sense that the Ḥudaibiyah truce, which is called a clear victory of Islām, became the means of protection (ghafr) to the Holy Prophet against the evil things which had been said concerning him. It was a victory over the hearts of men, and it changed their mental attitude towards Islām, while the number of Muslims increased by leaps and bounds. The reference in “those to come” is to the later carpings of the critics of Islām, and means that evil things will be said about the Holy Prophet at a later date as well, and that all such misrepresentations and misunderstandings will, in their turn, be swept away.

Moses

Moses is also said to have committed a sin by killing a Copt, but the Holy Qur’ān makes it clear that he simply used his fist to ward off an attack against an Israelite who was being ill treated (28:15), and thus death was only accidental. No law would hold a man to be guilty under such circumstances. It is true that the word dzāll is used of Moses in connection with this incident on another occasion (26:20), but dzalla means he was perplexed or confused (LL.), and it is in this sense that the word is used there. Dzāll is also employed with reference to Holy Prophet Muḥammad in 93:7 in almost the same sense, i.e., one unable, by himself, to find the way to prophethood (R.).28 This is not only made clear by the context but also by the history of the Holy Prophet’s life, which shows that from his very childhood he shunned not only idolatry but all the evil practices of Arab society. Living in the midst of such a society, he was not free from its evils but was further anxious to find a way for its delivery from those evils. He saw around him the degraded condition of a fallen humanity but could not see the way to raise it up; it was God Who showed him that way, as the verse runs: “(Did He not) find thee groping, so He showed the way” (93:7).

Adam

Concerning Adam, it is undoubtedly said that “Adam disobeyed his Lord” (20:121), but even here there is no commission of sin, for as a preliminary to that incident, it is clearly stated: “And certainly