Quran's Stand on the Issue of Proselytization

By S. Arshad, New Age Islam

1 January 2026

The detractors of Islam have circulated the narrative that Islam has spread with the use of force and they quote the war verses of the Quran to support the narrative. The war verses were revealed in the tumultuous initial period of Islam in specific circumstances. The fact is that no religion, not to speak of Islam alone, has spread with the use of sword as religion is based on the personal belief of individuals and beliefs cannot be imposed on an individual by any external force. If it had been so, minority religions would not have flourished along with major organised religions of the world. Any religion becomes popular among the masses because it rejects obscurantist dogmas and beliefs and outdated social system and presents a revolutionary social system where individuals are promised a life with dignity equality and justice along with promises of spiritual growth.

A new religion emerges in reaction to the corruption and apocrypha in the existing religion and holds promises of a better life for its followers. In the context of India, the Vedic social system challenged the centuries old tribal social system but gradually the Vedic social itself was marred by caste system and high handedness of the Brahmins, the Vedica social system became a burden in the conscience of the common masses. Exploitation, untouchability and oppression of the low castes by the upper castes made life hell for the majority of the population and the craved for a new social order. Gautam Buddha's religious philosophy provided them with a new option and they accepted Buddhism en masse. Buddhism rejected casteism and the promised equality and justice. The immense popularity of Buddhism swept away the Brahminical social system like straw and Buddhism spread far and wide in the Asian continent. Buddhism not only appealed to the common people but also powerful rulers of which Ashoka, Bimbisara and Shashank are some of the great kings that accepted Buddhism. The central Asian ruler Halaku Khan was a follower of Buddhism who declared Buddhism the official religion of his vast kingdom. Interestingly, Buddhism does not believe in a personal God and rejects the idea of Atma (soul) and parmatma (a supreme soul) and stresses on an individual's Karma (deeds) as a deciding factor of an individual's fate in the next life.

Still people accepted Buddhism on a large scale because people were more concerned about the quality of worldly life under Buddhism rather than the concept of God. Since Buddhism freed them from the exploitation, oppression, untouchability, indignity and illiteracy committed against them under the Brahminical social system, they did not bother much about the concept of God. The Brahminical society prevented them from even acquiring knowledge. On the contrary, the low caste people under the Buddhist social system acquired knowledge and became great scholars and write books on religion, Tantra and philosophy. Therefore, since the ancient times, people have been influenced by the idea of social order and change of the old, outdated and exploitative social order of a particular religion.

When Buddhism was also marred by obscurantist beliefs and philosophical hair-splitting and became far removed from the realities of life, it gradually lists popularity and a new religion, Christianity emerged on the horizon. Christianity stressed on service to mankind, compassion and tolerance   Jesus Christ became a symbol of compassion and service to humanity. His teachings appealed the masses from the east to the west and Christianity became the most popular religion. We do not find the use of force in the spread of all these religions but their message of a better society appealed to the masses.

Islam also emerged in the Arab region in the 7th century in the background of social evils, moral degradation, oppression of the weaker sections and women in the Arab society. The plight of the common people of Arab was similar to the plight of the masses in other geographical regions of the world. For example, slavery and economic exploitation and oppression of women and weaker sections was common in the East and the West. That was the reason behind the popularity of Islam in a vast area of land. Islam opposed a social system based on capitalism and class exploitation and stressed on gender equality and social justice. It opposed caste based social hierarchy much like Buddhism. These progressive ideas contributed to Islam's popularity in the world.

Since Islam's initial phase was very tumultuous due to wars that were political not religious in nature because Islam had challenged the status quo and posed a threat to the system of economic and gender exploitation of the Arab people. Sword verses were revealed in the context of the contemporary political situation of Makkah and Madina. These sword verses do not represent the universal social philosophy of Islam. But detractors of Islam painted a wring picture of Islam on the basis of the contextual sword verses. To clear the confusion, the Quran present its universal teachings for a modern society that would be based on communal harmony, tolerance, service to mankind and peaceful co-existence. The verses presenting the universal teachings of Islam are spread across the Quran. These verses refute the myrh that Islam propounds the use of force to spread religion.  Quran broadly stresses on the following ideas:

·         God does not want the domination of a single religion in Earth but wants different religious communities to flourish side by side.

·         The change in the religious beliefs of an individual cannot be brought about by any external force but only God can cause a change of heart in men.

·         Man should strive to make life for people better irrespective of their religion and treat all human beings with love and compassion and do service to mankind.

Therefore, the Quran does not support the use of force for the spread of Islam. Chapter Al An'am of the Quran outlines Islam's stand on the issue of proselytization. Here are some verses:

"Allah leaves whoever he wills to stray and guides whoever He wills to the straight path."(Al Anam:39)

"Had Allah willed, they would not have been polytheists. We have not appointed you as their keeper, nor are you their maintainer." (Al Anam: 107)

"We turn their hearts and eyes from the truth as they refused to believe at first." (Al Anam: 110)

"And so, we have placed in every society the most wicked to conspire in it."(Al Anam:123)

Apart from these verses, there are other verses as well that present the belief that guidance and waywardness are not in the hands of man and God does not authorise any person to force one's belief on others. The Quran makes it clear that good advice is accepted only by those who have a clear conscience and open heart. Therefore, those who do not have an open heart and receptive mind should be left alone. God has endowed man with intellect and reason to contemplate on the God's creations and realise the truth. God has sent prophets in every age and in every community with scriptures and words of wisdom. The following verses further elaborate Quran's idea of proselytization:

"These are the signs of Allah's power so that they contemplate”. (Al Araf: :26)

"Whoever Allah wills to guide, He opens their heart to Islam. But whoever He wills to leave astray, He makes their chest tight and constricted as if they were climbing up into the sky. This is how Allah dooms those who disbelieve”. (Al Anam: 125)

"Whoever Allah allows to be deluded, you can never be of any help to them against Allah. It is not Allah's will to purify their hearts. For them is disgrace in this world and they will suffer a tremendous punishment in the Hereafter."(Al Maidah:41)

"If Allah had willed, He would have made you one community, but His will is to test you with what He has given to each of you. So, compete with one another in doing good."(Al Maidah: 48)

"Say, ‘what has been revealed to me is this. ‘Your God is only one God’. Will you then submit? If they turn away then say,' I have warned you all equally. I do not know if what you are threatened with is near or far. "(Al Anbiya:108-109)

"You have no say in the matter. It is up to Allah to grant them repentance or punish them for they are the wrongdoers." (Al-e-Imran: 128)

Therefore, the narrative that Islam was spread under the sword or it allows the use of violence for proselytization is false and is the result of a wrong or flawed interpretation of the Quranic verses. Unfortunately, some Muslim exegetes of the Quran presented the contextual sword verses of the Quran to justify violence   even massacre of innocent people in the name of establishing the rule of Sharia or caliphate. This ideology of violence based on contextual sword verses became a political weapon in the hands of global capitalist powers who groomed and promoted extremist groups and used them in Islamic countries to commit violence against innocent people and cause political instability or civil unrest for their political and military objectives. This ideology of violence triggered a vicious cycle of action and reaction between communities. The truth is that Islam never prescribed violence against any peace-loving community and has always preached tolerance, peaceful coexistence and service to mankind.

URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/quran-stand-proselytization/d/138263

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