What O'Leary Really Said

Submitted by Will (United States), Nov 10, 2010 at 19:23

Having read "Islam at the Cross Roads," it is clear this quote is out of context. Initially, Muslims did not want conquered survivors all to convert to Islam because no one would be left to pay the jiza/ tax. "Thus Islam remained substantially an Arab religion and, apparently, every discouragement was put in the way of conversion. Every convert meant a loss of tribute to the ruling Arabs and a new calimant to share in the spoils of war..." (page 7) These Muslims did not have a profound respect for other religions; instead, not forcing all conquered survivors to Islam was simply a practical solution to the ultimate goal of further conquest.

Even worse is the line which follows this oft-quoted sentence from O'Leary, which again shows Islam actually was spread by the sword in places such as Africa. Here is the full section:

"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 myths that historians have ever repeated. There are plenty of instances of such fanaticism and forced conversion, but these do not belong to the early history of Islam nor that of the Arabs; those stories come from the banks of the Niger, from Sudan, and from Sumatra..." (p.8)

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