Disproving Violent Extremist Islamic Scholars and Islamophobic View That Islam Was Spread by Sword
By
Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam
20 May 2024
Islam
Spread through Moral, Ethical, Rightful Behaviour and Not by Sword
Main
points
1. Agenda-driven, Islamophobic and
Wahabi writings suggest Islam spread through the sword.
2. ISIS commander, Baghdadi, also
declared Islam as a religion of fighting.
3. The Quran affirms religious freedom,
demonstrating that humans are free to choose between truth and untruth.
4. Majority of Muslims believe that the
spread of Islam was primarily motivated by moral ideals rather than force or
the sword.
5. The Quran does not command Muslims
to force people to accept Islam at the point of a sword.
6. Despite the possibility of forcing
all non-Muslims to convert to Islam, Muslims chose not to, leading to over 80%
of Indians not practising Islam today.
7. Non-Muslim scholars who were
objective to study Islam discovered that the spread of Islam relied on reason,
peace, kindness, justice, and logical behaviour.
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According
to certain agenda-driven, Islamophobic and violent extremist Islamic scholars’ writings,
Islam was spread by the sword. Baghdadi, the commander of ISIS, also declared
in 2015 that "Islam was never a religion of peace and that Islam is the
religion of fighting”. This led to questions about whether Islam was propagated
through sword and combat.
You will be
amazed to know that some Muslims who belong to Wahhabism proudly want to say
that Islam was spread by the sword. A Wahabi-controlled website, Islam
Question and Answer, wants to give the notion that sword also played a role
in the spread of Islam.
It says,
“The Orientalists wanted to slander Islam by claiming that it was spread by the
sword. The orientalist Thomas Arnold wrote his book The Preaching of Islam with
the aim of killing off the spirit of jihad among the Muslims and proving that
Islam was not spread by the sword, rather that it spread by means of peaceful
preaching, free from any use of force. The Muslims fell into the trap that was
set up for them. When they heard the orientalists’ accusations that Islam was
spread by the sword, they said: You are mistaken, listen to a refutation from
one of your own people, this Thomas says such and such. The defeatists among
the Muslims come out to defend Islam, and they want to disavow Islam of this
so-called lie, so they deny that Islam was spread by the sword, and they say
that jihad is not prescribed in Islam, except in the case of self-defence.”
[https://islamqa.info/en/answers/43087/was-islam-spread-by-the-sword]
The
aforesaid view is opposed by the majority of Muslims who think that the spread
of Islam was primarily motivated by moral ideals rather than by force or the
sword.
This
article presents strong proof to support the argument that Islam spread through
moral, ethical, rightful, natural, human, and just behaviour rather than
through the sword. Hence, this is a refutation of all those who say that Islam
was spread by the sword.
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)
This verse
from the Quran demonstrates that humans are free to choose between truth and
untruth since God has made them distinct from one another. Since religion is
highly personal, no one can be forced to believe in it. A true follower of the
Quran will not attempt to convert someone else. In this view, a person who
identifies as a Muslim and forces others into accepting Islam is not a follower
of the Quran.
Islam
values religious freedom and sincerity, rejecting hypocrites and promoting
genuine believers. Forced conversion can only persuade someone to accept Islam
superficially, resulting in hypocrisy and a decrease in genuine believers.
Therefore, Islam encourages religious freedom and encourages genuine believers
to embrace it.
The Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him), despite being a Messenger of God, could not force
another person to convert to Islam, as God revealed to him certain words.
“So, remind, [O Muhammad, peace be upon him];
you are only a reminder. You are not over them a controller.” (88:21-22)
The
Prophet's only duty was to remind the people of their basic yearning to believe
in God, as noted in countless other verses where he is described as "a
Warner of God's punishment" and "a carrier of good news"
(Surah al-Baqarah, 2:119; Surah Saba, 34:28). As the verse (2:256) made clear,
there is no need to force someone to accept Islam because it is easy to
distinguish between the right and evil paths.
God
Almighty also reveals to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), “And had
your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed - all of them entirely.
Then, [O Muhammad], would you compel the people so that they become believers?
And it is not for a soul to believe except by permission of Allah, and He will
place defilement upon those who will not use reason.” (10:99-100)
God makes
it quite evident in this command that anyone who believes they can force
someone else to believe is incorrect. If God wanted, He could make everyone
believers, but rather has given them free choice. Even so, when coerced, nobody
can believe it. Belief is the product of God's grace upon an individual. Is
there a more exquisite lesson than this one? How could a sincere adherent of
the Quran turn around and impose his beliefs on other people?
Conversely,
the Quran gives its adherents the following guidance on how to invite
individuals to genuine faith:
“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.”
(16:125)
Where does
the Quran command Muslims to force people to accept Islam at the point of a
sword?! No, it doesn't. God gave the following instructions to his messenger
(peace be upon him):
“Say, "This is my way; I invite to Allah
with insight, I and those who follow me. And exalted is Allah; and I am not of
those who associate others with Him." (12:108)
Again, we
learn from this verse that the decision must be taken based on solid
information and proof. Combining these directives, a Muslim learns that he or
she must utilise wisdom and just exhortation to persuade people to accept the
evidence for faith and convey Islam with unambiguous evidence (i.e., certain
knowledge). In all of this, where is the mention of a sword?
There is no
denying the fact that Muslims ruled over Andalusia, Spain, for about eight
centuries. It is accepted history that at this time, Jews and Christians were
free to practise their respective religions.
For ages,
there have been Christian and Jewish communities in the Muslim areas of the
Middle East. The following nations have significant populations of Christians
and Jews: Egypt, Morocco, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
In his
book, “The World's Religions”, Huston Smith describes how the Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) let Jews and Christians to practise their
religions freely while living under Muslim rule.
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.
Given that
Muslims ruled over India for more than a millennium, it makes sense that they
might force all non-Muslims to convert to Islam. However, they chose not to,
and as a result, more than 80% of Indians do not practise Islam now.
In a
similar spirit, Islam swiftly extended throughout the east coast of Africa.
Similarly, no Muslim army was ever dispatched to the east coast of Africa.
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 in order 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)
Examining
the life of the Prophet in two stages will also help us to understand that
Islam did not expand via the use of force. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon
him) lived the last eleven years of his life in Medina, having spent the first
thirteen years of his mission in Mecca.
The Prophet
served in Makkah 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 Mecca. 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. 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
clearly shows that the Prophet promoted peaceful coexistence with followers of
other religions rather than forcing people to adopt Islam.
Some
reports claim that Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the world. You have
probably seen a lot of news reports about famous people becoming Muslims. Liam
Neeson, Mike Tyson, Andrew Tate, Muhammad Ali, and numerous other celebrities
are among the well-known individuals. Another touching story is about Joram Van
Klaveren, a politician who used to write anti-Islamic books and was initially
against Islam before converting to Islam. Why are Muslims becoming Muslims at
this moment of peak anti-Muslim sentiment? Why is Islam the religion that is
expanding the fastest in the world?
What causes
this phenomenon to occur? Who is converting someone to Islam these days? People
are choosing to convert to Islam on their own volition because they see Islam
makes sense.
In his book
“A Muslim Primer”, a non-Muslim writer Ira Zepp Jr. provides a brief
answer to the question of whether Islam was spread through the sword:
It is unfortunate that Islam has been
stereotyped as the 'religion of the sword' or that Islam was 'spread by the
sword.' The historical reality is that the expansion of Islam was usually by
persuasion and not by military power. In any case, Islam cannot be forced on
anyone; if the profession of the shahadah [i.e. the declaration of Islam] is
forced on someone, it is not true Islam (A Muslim Primer by Ira Zepp, Jr.,
1992, Wakefield Editions, US, p.134).
Anti-Islamic
groups promote a self-fabricated story about how Islam grew quickly, claiming
that the religion was propagated by the sword. This is a completely false
accusation against Islam, which is refuted by both enlightened and objective
non-Muslim scholars as well as by Muslims themselves. The lines above contain
quotes from non-Muslim thinkers, some of which are as follows:
James A.
Michener, a great intellectual, writes in the Reader’s Digest, under the title Islam:
The Misunderstood Religion:
“No other religion in history spread so rapidly
as Islam. The West has widely believed that this surge of religion was made
possible by the sword. But no modern scholar accepts that idea, and the Quran
is explicit in support of freedom of conscience”.
Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi writes in Young Indian, 1924:
“I became more than ever convinced that it was
not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life.
It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet (SAW),
the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and
followers, his intrepidity, his absolute trust in God and his own mission.
These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every
trouble.”
British Prime Minister, Tony Blair said,
"There is a lot of misunderstanding about Islam. It is a deeply
reflective, peaceful, a very beautiful religious faith." (CNN.Com.Website)
De Lacy
O'Leary said,
“History makes it clear however, that the
legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the
point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd
myths that historians have ever repeated.” (Islam at the Crossroads,
London,1923, p.8)
Thomas
Carlyle wrote:
“The sword indeed: but where will you get your
sword? Every new opinion, at its starting, is precisely in a minority of one,
in one man's head alone, there it dwells as yet. One man alone of the whole
world believes it; there is one man against all man, that he takes a sword, and
tries to propagate with that, will do little for him. You must first get your
sword! A thing will propagate itself as it can.” (Heroes and hero-worship,
p.80)
Diwan Chand
Sharma wrote:
“Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his
influence was felt and never forgotten by those around him.” (The Prophets of
the East. Calcutta, 1935, p.122)
Which of
these thinkers and scholars are Muslims, in your opinion? These scholars are
not Muslims. Many more experts who are not Muslims have conducted unbiased
research using a sincere approach to learn the facts about how Islam was
spread. Eventually, they knew that the
spread of Islam throughout the world depended on reason, peace, kindness,
justice, and logical behaviour and that the sword did not spread Islam. They
discovered the truth because they studied Islam with all established rules of
research and lacked the malicious intent of many modern-day Islamophobes.
All of the
Quranic verses and historical facts show unequivocally that Islam was not
propagated by the sword but by its sublime teachings.
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Kaniz Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a
regular columnist for New Age Islam.