He Asked About the 'Sword of Islam'
& He Got the Answer!
Here is your question:
Question:Sir, my question is: If Islam was NOT spread by the sword - why did the Pari's Zoroastrians of Iran had to immigrate to India during the 10th century AD, to avoid persecution and forceful conversion by Muslim invaders of Iran ~ (reference to Wikipedia article)
Answer:
Thank you so much for your letter and your good question.
Many people, even intelligent people like yourself, are deceived about the topic of what Islam is all about. It is our goal to bring about a better understanding about the difference between what 'Islam' really is, and what some Muslims do.
Before we begin, there are a couple of points we should take under consideration.
First, Muslims (here we are speaking about anyone who is a true follower of real Islam) must always speak the truth. If a Muslim lies about Islam, they could end up in Hell forever.
Second, we have the evidence existing today since the very time of Muhammad, peace be upon him, to show without doubt, what Islam teaches and what is the correct practice.
Third, since when did anyone really believe everything on Wikipedia? Everyone knows anyone can go into an article and change it - many times a day. This is not really a reference but more of a nuisance.
And one more thing we should mention, very often people present questions, that are in reality, not questions at all. Rather, they are statements with question marks at the end.
Another point to consider is, while you are going over the answer in your mind, if you should see something that you like about Islam and actually prefer it for yourself, will you be in a position to move from what you have to what you consider to be better?
Having set forth this consideration, let us now begin our investigation as to what Islam really means and what true Muslims are supposed to do.
Now, let us begin with the word "ISLAM" itself. It is not a person, place or thing (not a noun). Rather, it is a verb. It comes from a root in Arabic: seen, laam, meem (slm) and the verb is aslama, the noun is Islam.
The word Islam carries more than five words in English and sadly, hardly anyone bothers to translate it to English. Here are the principle words:
Surrender; Submission; Obey: Sincere; Peace (there are more, but for our topic, we'll be content to remain focused on these).
The essence of the meaning might be better understood as:
The peaceful surrender of one's own will to the Will of God, in complete submission and obedience to His Commands, in sincerity and without any reservation or equivocation.
For the purpose of brevity and space in this short answer to your good question, please feel free to click these links to read the details and references:
Now for the answer to your question, God Willing of course, I want to focus on the fourth word - SINCERITY. Any Muslim knows the importance of pure intention and sincerity in all that we do in Islam. Without sincerity, there is no Islam; simple as that.
How is that the answer to your question?
Simple.
Can you force anyone to be sincere?
Of course not. If there is force involved, then it is not sincerity is it?
If there is sincerity, then it is not by any force.
So, using our own logic we can at once, see the truth of this accusation against Islam, and recognize it to be totally and completely false, even before looking to the vast and many examples from the Quran and teachings of Muhammad, peace be upon, regarding the treatment of our relationship with Almighty God and each other as humans.
Let us also consider another word in Arabic related to our topic: Muslim
What is a "Muslim", really?
In Arabic, the word comes from the very same root as the word "Islam", (ASLAMA). And here it indicates the one who is doing the action of this verb. Literally, it means someone who is in a state of sincere surrender and submission to the Will of God, obeying His Commandments and doing so in peace.
Now look to the Quran in the Arabic language, in chapter 2, verse 256 - where Allah says, "Laa ikraha fiddeen". Meaning, "There is no compulsion in the way of Islam".
And in chapter 28, verse 56 Allah Says, "Innaka laa tahdee man aHBabta wa laakin Allaha tahdee ma-yashaa' Wa huwa aA'lamu bil muhtadeen". Meaning "Verily, you do not guide the one you love, but it is Allah Who guides whomever He wills."
Now as to the historical records of what some people have done throughout history in the name of Islam - certainly, we would be the first to agree - any uncalled for acts of war, oppression, violence, aggression and terrorism against anyone is definitely NOT ISLAM and the perpetrators of such actions are not MUSLIMS.
Allah did not send his prophets, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Jesus Christ and Muhammad, peace be upon them all, to go in and conquer the lands and force people into servitude of tyrannical rulership under clergy or harsh cruel constricting oppressive tyrannical dictatorial military. Not at all.
As a small point of reference between what some people think and what the truth actually is, let us take into consideration what many Christians may think about the same topic when it refers to their own religion.
You might ask a Christian about what religion spread by the sword and what religious book and what prophet in history called for a sword instead of peace, and what would you expect to hear from them?
Certainly, they would not mention to you (or perhaps they do not know), the Bible in English contains the word "sword" over 200 times, and much of the usage is in the New Testament.
The Arabic language has many words for the weapon we call a sword, to name a few: muhanad, husam, saif and about ten more. However, not a single word for sword or even a similar weapon is to be found in the Quran.
The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, ordered his companions upon entering any place which was potentially an enemy land, to first offer the people there the chance to know and understand what true Islam is really all about (as I am attempting to do with you now). If they did not accept Islam, to offer to live with them in peace. And finally, if they did not accept to live in peace and allow Muslims the right to practice their own religion, then (and only then) would they engage in fighting.
Now let us compare that to the words attributed to prophet Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, from the Christian version of the Bible:
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New International Version (©1984)
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.New Living Translation (©2007)
"Don't imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.English Standard Version (©2001)
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.International Standard Version (©2008)
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword!Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)
Think not that I have come to bring peace in the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
"Don't think that I came to bring peace to earth. I didn't come to bring peace but conflict.King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.American King James Version
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.American Standard Version
Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.Douay-Rheims Bible
Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword.Darby Bible Translation
Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth: I have not come to send peace, but a sword.English Revised Version
Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.Webster's Bible Translation
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.Weymouth New Testament
"Do not suppose that I came to bring peace to the earth: I did not come to bring peace but a sword.World English Bible
"Don't think that I came to send peace on the earth. I didn't come to send peace, but a sword.Young's Literal Translation
'Ye may not suppose that I came to put peace on the earth; I did not come to put peace, but a sword;
References from: http://bible.cc/matthew/10-34.htm
Cross reference from same page:
Cross reference from same page:Luke 12:51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.Revelation 6:4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.
Given the history of the spread of Christianity throughout the Latin world, the Philippines and parts of Africa found in encyclopedia, referencing the Crusades, the Inquisition and the Apartheid of South Africa, we can see these very words in action.Here is what we find on Christian websites today, attempting to explain the "Crusades" in as nice a way as possible:
The word "crusade" literally means "going to the Cross." Hence the idea at the time was to urge Christian warriors to go to Palestine and fight Muslims of Jerusalem and other holy places for Catholic Church domination over the infidels.
This is of course, very different from what you have heard from other sources like the media, politicians, military minds and various sites on the Internet (like WickedPedia).
Islam isn't the problem for humans - humans are the problem for each other.
So Islam is not now, nor was it ever forced upon anyone. In fact, Islam is not the problem at all - it is the solution for humanity, if they would just follow it.
Finally, Islam is the word referring to the relationship of the whole universe to its Creator. Humans are born with a choice, unlike the planets, stars and all that is the universe. We can choose whether or not we want to surrender, submit, obey in peace and in sincerity - to our Creator, on His Terms, following His Commandments. Or we can choose to waste our life here and ruin our chances in the Next Life.
The choice is yours and ours.
Choose wisely.
Once again, we thank you for your good question and for your kind attitude in trying to better understand what Islam is all about and who Muslims are supposed to be in our world.
Here is page for a review of the basic information needed for all Muslims to understand their way of submission to the Creator of the universe:www.WhatsIslam.com
And once again, if you see the answer to your query to be better than what you thought about Islam, if you find Islam to be a better way of life for you, are you ready to accept to submit to the Creator and Sustainer of the universe?
Are you prepared to begin to have the relationship with your Lord, and my Lord, your God and my God, that you were created to have?
If not, please take a moment to visit this page and reflect on our Purpose of Life (click).
If yes, then read more about the 9 POINTS of bearing witness to Islam.
Thank you again for a very good question and may Allah help you to find true peace, ameen.
Peace dear brother in humanity, and we ask our Creator to Guide you and all of us, ameen.
Yusuf Estes
Yusuf Estes
P.S. I decided to submit your question (and this answer) on www.IslamNewsroom.com for publication and they accepted it. Here is the link: (enjoy).
Comments
good article. people should understand Islam is the religion and muslims are the people. a muslim who is doing whatever he pleases is definately doing oppsite of what Islam is teaching, people will use that and say look Islam is so bad, when in reality it has nothing to do with Islam, its their own individual behaviour.
the above statement does not prove islam was spread by the sword. if islam was spread by the sword then why give dawah. there's is no complusion in religion and if there was , then there would be no non-muslims left. the above verse is saying that the laws of islam have been perfected. this why the muslims don't need any other religion or prophet except the last & final messenger.
read the article @http://www.isl amreligion.com/ articles/677/
Allah the Most High mentions: “This day I have perfected your religion or way of life for you, completed My favors upon you, and have chosen for you, Islam as your religion.” .......(Holy Quran, Al-Mâ’idah – Surah 5. The Table Spread, 5:3]
I know what Islam is all about. But the above statement provies that Islam was ALSO spread by the sword.
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