In the name of Allāh,
the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Peace and Blessings of Allāh on Mohammad.
DEDICATED TO
Allāh–the Glorious and the High,
Lord of the worlds
AND TO
Mohammad–who brought the world
to our feet and eternity to our arms.
*
TERRORISM & ISLAM
Terrorism: Islam which restricts fighting to only against those who fight you and to not be aggressive–(Qur’an 2:190); to fight only until there is no persecution and that all religions are for Allah–(8:39; Allāh revealed that He raised prophets among all peoples and gave them rites and ceremonies–(10:47; 22:34, 67; thus irrespective of the fact that some people’s concept of God is contradictory to the teachings of their prophets, so long as they hold that there is a Divine Power that is the cause of their presence, then their religion is also for Allāh; as shown later the Prophet Mohammad’s duty, and thus Muslim’s duty, is only to deliver the Message of Islam, not to enforce it); and to fight on behalf of non-Muslims who are oppressed–(22:40) cannot be the religion that encourages “terrorism” or a religion of “evil.”
Fighting the occupier, usurper, aggressor, transgressor, oppressor, and exploiter is not “terrorism;” it is heroism! (Isn’t this what America and Europe and Allies claimed they were doing against Germany, Japan, Saddam Hussein, and the Talibans –fighting aggression/evil?) (Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician, needs to read the Bible to know about Scriptural terrorism).
Islam which teaches:
-dealing justly (Qur’an 2:279, 5:8);
-not to rob men their dues (26:183);
-to give justice even if it be against one’s self, parents, -kins, or whether he be poor or rich (4:135; 4:58; 5:8),
-feeding the needy and the poor, free the captives, help those in debt, care for the orphans, the wayfarer, and to free slaves (9:60, 2:177),
-not to act corruptly in the earth or make mischief (26:183);
-not to transgress, or aid in sin and aggression (2:190; 5:2),
-to restrain anger and forgive (3:133),
-to fight on behalf of the oppressed (4:75);
because Allāh loves the just, and because He commands justice and the doing of good, and forbids injustice (60:8, 16:90)
could not be “terrorism” or “evil.” (And Mohammad who practised this religion could not be a “terrorist” or “devil”).
Islam which:
-liberated woman–(Qur’an 2:187; 4:19-22);
-exalts her–(4:1; 9:71-72);
-gives her equality with man in financial, property, moral and spiritual matters–(4:32, 7-10, 176-177; 3:195; 33:35; 4:124; 16:97; 43:70);
-honors her–(4:1);
-made her a garment to man and he is her garment–(2:187);
-given her rights similar to those against her–(2:228);
-made her a protector of man as he is her protector–(9:71);
-established her as a source of peace, comfort, love and compassion–(7:189; 30: 21)
could not be “terrorism” or “evil.” (And Mohammad who practised this religion could not be a “terrorist” or “devil”).
Islam which teaches:
-that all men are created equal (Qur’an 95:4),
-we are made into different tribes and nations that we may know one another (49:13),
-we are to be judged not by our race, color or nationality but by our deeds (6:133),
-the noblest ones are those who are righteous (49:13, 98:7),
-to return evil with that which is better–(23:96),
because Allāh God loves the just, and because Allāh is aware of what you do (5:45, 4:135)
could not be “terrorism” or “evil.” (And Mohammad who practised this religion could not be a “terrorist” or “devil”).
Islam which teaches:
-not to take a greater recompense than the injury suffered (Qur’an 2:194; 16:126; 42: 40);
-instead of retaliation reconcile, be patient and forgive (42:39-43; 24: 22; 3:133);
-to be merciful and forgiving (3:133);
-to fight only as long as there is persecution (2:193),
-to make peace when the enemy desires (4:90; 8:61);
for Allāh loves the doer of good, and the dutiful (2:195, 3:75)
could not be “terrorism” or “evil.” (And Mohammad who practised this religion could not be a “terrorist” or “devil”).
Islam and terrorism are contradictions!
Before Palestine was stolen from Muslims and given to Jews there was no “Islamic terrorism;” before the West began running around like a “wild ass of a man”1 to control Muslim lands and oil/resources there was no “Islamic terrorism.”
Britain, France, America, Russia and Jews are like buzzards at Muslim’s lands and oil –Russia, Britain and France carved up post-Ottoman Mid-east to suit their treacherous designs (Kuwait was sliced out of Iraq and Lebanon was chunked out of Syria and put under Maronite Christian domination); since the nineteenth century Jews were scheming to kick Palestinians out of Palestine (British instigation and American machination –American diplomatic thuggery at the U.N.– stole Palestine and gave it to the Jews);
“Israel,” Britain and France attacked Egypt in 1956 so Britain could have control of Egypt’s Suez Canal; American-British manouvre overthrew Iran’s Mossadegh government in 1953 so Britain could have control over Iran’s oil;
Russia is coloring Chechnya “red” to scrounge off Chechnya’s riches; America invaded Iraq to set up military base(s) and control Iraq’s oil; America is now in Afghanistan –ostensibly to rout Taliban and set up “democracy,” though when the colonialist and the imperialist speak of democracy, what they mean is having someone else’s country run according to their dictates– for its gas pipe-line interest and a share in Afghanistan’s some three trillion American-dollars worth of yet-to-be tapped riches;
America, Britain and France are now circling over Gadhafi’s carcass in Libya.
With all their greatness and power and progress they are yet like parasites –blood- sucking ticks leeching off the backsides of the defenseless.
What a monumental disgrace! Shameful! One would expect that in this new dawn of the twenty-first century they would have cultivated dignity and maturity. Nevertheless, they too will crumble into the dust, never to rise again; just like the Pharaohs and the Chosroes and the Caesars.
America and Britain and France and Russia –for all their pride and glory– will bear this indelible stain of shame and disgrace on their histories. History will immortalize them as, and rightly so, the wingless vultures.
(While there is no “terrorism in Islam, and this is not to support terrorism).
Unless and until every grain of sand of Palestine is returned to Muslims (Jews have a right to be there, not the state);
Unless and until the West stop trying to run Muslim countries and control their oil/resources Muslims have every right and all rights and the Highest Authority –the Divine Authority– to undertake the noble Jihad, all the way to the Resurrection if need be, to liberate themselves and lands.
So long as Jannah/Paradise sits in the lap of justice Muslims will spare no dew-drop to extinguish this hell of injustice! And Muslims will prevail –Muslims are destined to be successful, victorious and triumphant! (No one would accept Muslims stealing their lands and giving it to another, and no one would accept Muslims trying to run their countries and controlling their resources. Why then should Muslims accept this?) Palestine is the moral, social, historical and spiritual heritage of Palestinians and all Muslims!
Palestine~ Timeless~ Celestially Ours!
Vive le Palestine libre!
Ashat Philistine Hurra!
Azaad Philistine Zindabad!
Long live free Palestine!
“And fight in the way of Allāh against THOSE WHO FIGHT AGAINST YOU but be not aggressive, Surely Allāh loves not the aggressors;” “Permission (to fight) is given to those ON WHOM WAR IS MADE, because they are oppressed, And surely Allāh is able to assist them”–(Qur’an 2:190; 22:39)
And there are parameters, as determined by Islam, to this fighting –trees are not to be cut down and people in shrines and civilians are not to be violated. Notably, fighting in the way of Allāh means to fight in the way of truth and justice).
That Muslims are using verses of the Qur’an to “behave violently and anti-democratically.” This does not mean that such Muslims are correct in their interpretation; or that Islam is to be blamed.
(According to the Gospels Jesus was not married and was always hanging around with a dozen men, would you then blame Jesus for Christian priests being “gay” and/or for sodomising young boys? See Internet).
Wouldn’t Geert Wilders (a Dutch politician) say that modern nations “behave violently and anti-democratically” by destroying other peoples countries and lives
–Vietnam, Korea, Palestine, Iraq, Iran (the overthrow of Mossadegh), Afghanistan, Kashmir, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Chechnya, Dagestan; East Turkistan, Tibet, Egypt (to control the Suez Canal); Algeria (by France); overthrowing governments and/or instigating armed conflicts in Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua; the botched attempt on Cuba; and, perhaps the most despicable, degrading and disgusting act of all: Colonialism chaining naked African women at the necks2 and plundering the vast riches of the Congo–
in their fight for world domination and exploitation?
Allāh says: “And fight with them until there is no more persecution, and all religions are for Allāh. But if they desist, then surely Allāh is Seer of what you do.”
As stated before, and as this verse clearly shows, fighting was only allowed to stem the tide of persecution. Once the enemy desists all, fighting was to end. That all religions are for Allāh does not mean that Islam wants to rule the world.
(Muslims do not have to conquer lands for Allāh, the heavens and the earth already belong to Allāh. See item # 9).
Regarding the words all religions are for Allāh; as already explained above: Allāh revealed that He raised prophets among all peoples and gave them rites and ceremonies–(10:47; 22:34, 67) thus, irrespective of the fact that some people’s concept of God is contradictory to the teachings of their prophets, so long as they hold that there is a Divine Power that is the cause of their presence, then their religion is also for Allāh.
Take not the disbelievers for friends: At least the Islamic God is lenient, forbidding friendship with those who violate you.
The Judaic God would have his “chosen” people enslave the non-“chosen” people for just being disbelievers.
Christianity’s God and son of God is even worse than the Judaic God, he would have enemies brought to him and slain–(Luke 19:27).
Why is America not friends with Iran and North Korea and Venezuela and Cuba/Castro and Libya/Gadhafi and the Talibans (and Talibans did nothing against America for them to be hounded and slaughtered) and even with Russia having fought some fifty years of cold war –though in their arrogance for world lordship not a single shot was fired across their borders they devastated other peoples’ countries and lives: Vietnam and Korea, and, some may argue, even Afghanistan.
As stated when verse 90 is read with 89, as Geert Wilders is said to have quoted, the understanding of verse 89 is clearly understood; here are the two verses: “They long that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved so that you might be on the same level; so take not from among them friends until they flee (their homes) in Allāh’s way. Then if they turn back (to hostility), seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take no friend nor helper from among them;” “Except those who join a people between whom and you there is an alliance, or who come to you, their hearts shrinking from fighting you or fighting their own people. And if Allāh had pleased, He would have given them power over you, so that they would have fought you. So if they withdraw from you and fight you not and offer you peace, then Allāh allows you no way against them”–(Qur’an 4:89-90).
In fact, Islam is such a peaceful and tolerant religion, Muslims are to accept the enemy’s offer of peace even in the face of possible deception by the enemy: “And if they incline to peace, incline thou also to it….And if they intend to deceive thee, then surely Allāh is sufficient for thee”–(Qur’an 8:61-62).
This injunction to not take the disbelievers for friends relates only to during the time of hostilities, and in peace time means that Muslims are not to include non-Muslims in their personal and national affairs.
Do America and Britain and Russia and France etc; include Muslims in their personal and national affairs?
Seize the disbelievers who fight you and kill them: (Isn’t this what America and the entire entourage did and are doing all the way from World War I through Iraq and into Afghanistan?) Seizing and killing disbelievers refer only to soldiers during the time of battle.
“And fight in the way of Allāh THOSE WHO FIGHT AGAINST YOU but BE NOT AGGRESSIVE;” “Allah forbids you NOT respecting those who fight you not for religion, nor drive you forth from your homes, that you show them kindness and deal with them justly. Surely Allah loves the doers of justice”–(Qur’an 60:8).
If Islam had require that all idolaters and disbelievers be killed, Prophet Mohammad would not have granted a general amnesty to them at his triumph at Makkah; if Islam had require that all disbelievers be killed, Prophet Mohammad, on reports that the Romans were preparing for battle, would not have returned from this expedition to Tabuk without wiping out the Romans who were unprepared for war.
Verse 90 clearly shows that there is no death for apostasy in Islam (or for forcing Islam onto others).
There is death for apostasy in Judaism and Christianity: “And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt….If thy brother…entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers…thou shalt surely kill him.”–(Deut; 13:5-16); “If there be found among you…man or woman…. And hath gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, either the sun or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded…..Then thou shalt bring forth that man or that woman …and shalt stone them with stones, till they die”–(Deut; 17:2-5).
This verse of Qur’an 8:60 reads: “And make ready for them whatever force you can and horses tied at the frontier, to frighten thereby the enemy of Allāh and your enemy and others besides them, whom you know not –Allāh knows them.”
(Isn’t this what America, Russia, Britain, France, India, China, Korea, and the entire entourage of non-Muslim countries have done or are doing –amassed/amassing arsenals that one nut at the trigger can take us all into the Resurrection in one blast?)
However, unlike these nations that use their arsenals for aggression or subjugation or occupation or exploitation the “Islamic” arsenal is solely for defense, not for offense.
As shown above there is no “terrorism” or aggression in Islam!
Will Geert Wilders also show us the mangled and mashed and severed bodies of the Iraqi civilians; not leaving out those of Abu Ghraib and the half a million babies who died from American-led sanctions?
Regarding this destruction of 9/11 it is noted that Americans have made, or are making, a We Shall Never Forget book for children to color.
That Americans have the right to do what they wish is without question.
Perhaps Iraq/Muslims should commemorate the March 20, 2003 (3/20) invasion and destruction of Iraq for its phantom Weapons of Mass Destruction with a coloring book for their children. The cover might look something like this: IRAQ 3/20 in large block letters done rainbow style at the top, and imposed in the middle with the words in about half-size letters We Shall Never Forget.
In the background Baghdad is in flames and the foreground is littered with color photographs showing the mangled, smashed and severed bodies of the tens of thousands of civilians -not counting the hundreds of thousands that are said to have been killed in sectism violence which is a direct result of the aggression- with an inset showing some of the 500,000 babies that died from American-led sanctions.
To the left of the cover is a vaporous figure (Saddam Hussein?) labeled ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ looking at the carnage; and at the top of the cover and below the caption is an incoming “shock and awe” bomb draped in the American flag.
The materials to be colored –which are to include the infamous Abu Ghraib tortures and Guantanamo Bay (these are civility and democracy?)*– must not be lies and propaganda; just truth and facts.
Iraq can also establish a “Martyr’s Square” in Baghdad with the names and ages of the martyrs immortalized in stone).
*(The inhumanities meted out to prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, some of whom may have been innocent, reminds me of ‘Ali, the fourth Caliph of Islam, after he was gravely wounded by assassins:
“He sent for his assassin (Ibn Muljam) and said to Hasan: “In case I die, this man may be executed. But you must see to it that he is in no way tortured, that he is well-fed and comfortably accommodated.”
Now, that is civility and democracy; moreover [while there is no terrorism in Islam and this is not to condone terrorism], unlike modern nations, Caliph ‘Ali was no aggressor no transgressor no occupier and no exploiter for him to be attacked/assassinated. The venerable Caliph “succumbed to his wounds on the 17th of Ramadan.” (Muhammad Ali, Early Caliphate, p.201).
Firstly, the Qur’an does “not incite killing” of anyone. This verse of Qur’an 9:29 which Father Botros quoted seemingly without knowledge (or care) of its background reads:
“Fight those who believe not in Allah, nor in the Last Day, nor forbid that which Allāh and His Messenger have forbidden, nor follow the Religion of Truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgement of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.”
To which Muhammad explains: “The last word on the wars with the idolaters of Arabia having been said, this verse introduces the subject of fighting with the followers of the Book. Though the Jews had for a long time assisted the idolatrous Arabians in their struggle to uproot Islam, the great Christian power, the Roman Empire, had only just mobilized its forces for the subjection of the new religion, and the Tabuk expedition followed, which constitutes the subject-matter of a large portion of what follows in this chapter. As the object of this Christian power was simply the subjection of the Muslims, the words in which their final vanquishment by the Muslims is spoken of are different from those dealing with the final vanquishment of the idolatrous Arabians. The Qur’an neither required that the idolaters should be compelled to accept Islam, nor was it in any way its object to bring the Christians into subjection. On the other hand, the idolaters wanted to suppress Islam by the sword, and the Christians first moved themselves to bring Muslim Arabia under subjection. The fate of each was, therefore, according to what it intended for the Muslims. The word jizyah is derived from jaza, meaning he gave satisfaction, and means, according to LL, the tax that is taken from the free non-Muslim subjects of the Muslim Government whereby they ratify the compact that ensures them protection; or, according to AH, because it is a compensation for the protection which is guaranteed them, the non-Muslim subjects being free from military service.
The phrase ‘an yad-in has been explained variously. The word yad (lit., hand) stands for power or superiority, the use of the hand being the real source of the superiority of man over all other animals, and the apparent meaning of the phrase is in acknowledgement of your superiority in protecting their lives, etc. (AH). It may also be added that the permission to fight, as given to the Muslims, is subject to the condition that the enemy should first take up the sword,Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you (2:190). The Holy Prophet never overstepped this limit, nor did his followers. He fought against the Arabs when they took up the sword to destroy the Muslims, and he led an expedition against the Christians when the Roman Empire first mobilized its forces with the object of subjugating the Muslims. And so scrupulous was he that, when he found that the enemy had not yet taken the initiative, he did not attack the Roman Empire, but returned without fighting. Later on, however, the Roman Empire, like the Persians, helped the enemies of Islam and fomented trouble against the newly established Muslim Kingdom, as a result of which both these empires came into conflict with the Muslims and, notwithstanding the fact that both the Persians and the Romans were very powerful nations with unlimited resources and strong military organizations, and that they both tried at one and the same time to subjugate Islam, the result was what is predicted here in clear words — they were both reduced to a state of subjection by an insignificant nation like the Arabs.”
If Islam had “incite killing” of Christians and Jews Prophet Mohammad, on reports that the Romans were preparing for battle, would not have returned from this expedition to Tabuk without wiping out the Romans who were unprepared for war.
If Islam had “incite killing” of Christians and Jews Prophet Mohammad would not have spared the Jews of Khaibar and returned the Torah to them.
If Islam had “incite killing” of Christians and Jews ‘Umar would not have spared the Christians upon his conquering of Jerusalem. Neither would Salahuddin Ayyub (Saladin) have spared the Christians of Jerusalem; nor would he have invited the Jews back to Jerusalem.
If Islam had “incite killing” of Christians and Jews there would not be a Coptic Church in Egypt. If Islam had “incite killing” of Christians and Jews there would not be a Cathedral in Istanbul. If Islam had “incite killing” of Christians and Jews there would not be millions of Christians in Muslim lands.
That the Prophet was required to fight the disbelievers till they say that none has the right to be worshipped but Allāh does not mean that the disbelievers were forced to accept Islam.
What it means is that just as how they (the disbelievers) had the right to follow in peace what they believe, just as well they must allow the Muslims to follow in peace their belief that none has the right to be worshipped but Allāh.
That the Prophet’s duty was only to deliver the Message of the Qur’an and NOT enforce it is cemented in the following verses from Allāh:
-“And if thy Lord had pleased, all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them. Wilt thou then force men till they are believers?”–(Qur’an 10:99);
-“And say: Truth is from your Lord; so let him who please believe, and let him who please disbelieve”–(Qur’an 18:29);
“And obey Allāh and obey the Messenger; but if you turn away. the duty of Our Messenger is only to DELIVER (the message) clearly”–(Qur’an 64:12; also 2:272; 3:20; 5:95, 102; 10:99; 13:40; 16:82; 24:54; 29:18; 46:35).
Islam is the “abode of peace”–(Qur’an 10:25).
Regarding the statement of Allāh: “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will not be accepted from him”–(Qur’an 3:85).
Islam means peace and submission to the will of Allāh, God. As all prophets submitted to the will of Allāh, they followed Islam.
The followers of these prophets who lived by the instructions of their prophets, and thus were submitting to the will of Allāh, were also following Islam.
However, Jewish belief that they are God’s “chosen people” to the exclusion of others–(Qur’an 62:6-7. Also; 5:18); and Christians divinity of Jesus, inherited sin and vicarious atonement are not Divine revelations –these doctrines were not were not taught by the prophets of Allāh, God– and thus the Jews and Christians are not submitting to the will of Allāh, God, and thus, are not following Islam.
Even if Jews and Christians were following only that which Moses and Jesus taught –and Moses and Jesus foretold the coming of another prophet and commanded their people to follow this new teacher/Comforter who will then guide them into “all truth”–, once they come to know about the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad –and they are obligated to investigate it if their intention is to follow truth and have eternal life– and as they cannot dispute/refute Mohammad’s claim to Divine Messengership and as no religion can be shown to be superior than or equal to, Islam, whoever rejects Islam is going to Hell; the Prophet Mohammad emphasizes this point:
“By Him (Allāh) in whose hand is the life of Muhammad, he who amongst the community of Jews or Christians hears about me, but does not affirm his belief in that which I have been sent and dies in this state (of disbelief) he shall be but one of the denizens of Hell-Fire”–(Muslim, Vol, 1, # 284).
Allāh God would not call us to account for what we do not know but when knowledge comes to us there is no excuse for not accepting and following it? There is no Scriptural Message to equal the Message of Islam as brought by the Prophet Mohammad:
the Qur’an consists of the teachings of other Scriptures that are applicable for all time, and contains teachings that are not met with in previous Scriptures and thus it exceeds and supersedes all Scriptures.
Whereas Botros, Father Zakaria erroneously charge that the Qur’an and Hadith “incite killing of Christians,” according to the Bible “The Lord is a man of war”–(Exodus 15:3. And considering that Christians claim that Jesus is God then Jesus is “a man of war”).
And Father Botros’ and Christian’s Scriptural history is soaked with the blood of the young and old, including children; not even the “ox, and sheep, and ass” were spared the “edge of the sword,” “but utterly destroyed everything that breathed”–(Deut; 7:1-2; Josh. 6:21; 10:33-40, 12:6).
Moreover, Father Botros’ and Christian’s God, Jesus, commanded:
“Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished”–(Isaiah 13:16);
In fact, even the fetus is not spared:
“Everyone that is found shall be thrust through; and everyone that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword,” “and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall NOT spare children,” “Samaria…shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up”–Isaiah 13:15, 18; Hosea 13:16).
Even when Father Botros’ God and son of God, Jesus, had no military power he ordered that his enemies who didn’t want him to rule be brought and slain (even though these enemies might not militate against his rule)–(Luke 19:27).
Imagine the carnage if this son of God and Christian’s “God” had military power; given that Muslims and Jews and atheists (and perhaps even Hindus) do not accept him as Christian’s project him to be and would thus be considered his enemies, then some six billion people would be slaughtered. It is Christians and the Christian’s Bible and God and son of God that “incite killing” of others.
Botros, Father Zakaria demands that Muslims Delete verses of the Qur’an and hadith that incite terrorism and oppression in all forms, such as verses “urging believers to fight,” and hadith that “I was commanded to fight until they say ‘none has the right to be worshipped but Allāh,” claiming that this is “terrorism and murder.” (Father Botros needs to read his Bible to know about “terrorism and oppression” and “murder”).
Response: Islam forbids oppression–(Qur’an 2:193; 8:39; 42:39-42).
As noted above there is no “terrorism” in Islam. Muslims are allowed a defensive fighting and to make peace even in the face of possible deception by the enemies–(Qur’an 8:61-62); and that it is better to forgive and reconcile–(Qur’an 42:40-43).
It is the Christian’s Bible and God and son of God, as shown above, that engages in “terrorism;” (and sanctions slavery and subjugation of women)–(Exodus 21:7; Lev. 25:44. See Christianity-women; Jesus-liberates women).
“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.” 3
“THEY (Muhummed’s critics) SEE FIRE INSTEAD OF LIGHT, UGLINESS INSTEAD OF GOOD. THEY DISTORT AND PRESENT EVERY GOOD QUALITY AS A GREAT VICE. IT REFLECTS THEIR OWN DEPRAVITY…THE CRITICS ARE BLIND. THEY CANNOT SEE THAT THE ONLY ‘SWORD’ MUHAMMAD WIELDED WAS THE SWORD OF MERCY, COMPASSION, FRIENDSHIP AND FORGIVENESS – THE SWORD THAT CONQUERS ENEMIES AND PURIFIES THEIR HEARTS. HIS SWORD WAS SHARPER THAN THE SWORD OF STEEL.” 4
Muslims have generally been tolerant of Christians; though Christians almost invariably prove “treacherous.” Thomas W. Arnold in his book The Preaching of Islam:
“of any organised attempt to force the acceptance of Islam on the non-Muslim population, or of any systematic persecution intended to stamp out the Christian religion, we hear nothing. Had the caliphs chosen to adopt either course of action, they might have swept way Christianity as easily as Ferdinand and Isabella drove Islam out of Spain, or Louis XIV made Protestantism penal in France, or the Jews were kept out of England for 350 years. The Eastern Churches in Asia were entirely cut off from communion with the rest of Christendom, throughout which no one would have been found to lift a finger on their behalf, as heretical communions. So that the very survival of these Churches to the present day is a strong proof of the generally tolerant attitude of the Muhammadan governments towards them.” (p. 80).
Mr. Arnold also has noted what may very well be a timeless observation:
“Many of the persecutions of the Christians in Muslim countries can be traced either to distrust of their loyalty, excited by the intrigues and interference of Christian foreigners and the enemies of Islam, or to the bad feeling stirred up by the treacherous or brutal behaviour of the latter towards the Musalmans.” (p. 77).
Another magnificent demonstration of Islamic “tolerance” is that given by the Caliph ‘Umar upon his conquer of Jerusalem, as noted by Muhammad Ali. When the Christian Patriarch suggested that ‘Umar should offer his prayers –the time being due– at the church of the Resurrection, the honorable Caliph refused; “saying his prayers neither there nor in the famous church of Constantine, where prayer carpets had already been spread out.” Explaining that “Should we say our prayers here,” he observed, “Muslims might some day claim the right to erect a mosque in this place.””5 What magnanimity. There is none that equals Islam’s majestic “tolerance.”
To emphasize, to the charge that Islam forces religion onto people at the point of the sword I only need quote three verses from Allāh:
“And if thy Lord had pleased, all those who are in the earth would have believed, all of them. Wilt thou then force men till they are believers?”–(10:99);
“And say: Truth is from your Lord; so let him who please believe, and let him who please disbelieve”–(Qur’an 18:29); “And the Messenger’s duty is only to DELIVER (the message) plainly”–(Qur’an 24:54. also 2:272; 3:20; 5:95, 102; 10:99; 13:40; 16:82; 29:18; 46:35; 64:12).
Islam is the “abode of peace”–(Qur’an 10:25). No one can disprove this! This is an open challenge!
Contrastingly. It is Christianity, as its history and Jesus’ declarations show, that brought division strife and forces religion at the point of the sword:
-“I am come to send FIRE on the earth”–(Luke 12:49).
-Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth, Nay; but rather DIVISION: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; and the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law”–(Luke 12:51-53).
-“For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”–(Matthew 10:35-37).
-“Think NOT that I am come to send peace on earth: I came NOT to send peace, but a SWORD”–(Matthew 10:34).
-“If any man come to me, and HATE NOT his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple”–(Luke 14:26).
-“He that is not with me is against me” (and a person can be neutral)–(Matthew 12:30).
-“But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me” (though the enemies might not militate against him)–(Luke 19:27).
If these sayings of Jesus in Matthew 12:30 and Luke 19:27 were implemented billions who do not accept Jesus would need to be butchered.
NOTES
1. Genesis 16:12; The Torah, The Five Book of Moses, A New Translation of The Holy Scriptures according to the traditional Hebrew text, the Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia.
2. A.J.P. Taylor, J.M. Roberts, Alan Bullock, 20TH Century, p.4.
3. O’Leary De Lacy. Cited in Prof. K. S. Ramakrishna Rao, Muhammad the Prophet of Islam, p. 32. Emphasis added.
4. Pandit Gyanandra Dev Sharma Shastri, at a meeting in Gorakhpur, [India]. 1928. Quoted in Ahmed Deedat, Muhummed The Greatest, p. 37. Emphasis added.
5. Muhammad Ali, The Early Caliphate, pp. 89-90.