The Prophet's Tolerance

His people harmed him in many ways; they spat on his face, emptied sheep's stomach over his head, knocked him to the ground and trampled on his back, put thorns in his path, confiscated his property, exiled him, conspired against him, killed his uncle, [step] daughter, [step] granddaughter, ridiculed him, called him a wizard, possessed, insane, a poet, a priest upon whom the wrath of some of their gods had befallen, ... in addition to other types of harm, so much so that he said, "No prophet has been harmed as much as I have been." Yet he remained patient in the face of such hardships till Allah granted him the upper hand over them, placing him in charge of their affairs while they had no doubt that they would be uprooted, their community annihilated, and their wealth confiscated.

After the fall of Mecca, he did not go beyond forgiving and overlooking the harm dealt to him by the Meccans to whom he said, "What do you think I am going to do to you?" They said, "With kindness. You are a gracious brother and the son of a gracious brother." He said, "I shall say to you just as my brother the Prophet Joseph said: 'No harm upon you; go, for you are free,'" thus forgiving them all including the most bitter of his enemies such as AbY Sufy"n and Hind.

He forgave men like !Ikrimah ibn AbY Jahl who was similar to his father in his harming of the Messenger of Allah and in his animosity, spending a great deal on fighting him, like Safw"n ibn Omayyah ibn Khalaf who was very cruel to the Prophet and who used to finance the armies of the polytheists, a man who can be called in today's terminology the "Minister of Defence" of the infidels.

Adopted from the book : "The Prophet Muhammad; a Mercy to the World" by : "Ayatullah Muhammad Sadiq al-Shirazi"