Islam was Spread by the Sword?

Islam was Spread by the Sword?

Many non-muslims have an image so engrained in their minds, it is almost impossible to remove. In fact they have modernised it too. The image they have is that of a man, draped in his clothes, racing through the desert on his steed, with a sword hanging from his side. Perhaps, he waves his sword in the air every now and then. It really does seem fantastically fairy-tale like, now that it is written down. However, this man is not a prince-charming racing to save his damsel in distress, but rather what the non-muslims imagine of our beloved Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companions. In the modern version of this imaginary vision, the man would have bombs strapped to his side, an AK-47 cradled in his arms, and perhaps a turban tied around his head only exposing his eyes. All of this to merely say, Islam was spread by the sword.

Allah says in the Qur’an, “There shall be no compulsion in (acceptance of) religion.” (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:256)

This verse is clear evidence, that muslims have no right in forcing religion upon anybody. The Prophet Muhammad (May peace be upon him), was an embodiment of the Qur’an, his actions and character was a reflection of the perfection that is described in its pages, therefore he most certainly was not guilty of this. He was gentle in manners, kind to his prisoners, and treated everyone with respect.

While muslims ruled and governed countries such as Egypt, Palestine, Morocco, Syria, Lebanon, and many others, there existed a multitude of Christians, Jews and others who lived under the protection of the muslims, their communities flourished, and they lived peacefully. Some of these people saw the etiquettes taught in islam and joined it because they were attracted to it. Some of them chose to remain upon their religion and their descendants have survived until today. If Islam was a religion spread by the sword, how did these people survive upon their own religion?