"Islam started with the sword"?...These are really not my words. I took it out of a Christian History book. Is that just the Christian perspective? Was Muhammed really just a man trying to use a new found religion to fally the Arabs to power? Some of the information I have seen on Muhammed and his sucessors make Islam look like a religion of control and terror. What do other History books say about Muhammed and the basics of Islam?
2007-07-03 16:48:49 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Islam does not mean peace. It means submission.
It didn't start with the sword, but the sword came into it pretty early on.
The Quran enjoins warfare against non-believers and promises its fighters plunder as well as Paradise.
In the century after Mo's death, his successors were far more concerned with conquest than they were with conversion.
2007-07-03 17:25:10 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
False.
If you examine the tenants of Islam, it really is a peaceful religion, similar to Christianity. It's the people that misinterpret things and takes them to the extreme that causes the problems, and the bad name for both religions, IMHO.
This stems from the fact that there is no centralized control, like there is, for example In Catholicism, where you have a pope. Every person is able to interpret the doctrine of the religion to themselves. This leads to all sorts of wacky ideas and interpretations. I'm not 100% sure, but I think this is how the Muslims got that reputation.
When they would conquer an area, the Muslim invaders wouldn't kill everyone who didn't convert (as has been commonly stated), but rather more often than not would institute as system called dhimmi, where the conquered people would be allowed to practice their religion if they didn't try to convert Muslims. They also had to pay a tribute tax.
I don't know of any books, but that is what I know.
Cheers!!
2007-07-04 00:00:57 · answer #2 · answered by SinisterMatt 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Mohammed was a thief and a robber and started his religion with a campaign of terrorism in Arabia.
Any body who didn't join was eliminated
2007-07-04 00:45:33 · answer #3 · answered by brainstorm 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋