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028_Permission_to_Retaliate, page : 2
A Threat from Mecca, the Letter
It is obligatory upon Muslims to protect their soul, the honor of their womenfolk, and
wealth, but also to show mercy. No matter how good the philosophy of turning the other
cheek may be for an individual in insignificant day-to-day affairs, it spells suicide for a
community when it is implemented as an absolute value.
One might have supposed that the Prophet's circumstances in Medina were easier than
in Mecca, and in many respects that was indeed the case. However, in Mecca it had
been easy to determine who had given themselves to Islam and who had not.
In Medina the situation was somewhat different. Many of its citizens had embraced
Islam, however several had done so not out of conviction but because they feared the
loss of their status within their tribe as more of their fellow tribesmen started to embrace
Islam. These people posed an undetectable source of treachery that was a factor the
Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) did not have to contend with in Mecca.
Until this time, Medina had little or no influence on the affairs of Arabia, it had just been a
place on the trade route where caravans would stop, replenish their supplies, sell their
It is obligatory upon Muslims to protect their soul, the honor of their womenfolk, and
wealth, but also to show mercy. No matter how good the philosophy of turning the other
cheek may be for an individual in insignificant day-to-day affairs, it spells suicide for a
community when it is implemented as an absolute value.
One might have supposed that the Prophet's circumstances in Medina were easier than
in Mecca, and in many respects that was indeed the case. However, in Mecca it had
been easy to determine who had given themselves to Islam and who had not.
In Medina the situation was somewhat different. Many of its citizens had embraced
Islam, however several had done so not out of conviction but because they feared the
loss of their status within their tribe as more of their fellow tribesmen started to embrace
Islam. These people posed an undetectable source of treachery that was a factor the
Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) did not have to contend with in Mecca.
Until this time, Medina had little or no influence on the affairs of Arabia, it had just been a
place on the trade route where caravans would stop, replenish their supplies, sell their