During one of the conflicts of the early period of Islam, Hazrat Ali (PBUH) was on the battlefield engaged with his opponent. He had disarmed his opponent, the champion of the opposition, and was getting ready to slay him. His enemy spat upon him and Hazrat Ali sheathed his sword. His opponent asked why he did so. Hazrat Ali’s response was that “In battle, when two enemies are fighting for a cause,” in Imam Ali’s case Islam, “then the ideals of the of cause are worth dying for and have to be respected. When you spat on me, I became angry and wanted to kill you out of anger. That would have been unjust and dishonored the cause and displeased God. I had to sheath my sword because I wanted to kill you for my own benefit.”
The stories we tell.
What a great story. I would love to hear if anyone has any contemporary battlefield examples that demonstrate this kind of discipline, ethical grounding, restraint, and God-centered world view.
This is very relevant. Thank you for sharing the story.