please read!!

Submitted by anonymous (Pakistan), Apr 16, 2008 at 23:54

may i ask you a question? in how much detail have you studied the history of Islam, how Islam spread and the life and personality of our Holy prophet. It is true that battles were fought in the History of Islam, fought in the way of ALLAH but have their been no battles fought by the Jews or by the Christians??

the first battles that were fought were fought against the Quraish. there were three major battles. the muslims never who now lived in madina never started any of these battles. no innocent people were ever harmed. no women or children. the muslims only fought with those on the battlefield, those who already chose to die. the captives were treated very humanely, they were never tortured. never forced to accept Islam because Allah says 'let there be no compulsion in religion". the captives were released either on ransom or if they were not able to pay ransom the had to educate 10 muslim children for a fixed period of time as Islam considers education very important. as a result of this humane treatment many non muslims understood the spirit of Islam and converted.

it is true that there were three major jewish tribes expelled from madina however that was because of the trouble they caused. as soon as the Holy Prophet (p.b.u.h) migrated to madinah he sought a treaty of peace with the jews as he knew that without peace madinah cannot prosper, the idea of Islam itself cannot prosper. this treaty was one of the earliest treaties in the world, one of the first pacts of peace between two different religions. the jews were given complete religious freedom. complete autonomy, they had their own courts however they could seek protection in a muslim court if they desired it. they were given the security of life and property and in case madinah was in danger the muslims and the jews had to fight to defend it. the jewish tribes however broke these treaties one be one and allied with the hypoctites or the quraish to fight against the muslims. the first battle ever fought in Islam was not started by the muslims, and the muslims decided to fight only when Allah sent the revelation that muslims were allowed to fight in the way of Allah. it is true that these battles fought were essential for the spread of Islam however no one was ever forced to accept Islam.

as far as your claim that the pagans of mecca are concerned Islam was spread by the sword let me allow you to consider the fact that it took about 23 years for all the pagans of mecca to convert. it wasnt as if the muslims sent missionaries to mecca to forcibly convert the pagans and torture them. it is true that the point after which mecca converted was the conquest fo mecca. so it was a conquest but i want you to read about that conquest. how peaceful it was, the holy prophet divided his army into colums, told them to enter mecca from different sides and not to cause any bloodshed. he told the pagans that whosoever stays in their homes or in Abu Sufyans home will be safe, thus he garaunteed safety to even his worst enemies. there was a small skirmish in which a few people were killed however otherwise it was very peaceful. the Holy Prophet then destroyed the idols in the kaabah and prayed. when he entered mecca it wasnt with the arrogance of a conquerer with his head held high but he entered on his camel with his head held down, he was weeping tears and thanking Allah. later on when he addresed the people he easily forgave them and said 'go you are free". the pagans were left dumbfounded at how easily they were forgiven after they had tried every way humanely possible to persecute the muslims. in the end only very few were not forgiven. it was this conquest that markd the beggining of the spread of Islam in the world. letters and gifts were always sent to emperors in far of countries with envoys to invite them to Islam. those who did not agree were left alone and not brutally attacked.

during the time of the first four caliphs in Islam many many lands were conquered. however no one was forced to accept Islam. these lands were very well administered. it is true that the persians for example strongly resisted this and the byzantines however that is a different matter. to learn about the spread of Islam after the death of the Holy prophet i advise you to read a few books many of which have been written by autors who are not muslims. to read about the life of the H.Muhammad p.b.u.h read "Muhammad" by martin lings.

as far as the spread of Islam to the subcontinent is concerned i admit i do not know much about it. being fifteen years of age i am going to give my Olevels for Islamiat and Pakstudies. i know that the spread started with the arrival of arab traders such as Muhammad Bin Qasim and such adn if anything brutal was done, anything inhumane, if people were forcibly converted then that is not what Islam says at all!!!

as far as your mention of arab imperialism is concerned, it is not there anymore. what exists now is american imperialism. i am not saying anything agains all americans, never in my life would i do that but this american imperialism has ruined the world. all of this terrorism, these bombs this Islamophobia is because of american imperialism. lives have been ruined all over the world, o wait but isnt that so called "collateral damage" of this war on terror. how can some people sit still in peace, people like goerge bush, knowing that they have destroyed so may lives, orphaned so many children, in the name of bringing peace, stability and democracy to a region. There is no place for terrorism in Islam. many muslims themselves have misunderstood their religion and have been brainwashed, but that gives no right to others to speak ill of Islam and gives no right to a danish member of parliament to release a film that speaks against it . a member of parliament is supposed to promote peace, cooperation and interaction between different communities. there is a certain limit to freedom fo speech, using freedom of speech to speak against religions, a sensitive issue and incite hatred in thousands is mere stupidity.

after bush declared war on afghanistan nothing remains the same, obviously the attack on the world trade center was wrong but i want to quote someone elses words that i read in a letter to the editor in a newspaper that the attack on the world trade center seven years ago is bieng mourned while millions of muslims around the world have reason to mourn everyday. therefore i would just like to tell you that please be aware of the facts before claiming anything in future.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".