"He (Muhammad) said: "Woe to you, Abu Sufyan, isn't it time that you recognize that I am God's apostle?" He answered, "As to that I still have some doubt." I (Abbas) said to him, "Submit and testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of God before you lose your head," so he did so. (Ibn Ishaq, p. 547)
The Response:
The Muslims came in the fath of makkah [opening of makkah] because the quraysh broke the treaty of al hudaiybiyah which implied that they and their allies shouldn't fight each other - but the Quraysh did (by supporting the Bakr [Quraysh's allies] against the Khuza'ah [Muslims allies].)
Since fath al makkah never had still occured [the muslims still encamped outside Makkah, they were still in a state of war. So when Abu Sufyan came out to see which army had settled outside Makkah, he found out it was the Muslims. Since they never had no peace treaty now, he could be killed - since they were in a state of war against each other. Furthermore due to his continuous warfare against the Muslims [with him being the commander of Quraysh in the battles of Uhud, Ahzab, and many more.]
So his death would be justified, and he only wasn't killed because he became Muslim (so his past errors were forgiven.) If they did kill him, it wouldn't be because he rejected Islam, but because of his war crimes and him still being in a state of war with the Muslims. [the war ended when the Muslims opened Makkah, not before this.]
The Hadeeth you mentioned is weak, as Imam al-Haithami said in, Majma` az-Zawa-id (5/186). One of the narrators, Esa Ibn Sulaiman, is weak, while Esa Ibn Atiyyah, another narrator, is unknown.
Abu Bakr said: "You asked me for the best advice that I could give you, and I will tell you. God sent Muhammad with this religion and he strove for it until men accepted it voluntary or by force." (Ibn Ishaq, pp. 668-669)
Even if the Hadeeth is held as authentic, it is not what the enemies of Islam wish it means. All what the Hadeeth says is that some people became Muslim on their own, meaning they did not fight against Islam and Muslims before accepting Islam. Some others, meanwhile, became Muslim after they were defeated in battle. Thus, they accepted Islam ‘Kurhan’. It is well-known that Mu`awiyah Ibn Abi Sufyan, may Allah be pleased with him and with his father, accepted Islam willingly. Yet, another unsubstantiated Hadeeth claims that Sa`d Ibn Qais said to Mu’awiyah that he and his father became Muslim ‘Kurhan’; [Siyaru A`lami an-Nubalaa, by adh-Dhahabi].
This word, ‘Kurhan’, does not mean by force, but it pertains to ‘dislike; hatred; discomfort’. Obviously, one can dislike Islam but still become Muslim for different reasons, such as seeking financial compensation or to be hypocrite, or for simply knowing Islam is the truth and wishing to practice it so that they may love it later on. There is another meaning found in another Hadeeth collected by al-Haithami in, Majma az-Zawa-id (9/77), which states that Abdullah Ibn Abbas said to Umar Ibn al-Khattab, “The Messenger of Allah died while he was pleased with you. You then supported the Caliph after him, following the way of Allah’s Messenger. You then used those who came willingly against those who turned away, until people entered Islam willingly or Kurhan.” Obviously, this Hadeeth, which is Hasan, is in reference to fighting reverts from Islam during Abu Bakr’s Khilafah. Proof: Ibn Abbas said next, “Then, the Caliph (Abu Bakr) died while he was pleased with you.” It is well-known historically that Abu Bakr’s Khilafah was almost entirely spent fighting reverts from Islam (al-Murtaddun). These are people who entered Islam outwardly but their hearts did not enter Islam completely. When the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, died, they reverted from Islam thus committing a major crime for which they were fought and forced to reenter Islam or be killed for committing the crime of reversion from Islam.
Dear Brothers: always challenge those who claim that Islam supports forced mass-conversion to it to bring real evidence to one incident in which the Prophet of Allah, salla allahu alaihi wa-sallam, or the Four Khulafaa forced any nation or tribe to become Muslim under threat of death. ‘Kurhan’ does not only pertain to physical force, it also applies to dislike and discomfort. If ‘Kurhan’ only means being forced under threat of physical pain or death, then what meaning would that give to Allah’s Statement, {We commanded man to be kind to his parents, his mother carried him Kurhan and gave birth to him Kurhan}.
As-salamu alaikum warahmatullah
Jalal Abualrub
http://www.islamlife.com/forum/viewt...&thread_id=370
... When Jarir reached Yemen, there was a man who used to foretell and give good omens by casting arrows of divination. Someone said to him. "The messenger of Allah's Apostle is present here and if he should get hold of you, he would chop off your neck." One day while he was using them (i.e. arrows of divination), Jarir stopped there and said to him, "Break them (i.e. the arrows) and testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, or else I will chop off your neck." So the man broke those arrows and testified that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah. (Bukhari: volume 5, book 59, number 643, Khan) "
if we see the hadith - we come to realise that Jarir (radhiAllahu anhu) actually warned this fortune teller once not to carry on with his evil or he would be killed - then he was left alone, but again he continued - thats why the 2nd time he was actually going to be killed, unless he repented [by becoming Muslim].
So the man was warned against this evil practise, since magicians and witches also face the death penalty in Islam. The hadith also shows that he never got killed straightaway. But when he continued, then he had to repent or face the death penalty. Because we know soothsayers do spoil peoples lives and make them doubt their faith, like magicians and witches cause evil.
http://ahlalhdeeth.com/vbe/showthread.php?p=18108#post18108
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