a task lies exclusively with clerics or religious scholars is a mistaken notion.

Besides the scholars and students of religious sciences, it is a duty upon all Muslims to promote these crucial matters.
Had these truths, preserved in historical texts, been conveyed to the world and had modern high-reach tools — such as newspapers, television, and satellites — been properly employed for this purpose, the level of awareness about true Islam among the global population today would have been far greater.

Unfortunately, due to distorted understandings of Islam and widespread misinformation, what is often presented to others is a distorted, Umayyad- or Abbasid-like image of Islam, rather than the true, merciful Islam.
Such misrepresentations may very well be the cause of many people's disinterest or aversion toward Islam.

Therefore, we must rise to the challenge and dedicate ourselves — using all modern means — to spread and promote the core framework of Islam, namely its merciful dimension, upon which the governance of the Noble Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and Imam Ali (peace be upon him) was firmly based.

May Allah, the Most High, grant all of us success in this noble path.
And blessings of God be upon our master and Prophet Muhammad and his pure family.