The assassination of the Punjab governor Salman Taseer in Pakistan reminds me of an episode after the Battle of Badr. When a war prisoner, Suhail bin Amr was brought before the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be to him), the Prophet’s Companion Umar said, “Let the Prophet render his teeth maimed or mutilated for he was indulged in diatribe against the Prophet.” But the Prophet responded, “If today I render my enemy’s one or the other organ of the body, I would be held accountable on the Doomsday.” And history bears witness to the fact that the same Suhail bin Amr later emerged as one of the great orators of Islam.
Iqbal Ahmed Khan
Burhanpur, M.S.