Winning the Heart
Revenge turns society into a jungle of negative activities. Good behaviour in return for bad behaviour wins hearts.
When the Prophet of Islam began to communicate the message of monotheism, he met with stiff opposition in Arabia. All kinds of violence was used against him. But the Prophet did not take any retaliatory measures. He behaved well with his opponents so that he might win their hearts.
The Prophet’s hometown was Makkah. And the Makkans subjected him to so much oppression and violence, that he was forced to leave Makkah. Then a time came when he entered Makkah as the victor. Makkah came under his control. At that time, the inveterate Makkan antagonists were brought before him. They stood out against him but the Prophet did not decree any punishment for them. Rather he freed all of them unconditionally. The result of this positive behaviour was that all of them accepted Islam.
Similarly, the Hawazin tribe rebelled against him and attacked his people. Then the Prophet was forced to fight with them. This is known in Islamic history as the war of Hunain. Finally, he became victorious. And thousands of the Hawazin were arrested and brought before him. With them also the Prophet did not take any revenge. He released all of them with honour. This sublime demonstration of ethical behaviour was so powerful that the whole tribe accepted the Prophet’s message.
Taking revenge, to teach a lesson is not the way of Islam. In the case of such activities, the problem becomes more grave. But when good behaviour is given in return for bad behaviour, this conquers a person’s heart. And there is no other way more powerful than the conquering of hearts, whether it applies to individual or groups or society as a whole.
The way of revenge turns the entire society into a jungle of negative activities. On the contrary, the way of conquering hearts produces an atmosphere of good ethics and humanity in all of society. Revenge only increases the problem, while the way of winning hearts solves the entire problem.
