To pacify them he used various
arguments, telling them the sins of some had been the cause of disgrace
to all; that they had been disobedient to orders, in quitting their post
for the sake of plunder; that the devil put it into the minds of those
who turned back; their flight, however, was forgiven, because God is
merciful; that their defeat was intended to try them, and to show them
who were believers and who not; that the event of war is uncertain; that
the enemy had suffered as well as they; that other prophets before him
had been defeated in battle; that death is unavoidable. And here
Mahomet's doctrine of fate was of as great service to him as it was
afterward to his successors, tending as it did to make his people
fearless and desperate in fight. For he taught them that the time of
every man's death is so unalterably fixed that he cannot die before the
appointed hour; and, when that is come, no caution whatever can prolong
his life one moment;[56] so that they who were slain in battle would
certainly have died at the same time, if they had been at home in their
houses; but, as they now died fighting for the faith, they had thereby
gained a crown of martyrdom, and entered immediately into paradise,
where they were in perfect bliss with their Lord.
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