The Prophet as a Mercy to All Worlds: Islam Spread Via the Virtue of Noble Character Rather Than the Sword - Part 3
By
Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam
2 February
2024
The main
aim of this series was to draw attention to the mercy of the beloved Prophet
(peace be upon him); yet, in its first two parts, some commentators attempted
to show how Islam spread by using the sword and accused the Prophet of being
false (Maadha Allah). Hence, I intended to include certain facts in this series
that will contradict their assertions. This section is thus intended to refute
the assertion that Islam was spread by sword.
Did The
Sword Or The Example Of Virtuous Behaviour Spread Islam?
Some claim
that the sword helped spread Islam. The truth is that it spread because of
moral qualities. Only after emigration from Makkah to Madina did Islam obtain
possession of the sword.
In Makkah,
those who were able to brandish a sword had joined the Islamic cause.
When it
came to calling Hazrat Abu Bakr, Hazrat Umar, Hazrat Usman, Hazrat Ali, Hazrat
Bilal, and other companions to Islam, did the Prophet brandish a sword? No, not
at all. The truth is that when they embraced Islam, the pagans of Makkah were
the ones brandishing swords and intimidating these Muslims to turn away from
Islam.
Hazrat Abu
Bakr accepted Islam free from coercion or fear of swords. Rather, he
experienced persecution from the pagans of Makkah, which is why he left Makkah
and chose to travel with someone who didn't have anywhere to stay—even if it
meant leaving his family behind.
It is well
known that when Hazrat Umar's sister was reciting the Quran at home, he was not
a Muslim at that time. He became enraged upon learning of her sister's
conversion to Islam and immediately set out to assassinate the Prophet.
However, what took place at that point? The Prophet was not holding a sword.
Umar Farooq went to kill, but something inspired him so much that he changed
his mind and accepted Islam freely, without coercion or fear of swords.
After
embracing Islam, Hazrat Usman sacrificed all of his wealth at the command of
the Prophet. Was he given a sword threat to convert to Islam? No, not at all.
Did Hazrat
Ali embrace Islam at the fear of swords? No, not at all. Instead, he was
threatened by the pagans when he accepted Islam.
When the
prophet moved from Makkah to Madina on the night of his migration—when the
pagans were planning to kill him—Hazrat Ali spent the entire night sleeping in
the prophet's bed. With drawn swords,
the head-hunters from the pagan groups broke into the Prophet's home just
before morning. However, their shock and dismay were incomprehensible when they
realised that Hazrat Ali, not Muhammad (peace be upon him), was the one resting
in the bed. They took Hazrat Ali into custody to question and perhaps to torture
him.
Please tell
me where the sword was. Was it in the hands of Hazrat Ali, the Prophet, or the
Arab pagans?
Who had
forced the people of Madina to give their hearts to a travelling stranger?
Which weapons broke the hearts of Suhaib and Bilal such that, despite their
masters' persecution, they could only cry out, "Allah is One"?
These are
questions that history has witnessed. The distinction was all in the excellent
character rather than the sword. The virtues of the Prophet's character won the
hearts of all these individuals.
Consider
the state of the world before the Prophet was sent down to the earth. There
were feuds everywhere, and everything was gloomy. The Quran makes it abundantly
evident that conditions have gotten worse on land as well as in the sea due to
human character. The worst victim of all was humanity; people's morals had
eroded and their behaviour had become malevolent. Anarchy had taken over
everywhere, and good deeds were being disregarded. A sun rose and provided the
light of redemption in these circumstances:
“Alif Lam Meem, this is a book that I revealed
to you [Prophet]—so that you may help the world out of this darkness to light
with the order of Allah; show them the straight path shown by Allah—repository
of all beautiful attributes.” (14:1)
The reasons
that follow will further demonstrate that the forces of truth, reason, and
logic—rather than the sword—were accountable for the quick growth of Islam.
Islam has
always recognised and protected the right to practise any religion. The Quran
expressly affirms religious freedom in these terms:
“There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance
of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever
disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy
handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.” (2:256)
Islam looks
for sincere believers; it does not accept hypocrites. The only way to guarantee
sincerity and reality in faith is through religious freedom. Islam supports
religious freedom for this reason.
Contrarily,
the force can only persuade someone to accept Islam on the surface, not the
inside. This approach can turn someone into a hypocrite who displays his or her
Islam in public but does not truly embrace it. Islam, as we all know, strongly
detests hypocrisy. Islam can therefore not be forced upon anyone. Forced
conversion simply serves to increase the number of hypocrites while decreasing
the number of real believers.
The Prophet
of Islam has also been commanded to serve as a reminder and not as someone who
forces others to convert to Islam:
“So remind, [O Muhammad, peace be upon him];
you are only a reminder. You are not over them a controller.” (88:21-22)
In
countless other verses, the Prophet is described as "a carrier of good
news" and "a Warner of God's punishment” (Surah al-Baqarah, 2:119;
Surah Saba, 34:28). To remind the people of their fundamental yearning to
believe in God was his only duty. The first verse (2:256) makes it clear that
there is no need to force someone to accept Islam because it is simple to
distinguish between the right and evil paths.
It is
undeniable that Muslims ruled Spain (Andalusia) for almost 800 years. Jews and
Christians were free to practise their own religions throughout this period,
according to acceptable history.
In the
Muslim regions of the Middle East, Christian and Jewish communities have
existed for centuries. Countries with sizable Christian and Jewish populations
include Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
Huston Smith
writes about how the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) allowed Jews and
Christians to practise their religions freely while living under Muslim
dominion in his book The World's Religions:
Jews and
Christians “shall be safeguarded from all insults and damage. They shall have
an equal right to our help and good services and they shall profess their
religion as freely as the Muslims”, according to a document the Prophet had
prepared.
Smith
states that Muslims saw that document as the first proclamation of religious
freedom in the annals of human history and the model for all subsequent Muslim
states.
Since
Muslims controlled India for almost a thousand years, they had the authority to
compel all non-Muslims to convert to Islam. However, they chose not to do so,
and today, more than 80% of Indians do not practise Islam.
In the same
vein, Islam quickly spread down Africa's east coast. Likewise, no Muslim army
was ever sent to Africa's East Coast.
Muslims
make up the bulk of the population of Malaysia, with Indonesia having the
largest Muslim population worldwide. Indonesia or Malaysia, however, has never
been conquered by a Muslim force. It is a well-known historical fact that
Indonesia adopted Islam due to its moral precepts rather than because of hostilities.
Many regions that were historically under Islamic rule no longer have Islamic
governments, yet the local populace still considers themselves Muslims.
Additionally, they endured harm, pain, and injustice to disseminate the truth,
and inspired others to do the same.
The same is
true for people living in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, North Africa, Asia, the
Balkans, and Spain, as well as other regions. This demonstrates that the impact
of Islam on the populace was one of moral conviction, in contrast to Western
colonisation, which led to the forcible displacement of people from areas where
the native peoples only had memories of sorrow, sadness, slavery, and
oppression.
According
to renowned historian De Lacy O'Leary, the methodology of fanatical Muslims “marching
throughout the globe and forcing Islam on conquered nations at the point of a
sword is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever
repeated”.
If there
was a sword used to propagate Islam, it was the sword of reason and persuasive
arguments. This sword is the one that wins over people's hearts and minds. When
referring to this, the Quran states:
“Invite to the way of your Lord with wisdom and
good instruction, and argue with them in the best way. Indeed, your Lord is
most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of who is
[rightly] guided.”
(Qur'an 16:125)
That Islam
did not spread by force of the sword can also be understood if we look at the
Prophet's life in two phases. After spending the first thirteen years of his
mission in Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) spent the final
eleven years of his life in Medina.
The Prophet
served in Mecca for his first thirteen years as a prophet. Using force was
historically both unimaginable and impractical because he and the Muslims were
both minorities in Makkah. Instead, it was the persecution inflicted upon the
Muslims that forced the Prophet and the Muslims to migrate from Mecca to
Medina.
The Prophet
resided in Medina for the last eleven years. Before the Prophet migrated to
Medina, the vast majority of its inhabitants, who belonged to the tribes of Aws
and Khazraj, had embraced Islam. The inhabitants of Medina could not have been
forced into acceptance or conversion. There was no way for the Prophet and his
companions in Mecca to physically convert the inhabitants of Medina. Islam only
expanded through propagation in Medina.
The Prophet
discovered that there was a small Jewish population in Medina that was
unwilling to join Islam once he had arrived there. In order to clarify the
rights and responsibilities of each religious group in Medina, he met them and
invited them to an agreement with the Muslims. This is what the pertinent
section of the charter says:
“The Jews who sign this covenant will be
shielded from any abuse and vexation and will have the same access to our help
and good offices as our own people. Together with the Muslims, the Jews of the
several branches of the 'Aws, the Najjar, Harith, Jashim, Tha'labah, and Aws,
as well as everyone else residing in Medina, should constitute one composite
nation.
“The Jews' clients and allies will have the
same freedom and security. The guilty will be sought out and dealt with. Jews
and Muslims will work together to defend Medina from all adversaries. For all
who abide by this Charter, Medina's interior shall be a holy place. The Muslim
and Jewish clients and allies must be treated with the same deference as the
principals.”
This
demonstrates unequivocally that the Prophet did not coerce individuals into
accepting Islam; rather, he encouraged harmonious coexistence with adherents of
other religions.
All of
these historical facts show unequivocally that Islam was not propagated by the
sword but by its sublime teachings and the noble character of the Prophet
(peace be upon him).
----
Kaniz
Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a regular columnist for New Age Islam.
Previous
Article:
Part 1: The Prophet as a
Mercy to All Worlds: His Moral Conduct and Compassion for Unbelievers - Part 1
Part
2: The
Prophet as a Mercy to All Worlds: His Forgiveness and Compassion for
Unbelievers - Part 2