Islam by Sword or By Persuasion?
By: Dr. Maqsood Jafri

The other day a Jew named Martin Moshay called me and asked: "Was Islam spread by sword or by persuasion?" I responded: "Islam was spread by peaceful preaching but the Muslim imperialists expanded their territories by the sword." Hence we must be clear that Islam was introduced and preached by Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) himself through character and message. The prophet of Islam peacefully preached Islam in Mecca for thirteen years. There was no battle or sword involved. He was teased and tortured. His companions were executed and persecuted. His adversaries plotted to kill him. He had to migrate to Medina.

In Medina he made a peace truce with the local Jews and Christians for peaceful co-existence. He did not attack the Meccans. Rather the Meccans under the leadership of Abu Suffyan thrice raided Medina and killed his relatives and companions. His dear uncle Hazrat Amir Hamza was killed in the Battle of Ohad. The people of Medina accepted Islam not by the sword but by preaching. During the lifetime of the holy prophet of Islam he was involved in defensive battles. The anti-Islamic forces desired his extinction with the extinction of Islam.

An orientalist has aptly remarked that the error of Mohammad is that he did not offer himself to his foes to be killed. He bravely faced them and defeated them. What this man meant was that Mohammad was not a lamb but a lion. The purpose of Islamic mission by raising a special "ummah" was just to maintain peace and justice. Islam did not come to shed blood of the people of other faiths. In Sura "The Heifer" the Quran announces: "we have made you a just community (an ummah justly balanced) that you (with your lives) might bear witness to the truth before all mankind and your own Apostle may testify over you." (2:143).
The basic aim of the Muslim community is to spread truth and end falsehood. The Qur'an in another place says: "Truth has come and falsehood has run away." Islam is an absolute and final truth. It believes in the motto: Right is Might. It does not believe in the mantra: Might is Right. The earlier Islamic battles were defensive. When the foes of Islam saw that a religion claiming freedom and equality is rapidly spreading they attacked both Islam and the Muslims. Actually these were religious monopolists in the form of priests who opposed Islam.

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