"Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it set in a spring of murky water: Near it he found a People: We said: “O Zul-qarnain! (thou hast authority,) either to punish them, or to treat them with kindness." - Quran 18:86 (read more)

"Narrated Kurib: the freed slave of Ibn 'Abbas, that Maimuna bint Al-Harith told him that she manumitted a slave-girl without taking the permission of the Prophet. On the day when it was her turn to be with the Prophet, she said, "Do you know, O Allah's Apostle, that I have manumitted my slave-girl?" He said, "Have you really?" She replied in the affirmative. He said, "You would have got more reward if you had given her (i.e. the slave-girl) to one of your maternal uncles." - Sahih Bukhari 3:47:765 (read more)

"...the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) used to go out on military expeditions or send out an army at least every two months. The virtuous Companions continued upon the path of the Noble Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), for the Glorious Qur'an had brought up this generation with an education of Jihad. They had been bathed in Jihad and cleansed of engrossment in worldly matters, just as a wound is bathed in water." - Imam Abdullah Azzam