Do You Think Islam Is "Spread By Way Of The Sword"?

Question

A common misconception in Western societies is that Muslims are out to destroy your way of life.....This could not be further from the truth, this is completely a propaganda campaign in order to justify an oil-driven war.....
A prevalent misconception is that Islam `spread by the sword'. It should be clear by now that we must always distinguish between the Qur'an and Sunnah and the Muslims when it comes to determining what the Creator has asked of us. Allah has stated clearly in the Qur'an (translation),
[2:256] There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; therefore, whoever rejects Satan (and what he calls to) and believes in Allah, he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handhold, which shall not break off, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.
Hence, it is impossible to accept Islam under duress. Even if misguided Muslims were to try to `force' Islam somehow on others, it would not be accepted by the Creator based on this.

Historical arguments that try to demonstrate that Muslims did not `convert others by force' are actually secondary to the argument given above. However, it is worth noting that historically, Islam did spread by peaceful means. The Message of the Creator was conveyed to Africa and to southeast Asia by trading Muslims, and today the largest Muslim country in the world is Indonesia. The military expeditions that led to the conquest of large swathes of territory in Europe and central Asia were all marked by tolerance of other creeds and faith.

Again, it is important to remember that Allah declares it IMPOSSIBLE that Islam can be forced on a person, hence Muslims find it useless to try!

SCI -FI GUY - It is you who is selecting passages...

Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you but do not transgress limits; for Allah loveth not transgressors. (190) And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith. (191) But if they cease, Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful. (192) And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression and there prevail justice and faith in Allah; but if they cease let there be no hostility except to those who practise oppression. (193)

I know the Quran, I selected a specific passage for a specific point!

So would not say that the U.S. & their allies are imposing western cultures on the Iraqi society by way of the sword? How many hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's have been killed since the beginning of "Operation Iraqi Freedom".....

JEANETTE - Let me start by saying that I despise any person that would have the capability to kill a child. Our prophet prohibited the killing of women, children, elderely, and ill even during the time of war, so please understand that these shameful action by these perverse indiviuals by no mean represent Islam.

The Holy Quran is the only Original Word of God. Every single copy on this planet is the same and it's divinity has already been established. You must understand that the true Word of God is in arabic and once translated it has been tainted by man as each man interpret's based on their own bias.

I went to Catholic school, and after studying theology I realized that the Christianity contradicts itself, maybe The Word of God is somewhere in there, but after all the kings and all the versions....let's just say The Bible and it's 6000 versions cannot stand up to The Holy Quran with it's one!!!

SCI - SEE THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MUSLIMS AND NON MUSLIMS...YOU GUYS BELIEF IN LIFE WHERE WE BELIEVE IN THE HERE AFTER. THIS LIFE IS BUT A TEST, WHAT'S LONGEST YOU'LL LIVE TO BE 100, IF YOUR LUCKY, WHERE AS THE HEREAFTER IS FOREVER AND FOREVER. YOUR ARGUMENT IS WEAK, IF WHAT YOU SAY IS TRUE THEN A DEALTH PENALTY SYSTEM WOULD NOT EXIST. SOME PEOPLE ARE SO BAD THAT HUMANITY IS BETTER OFF WITH THEM DEAD, THAT IS THE MEANING OF THAT STATEMENT.

Answer 1

The society that Muhammad came to was made up of barbaric tribes. Whenever God sends a messenger to a people, the spiritual teachings are pretty much constant, but the social teachings are relevant to those people in that time and place. In that specific time and place, the only way a peaceful and harmonious Muslim society could be reached was through a uniting of these tribes, and the only way this could happen (again, due to the times and the place) was through war. When the scriptures are misinterpreted by extremists, their perversions can cause some problems, making it easy to take things out of context in order to accomplish perverse goals. Many forms of many religions have this problem of adding things or ideas, or emphasis on topics that are barely, if even mentioned, to the experience of the religion.

If you are one to accept that the major religions are all truly from one God, and that God would never leave a society of his creation without guidance, then other religions suddenly start to make sense and don't seem so scary. What's different and foreign is often scary to many, but it shouldn't be.

Answer 2

You clearly have performed a selective reading of the Koran. Here are a few verses you skipped over.

[2.193] And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah, but if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against the oppressors.

[8.39] And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah; but if they desist, then surely Allah sees what they do.

[9.29] Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Apostle have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.

The Koran clearly states that you cannot force people to become Muslim, but you CAN force everyone who doesn't convert to pay you tribute and kill everyone who doesn't pay up. I am sure you would hate this if Christians tried to use that philosophy against Muslims. Why is it acceptable in reverse? If you believe that is is not, then the following verse is about people like you.

[47.20] And those who believe say: Why has not a chapter been revealed? But when a decisive chapter is revealed, and fighting is mentioned therein you see those in whose hearts is a disease look to you with the look of one fainting because of death. Woe to them then!

The Koran says woe to you for wanting peace. You need to stop ignoring every passage which opposes you and admit that your religion is false.

...

It is interesting that you now attempt to refute my argument by providing the sadisticly evil quotes which I previously mentioned in response to your last question.

"Tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter" is a statement which is never true. Slaughter is the very worst form of oppression and it is worse than any ammount of tumult.

"And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have turned you out" is the philosophy of evil. As Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

You say to "fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression and there prevail justice and faith in Allah." If the word "Allah" was replaced with "Jesus" or "Odin," you would certainly be opposed to it. Your Koran encourages warfare between Muslims and everyone else until Islam is the only religion. No loving deity would demand that. Your Koran is satanic. If you really believe the words you cited from it, then so are you.

...

You have finally admitted the core point. Muslims do not value life. Not for themselves and not for anyone else. Life for a Muslim is something to be thrown away in the hopes that a sadisticly immoral God will reward them for it by sending them to an eternal paradise which no one has any evidence for.

Deliberately throwing away a known treasure in the attempt to gain an imaginary one is fundamentally insane.

That irrational idea is the root of all evil in Islam and the primary reason why every sane human should be opposed to your sadistic religion.

Answer 3

Err... weren't Muslims supposed to destroy all idols and stuff? Notwithstanding all your reservations against enforcing religion, What should not be done and what is done are two different things. Of course, nowadays trying to spread religion through brute force would be frowned upon. So these days, most religions try not to bully people into believing.

And the fact that Islam spread through force initially is well known. I am not making any friends when i say it, but sorry! The neo Muslims do not need to feel bad about that. They didn't do anything. But you should stop trying to rewrite history even if you don't like it. Christianity is not that clean in that department either.

Answer 4

Indonesia's 'transmigration' program is a kind of sword.

Muslims and Christians are both doing this...

(Graphically horrific pictures)

http://noiri.blogspot.com/2007/10/islam-in-action-graphically-shown.html

Islam tends to spread mostly by breeding and migration.

Muslims are punished if they leave the faith, that is a powerful safeguard. Of course they are born into Islamic life, so have no choice.

You say:

"it IMPOSSIBLE that Islam can be forced on a person, hence Muslims find it useless to try!"

There are ways that religion can be forced upon a person or people.

e.g.

If a child is born into Islamic life, they have no choice but to be indoctrinated. Even if they want out when they grow up, they may never be able to break the bonds in their brain. Added to this, 'punishment' for defecting is often death.

If that isn't 'force', I don't know what is.

Answer 5

+PAX

My personal beliefs are that Allah is a false God and Islam is a false religion. I base this on the violence that I read in their "holy book" and the violence muslims commit on a daily basis such as....beheading 4 little Catholic girls on their way to school. Killing a Catholic priest and the deacons on their way home from Mass etc... It seems to me that all they can manage to do is hate and kill. To follow Allah is to follow Satan.

The Bible said that Ishmael would be a wild donkey of a man with his hand raised against everyone and everyone's hands raised against him.

Psalm 119 states "I must dwell in Kedar's tents. Too long already have I dwelt. With them that hate peace. I am peace-loving but when I speak they war against me without cause."

Kedar= Arab/muslim. I looked it up.

I pray daily for the conversion of muslim hearts to the truth of Jesus Christ. (Any faith will do!)
j

Answer 6

The only reason people in the west think Muslims are out to destroy our way of life is over 1400 years of Muslims trying to destroy the western way of life. Other that historic facts demonstrating over and over again Islamic intolerance towards people who have different beliefs we in the west have nothing to stand on. Turkey is the only Muslim nation that is relatively sane in its behavior.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 7

No. These days violence tends to put off potential converts.

The exception is disaffected male adolescents who are sometimes attracted by violence. Islam, like any other social institution, needs to understand how such individuals are vulnerable to manipulation , and clearly and unequivocably repudiate such "conversions".

Answer 8

The world history sadly confirms that a religion, having divine rules, supposed to be taught by a messanger-muhammad(pbuh) himself had been spread by threats, wars and the like.
God said ..tell to all your brethern......
This was over-enthusiatically understood as 'all have to obey & it is my duty to ensure this.'
This is sad but head always bow to a sword. Meanings always get tortured when spread.
personally from whatever I have studied about islam, it is simply divine. But...the sad truth remains......

Answer 9

that is a joke as any one leaving islam is still threatened with death in muslim countrys and many christians die if they will not accept islam is such countrys the muslims leaders are asking for muslim laws even in the uk and bobmers thing they will win paradice by killing others you need to learn more about your own faith and the followers.

Answer 10

Let the religious people kill themselves off, it paves a way for the more intelligent to achieve freedom at last.