Forgiveness of the Ignorant

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:
I asked the Prophet ﷺ "Have you ever experienced a day harder than the day of the battle of Uhud?" He replied, "Indeed, I experienced them (dangers) at the hands of your people (i.e., the disbelievers from amongst the Quraish tribe). The hardest treatment I met from them was on the Day of 'Aqabah when I went to Ibn 'Abd Yalil bin 'Abd Kulal (who was one of the chiefs of Ta'if) with the purpose of inviting him to Islam, but he made no response (to my call). So I departed with deep distress. I did not recover until I arrived at Qarn ath-Tha'alib. There, I raised my head and saw a cloud which had cast its shadow on me. I saw in it Jibril (Gabriel) ﷺ who called me and said: 'Indeed, Allah, the Exalted, heard what your people said to you and the response they made to you. And He has sent you the angel in charge of the mountains to order him to do to them what you wish.' Then the angel of the mountains called me, greeted me and said: 'O Muhammad, Allah listened to what your people had said to you. I am the angel of the mountains, and my Rubb has sent me to you so that you may give me your orders. (I will carry out your orders). If you wish I will bring together the two mountains that stand opposite to each other at the extremities of Makkah to crush them in between."' But Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "I rather hope that Allah will raise from among their descendants people as will worship Allah the One, and will not ascribe partners to Him (in worship)."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

وعن عائشة رضي الله عنها أنها قالت للنبى ﷺ: هل أتى عليك يوم كان أشد من يوم أحد؟ قال: “لقد لقيت من قومك، وكان أشد ما لقيته منهم يوم العقبة، إذ عرضت نفسي على ابن عبد ياليل بن عبد كلال فلم يجبنى إلى ما أردت، فانطلقت وأنا مهموم على وجهى، فلم أستفق إلا وأنا بقرن الثعالب، فرفعت رأسى، فإذا أنا بسحابة قد أظلتنى، فنظرت فإذا فيها جبريل عليه السلام، فنادانى فقال: إن الله تعالى قد سمع قول قومك لك، وما ردوا عليك، وقد بعث إليك ملك الجبال لتأمره بما شئت فيهم فنادانى ملك الجبال، فسلم على ثم قال: يا محمد إن الله قد سمع قول قومك لك، وأنا ملك الجبال، وقد بعثنى ربى إليك لتأمرنى بأمرك،فما شئت: إن شئت أطبقت عليهم الأخشبين” فقال النبى ﷺ: "بل أرجو أن يخرج من أصلابهم من يعبد الله وحده لا يشرك به شيئاً". ((متفق عليه))

'Aishah (May Allah be pleased with her) reported:
Messenger of Allah ﷺ never hit anything with his hand neither a servant nor a woman but of course, he did fight in the Cause of Allah. He never took revenge upon anyone for the wrong done to him, but of course, he exacted retribution for the sake of Allah in case the Injunctions of Allah about unlawful acts were violated.

[Muslim].

وعنها قالت: ما ضرب رسول الله ﷺ شيئاً قط بيده، ولا امرأة ولا خادماً، إلا أن يجاهد في سبيل الله، وما نيل منه شئ قط فينتقم من صاحبه، إلا أن ينتهك شئ من محارم الله تعالى، فينتقم لله تعالى. ((رواه مسلم)).

Anas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
I was walking with Messenger of Allah ﷺ who was wearing a Najrani cloak with a very thick border when a bedouin happened to meet him. He took hold of the side of his cloak and drew it violently. I noticed that the violence of jerk had bruised the neck of Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The bedouin said: "O Muhammad! Give me out of Allah's wealth that you possess." Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned to him and smiled and directed that he should be given something.

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

وعن أنس رضي الله عنه قال: كنت أمشى مع رسول الله ﷺ، وعليه برد نجرانى غليظ الحاشية، فأدركه أعرابى، فجبذه بردائه جبذة شديدة، فنظرت إلى صفحة عاتق النبى ﷺ، وقد أثرت بها حاشية البرد من شدة فضحك، ثم قال: يا محمد مر لى من مال الله الذى عندك، فالتفت إليه فضحك ثم أمر له بعطاء. ((متفق عليه))

Ibn Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
I can see the Messenger of Allah ﷺ look like one of the Prophets of Allah whose people beat and made him bleed while he was wiping the blood from his face and supplicating: "O Allah, forgive my people because they know not."

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

وعن ابن مسعود رضي الله عنه قال: كأنى أنظر إلى رسول الله ﷺ يحكى نبياً من الأنبياء، صلوات الله وسلامه عليهم، ضربه قومه فأدموه وهو يمسح الدم عن وجهه، ويقول: “اللهم اغفر لقومى فإنهم لا يعملون” ((متفق عليه)).