Offensive War

Submitted by skald (United States), Jun 19, 2006 at 23:53

There is a very major difference between Islam and Christianity. Christ never engaged in warfare, the only time I can think of that he was violent was the scene in the temple with the moneychangers.

Matthew 10:14 and 10:15 tells Christians how they should act when bring the Word to those who never heard it, and have no intention of listening or converting. 'Whoever doesn't receive you, nor hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet. Verily I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorah in the day of Judgement than for that city.'

However, Sahih Muslim 4294 tells Muslim what to do when an Invitation to become Muslim is denied:

'It has been reported from Sulaiman b. Buraid through his father that when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort him to fear Allah and to be good to the Muslims who were with him. He would say: Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war...When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them....If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them.

The Jizya is what can only be referred to as Protection Money. Non-muslims in muslim controlled lands are called Dhimmis or 'Protected People'. A Dhimmi has very few rights: Sure he can practice his religion, but not publicly, if his place of worship is destroyed he cannot rebuild it, he must wear certain clothing (like the Yellow Star of David Jews were forced to wear under Nazi rule). Dhimmis couldn't bear arms, they couldn't give testimony against Muslims in trial. And in general humiliated. Nor could a Dhimmi man marry a Muslim woman, due to a few Quranic versus.

The myth that Islam is a religion of peace, is only a Religion of Peace between Muslims. It didn't stop Islam from spreading militarily from Arabia to Morocco, and then across the Straight of Gibraltar into Spain before being halted by Charles Martel at Tours. They weren't stopped in Eastern Europe until the Siege of Vienna in 1529. It didn't stop mass pogroms of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Armenian Christians, Zoroastrians and Jews. Indeed these actions are commanded by Quranic versus.

Christ, I can only imagine, would have been appalled at the Crusades, Jewish pogroms, the genocide in the New World and the rise of conversion by the sword after the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity under Constantine...

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