Was ISLAM SPREAD BY THE SWORD?

Question

How can Islam be called the religion of peace when it was spread by the sword?

respectfully please

Answer 1

It is a common complaint among some non-Muslims that Islam would not have
millions of adherents all over the world, if it had not been spread by the use of
force. The following points will make it clear, that far from being spread by the
sword, it was the inherent force of truth, reason and logic that was responsible
for the rapid spread of Islam.
1. Islam means peace.
Islam comes from the root word ‘salaam’, which means peace. It also means
submitting one’s will to Allah (swt). Thus Islam is a religion of peace, which is
acquired by submitting one’s will to the will of the Supreme Creator, Allah (swt).
2. Sometimes force has to be used to maintain peace.
Each and every human being in this world is not in favour of maintaining peace
and harmony. There are many, who would disrupt it for their own vested
interests. Sometimes force has to be used to maintain peace. It is precisely for
this reason that we have the police who use force against criminals and antisocial
elements to maintain peace in the country. Islam promotes peace. At the
same time, Islam exhorts it followers to fight where there is oppression. The
fight against oppression may, at times, require the use of force. In Islam force
can only be used to promote peace and justice.
3. Opinion of historian De Lacy O’Leary.
The best reply to the misconception that Islam was spread by the sword is given by
the noted historian De Lacy O’Leary in the book “Islam at the cross road” (Page 8):
“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 myth that historians have ever repeated.”
4. Muslims ruled Spain for 800 years.
Muslims ruled Spain for about 800 years. The Muslims in Spain never used the
sword to force the people to convert. Later the Christian Crusaders came to
Spain and wiped out the Muslims. There was not a single Muslim in Spain who
could openly give the adhan, that is the call for prayers.
5. 14 million Arabs are Coptic Christians.
Muslims were the lords of Arabia for 1400 years. For a few years the British
ruled, and for a few years the French ruled. Overall, the Muslims ruled Arabia
for 1400 years. Yet today, there are 14 million Arabs who are Coptic Christians
i.e. Christians since generations. If the Muslims had used the sword there would
not have been a single Arab who would have remained a Christian.
6. More than 80% non-Muslims in India.
The Muslims ruled India for about a thousand years. If they wanted, they had
the power of converting each and every non-Muslim of India to Islam. Today
more than 80% of the population of India are non-Muslims. All these non-
Muslim Indians are bearing witness today that Islam was not spread by the
sword.
7. Indonesia and Malaysia.
Indonesia is a country that has the maximum number of Muslims in the world.
The majority of people in Malaysia are Muslims. May one ask, “Which Muslim
army went to Indonesia and Malaysia?”
8. East Coast of Africa.
Similarly, Islam has spread rapidly on the East Coast of Africa. One may again
ask, if Islam was spread by the sword, “Which Muslim army went to the East
Coast of Africa?”
9. Thomas Carlyle.
The famous historian, Thomas Carlyle, in his book “Heroes and Hero worship”,
refers to this misconception about the spread of Islam: “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 men. That he
takes a sword and try to propagate with that, will do little for him. You must get
your sword! On the whole, a thing will propagate itself as it can.”
10. No compulsion in religion.
With which sword was Islam spread? Even if Muslims had it they could not use
it to spread Islam because the Qur’an says in the following verse:
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from
error”
[Al-Qur’an 2:256]
11. Sword of the Intellect.
It is the sword of intellect. The sword that conquers the hearts and minds of
people. The Qur’an says in Surah Nahl, chapter 16 verse 125:
“Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching;
and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious.”
[Al-Qur’an 16:125]
12. Increase in the world religions from 1934 to 1984.
An article in Reader’s Digest ‘Almanac’, year book 1986, gave the statistics of
the increase of percentage of the major religions of the world in half a century
from 1934 to 1984. This article also appeared in ‘The Plain Truth’ magazine. At
the top was Islam, which increased by 235%, and Christianity had increased
only by 47%. May one ask, which war took place in this century which converted
millions of people to Islam?
13. Islam is the fastest growing religion in America and Europe.
Today the fastest growing religion in America is Islam. The fastest growing
religion in Europe in Islam. Which sword is forcing people in the West to accept
Islam in such large numbers?
14. Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson.
Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson rightly says, “People who worry that nuclear
weaponry will one day fall in the hands of the Arabs, fail to realize that the
Islamic bomb has been dropped already, it fell the day MUHAMMED (pbuh) was
born”.

Answer 2

History has proven that Islam was spread by the sword. It's funny that fundamentalist Islamists (like Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri) rail about the Crusades and Crusaders while conveniently ignoring their own past history. The Crusades were in large part a backlash against Moslem conquests and forced conversion by the sword. Unfortunately the Crusaders did the same thing, but that's all the Muslims seem to remember.

Answer 3

Islam was spread by a variety of ways. Islam started out with a very violent expansion. After violently conquering the arab homelands the forces of Islam invaded the Byzantine empire and eventually conquered it. Islam forged its bloody and violent path from southern France to north Africa. Up until relatviely recently Islam felt no shame in this and many of its adherents still dont. The more moderate ones feel obliged to rewrite history and give it a more peaceful origin.

In an easterly direction Islam for whatever reason was much more peaceful. IIRC islamic expansion to the east was on the back of traders seemed to have been relatively peaceful with the notable exception of the Mughal emperors of India.

In many ways Islam must be judged by the standards of its time. It was violent but capable of some tolerance and integration which is more than can be said for some other religions. This relative tolerance has been exagerated beyond all recognition into some kind of religion of peace.

Answer 4

It Is Really The Religion of Peace. We Never Used a Sword For Anything But War, And It Is not For Surprise, We Are Only Defending Ourselves, And God Said In The Qur'an : (And If They Attack You Attack Them). And That's What We Did. The Islam Was Not Spread By Sword By Any Means, It Was Just By Sending People To Several Places of The Arabic World, Right Into The King's Hands. If The King Agreed And Accepted The New Religion, Welcome. If He Didn't Accept And Didn't Like The New Religion, His Free What To Do. So, Is Islam The Religion of Sword Anymore?

Answer 5

To Fifi: The Crusades came 500 years after the beginning of the spread of Islam.

Islam was spread by the sword in that inhabitants of conquered countries during the first stages of the expansion, were given the choice of converting to Islam or dying.

The Inquisition, which commited the BIGGEST CRIMES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, came also well after the expansion of Islam to control populations. The Spanish Catholic Kings Ferdinand and Isabel used the inquisition to secure the gains of their war against the Islamic invaders of Spain by reversing the conversion threath to the Muslims.

Answer 6

The most often quoted message on the use of force in world domination is the ayatus-saif, which means "the verse of the sword" Surah 9.5.

Answer 7

If you want a one word answer, YES.

The very birth of Islam was with the Battle of al Bad'r, don't you know?

Then, there was the "conversion" of the defeated people of Mecca, who also had to give the old "Prophet" a beautiful young girl for a wife, to be spared. However, it didn't save the beni al Quraish Jews, most of the able-bodied young men had already died in the Battle, whom Mohammad massacred after accusing them of having broken the Truce. Strangely enough, Mohammad, himself, belonged to the tribe of the beni al Quraish Jews!

Then, there was the massacre of the beni al Nadir, on similar grounds, and again, the beautiful Juwaraiyya, the only surviving member of that tribe was married off to Mohammad!
Then, there was the invasion of Yemen, Somalia, Egypt, Iraq , Iran and India and so on and so forth where conversion was the alternative given to death.

So, if you want to know how the majority of the "conversions" were made, then it was by the sword.

Of late, it has been marriage which has been the incentive. Though the numbers are very low. Muslim men force their women to convert and Muslim women do the same thing.

Why don't you "read Koran" and see if you would convert to that kind of thing?

Oh, by the way, before anyone tells us the usual tripe of Islam meaning "Peace", in Arabic, the word means Submission [to the Will of Allah] and the Muslim is a Slave of Allah.

Peace.

ST

Answer 8

Yes it was. Even the return of Mohammed to his home city from Medina was marked by violent overthrow.

But in this it is entirely in common with Christianty which was spread by Imperialistic overthrow of foreign lands. And Christianity was far more brutal, imposing Inquisition on those who would not believe (the Inquisition ran in various guises from late 1200 to the early 20th century). The Spanish Inquisition in Latin America put to death as many as 112 million people in its zeal to make converts.

Answer 9

Check out the similar quesiton at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/?qid=20071210090344AAjw2hL&grp_name=shiatalk&grp_spid=1600076179&grp_cat=/Religion___Beliefs/Islam&grp_user=1 . It has produced some very level-headed replies.

Answer 10

No it wasnt. I actually researched this before. I was looking into history and actually found some parallels between islam and christianity. Islam is roughly a thousand years old whereas christianity is 2000 years old. When Christianity was a thousand years old the church was in a tough stretch like the Islamic faith is now. The crusades were in full swing and the church was corrupt. I believe there is a parallel.

Answer 11

Two good books on this subject are "Because They Hate" by Brigitte Gabriel and "Jerusalem Countdown" by John Hagee. It explains what Muslims believe and how their thought processes are related to Hitler and Nazi Germany. They hate Christians and Jews and want to destroy them.