Yesterday six million of Jewish, Tomorrow ... millions of Muslims were.
Throughout history, targeted propaganda by politicians and leaders has been used to manipulate the masses to vilify and demonize a segment of the population. Today with the help of global technology, propaganda is spearheading a hidden agenda. Vilifying Islam and its people, demonizing it to justify genocide. In the United States, the general populations are media and technology junkies; views are like lobotomized, robotized souls brainwashed to behave and think as we are told and should fit in. Our free will is just an illusion. Can you be part of this society without a credit card? A credit score? ... Why are we so easily sawed to condemn an entire Religion because of the action of a few fanatics, Nationalists, and extremist Muslims? are the Crusade, the inquisition, and the KKK a representation of Christianity? Educate yourself; yesterday, it was six million of Jewish, is tomorrow ... millions of Muslims?
"Education is not the answer to the question. Education is the means to the answer to all questions."
-- William Allin
-- William Allin
Author: Laura Cosse
About the Author
Laura Cosse' converted to Islam in 1996. She authorizes several Islamic children's books and resides in Virginia Beach, VA, with her husband and twin sons, Muhammad and Hamza. For more info and articles, please visit www.AdvocateIslam.com.
Was Islam Spread by the Sword?
The idea of Islam being spread by the sword is one of the most common misconceptions among Muslims and non-Muslims. Many non-Muslims have written untold volumes of anti-Islamic literature propagating the fallacy of Muslims holding swords above the heads of Christians and forcing them to convert to Islam. This is total nonsense. On the other hand, we have some Muslim apologists who, in their great fervor to defend Islam and portray it as the peaceful religion it is, seem reluctant to admit that Muslims did indeed fight wars to expand their territories. So what is the truth of the situation? I would like to begin our quest for the truth by quoting the Qur'an, the literal word of God, and the primary source for Islam: "Say the truth from your Lord, then let whomsoever will believe and let whomsoever will reject." 18:29
Let's start with the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and look at his example. He did preach Islam peacefully in Mecca for 13 years without raising a finger against his enemies, even though he and his followers were harshly persecuted, tortured, mocked, and sometimes murdered. The first wars with Mecca did not occur until after the hijra to Medina, and those battles were defensive against Abu Sufyan and his amassed troops. After the Treaty of Hudaybiyya, the peace treaty between the Muslims and the Meccans was unilaterally broken by the Meccans; the Muslims conquered Mecca without any bloodshed. Tribal customs would dictate that the Meccans should be slaughtered for their transgressions against the victorious Muslims. Indeed, the Meccans anticipated this, but Muhammad (PBUH) granted amnesty on the condition that they cease fighting the Muslims. This beautiful act of mercy led to the majority of Meccans choosing to convert to Islam, though no person was ever forced to do so.
What is conversion to Islam? Converting to Islam has to be done by choice; it is something that you believe in your heart that there is only one God and that Muhammad is His prophet and messenger. Words without belief are meaningless. Of course, God alone knows what is in every person's heart, so you won't be able to fool God by pointless lip service to Islam, and religion is solely for God and the benefit of the individual. So, forced conversion is impossible. The Qur'an attests to this fact in 2:256, which states: "There is no compulsion in religion."
So how did Islam spread so rapidly across North Africa to the Iberian Peninsula and east across India and Central Asia to Southeast Asia? Primarily it spread by trade. Very often, while Muslim merchants were traveling abroad, they would impress the people they did business with honesty and integrity, so much so that those people would ask questions, learn about Islam, and eventually choose to convert.
However, there were indeed wars as well, most of which were in the times of the first four caliphs. The prophet Muhammad advised his armies on how to approach the non-Muslim governments; he told his troops to call them first to Islam, and if they accepted it, leave them alone. If they reject Islam, call on them to submit to the Muslim government and pay the jizyah tax, a poll tax paid by non-Muslims to the Muslim government for their protection and upkeep of the lands and buildings. If they refused both of those options, then they were to fight. But, the fighting had many rules; it wasn't just a bloodbath, free-for-all like we've seen in other times, for instance, by the Mongols and the Christian Crusaders; instead, it was warfare waged only against the armies themselves. It was forbidden to fight civilians, and it was forbidden to destroy their agriculture and means of livelihood. There was no raping, pillaging, or plundering by the Muslim armies; they fought only the troops sent out by the government until they surrendered and left the innocent civilians alone.
There are numerous hadiths of the prophet (PBUH) where he clearly distinguishes between the combatants and the non-combatants. In a hadith related by Abu Dawud, he said, "Do no kill any old person, any child, or any woman," and he said, "Do no kill people sitting in places of worship." Abu Bakr, the first Caliph, gave detailed instructions to his army heading for Syria based on his knowledge of the Qur'an and hadiths:
"Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for your guidance on the battlefield. Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies. Neither kills a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially fruitful ones. Slay not any of the enemy's flock, save for your food. You will likely pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone."
Once a government had fallen into the hands of the Muslims, the citizens paid a poll tax and were free to practice any religion they chose. Christianity and Judaism flourished under Islamic rule since the Muslims protected their churches, synagogues, and other holy places, even though they could wipe them out if they had chosen. Perhaps the most fantastic law of all is that if a Christian or a Jew committed a crime and was found guilty, they were tried by their own courts and punished by their own laws, not by the courts and regulations of the Muslims. Can you imagine in America today a Muslim being tried in an Islamic court rather than the American system? This was genuinely progressive governing.
Many citizens welcomed the Muslims as their rulers and viewed them as liberators who had rescued them from oppressive kingships, granting them their fundamental human rights and so much more. Many of the citizens of a conquered land would choose to embrace Islam once they came in contact with the Muslims, and Islam spread rapidly through these acquired lands. But, individuals were never forced to convert to Islam.
The facts of populations prove that individuals were not forced to convert to Islam. In Egypt, there are over 14 million Coptic Christians; in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and all the other lands ruled by Muslims, there have continuously been large populations of Christians and Jews. Muslims ruled over Spain for over 800 years, yet the Christian and Jewish people thrived throughout that time. There are over 450 million Muslims in Indonesia today, but no war by Muslims brought the religion there; it was only merchants. And perhaps the most fascinating, the fastest-growing religion in the United States and Europe is Islam. Are Americans and Europeans being forced to convert? Of course not; it's something else. These people see truth and justice in Islam that they don't find in any other religion or way of life. These people choose Islam for themselves, just like the Meccans did 1400 years ago. That is the truth about how Islam has spread throughout the world.
Peace be on you and yours.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/religion-articles/islam-101-was-islam-spread-by-the-sword-283817.html
For more info and articles, please visit www.AdvocateIslam.com.
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