History of Islam

Like the human being, every civilization has a body and a soul. The body of a civilization is its material achievements in terms of buildings, industrial facilities, machinery and anything which reflects welfare and earthly advancement. Its soul is the set of creeds and concepts which condition the behaviors of individuals and groups, their mutual relationships and their worldview. These are the elements which constitute the characteristics of the Islamic civilization.

Characteristics:

Five main characteristics do distinguish the Islamic civilization from other past and present successive human civilizations and place it at an outstanding position:

1) Islamic Faith: The first characteristic is the fact that it is a civilization based on Islamic faith, imbued with its values and principles. It is a monotheistic civilization based on the belief in the oneness of Allah Almighty, the Creator of men and all creatures. It is also partly a man-made civilization, built on sturdy religious background of faith. The holy, righteous religion was, indeed, a strong factor which contributed to the rise and prosperity of this civilization.

2) Universalist Aspirations: The second characteristic is its being a civilization with a human, universal dimension, and not associated with a particular geographic region, race or historical era. It rather concerns all peoples and nations and has echoes that reach different parts of the world. It is a civilization which shields all human beings and whose fruits are generously yielded at hand's grasp for any one, indifferently. The Islamic civilization is predicated on the idea that Man has precedence over the rest of Allah's creatures, that all human activities should lead to the happiness and welfare of Man and that any action intended to serve this goal is a God-blessed action, indeed a human action in the first place.

3) Constant Advancement of the Human Condition: The third characteristic is its being a generous civilization which drew on the human civilizations and cultures experienced by the peoples of the ancient world, but contributed copiously to the advancement of science, knowledge and the values of justice, equality, beauty and virtue. Its output benefited humanity at large, regardless of race, color or even religion. Muslims and non Muslims, be they Christians, Jewish or pagans, coexisted together within the Islamic civilization.

4) Balance between Material and Spiritual: The fourth characteristic is its being a well-balanced civilization which secures fair equilibrium between the materialistic and the spiritual sides with exemplary moderation that has always been a characteristic of Islamic thought and a distinctive feature of the Islamic civilization throughout its history. No excess, no neglect, no ill-founded extremism, no recklessness. It is a moderation built on justice and equity.

5) Eternality: The fifth characteristic is its being a perennial civilization which will last as long as Islam, because it is based on the very principles of Islam which Allah will preserve eternally. Thus, it is a civilization with unique characteristics, a civilization that never withers away since it is not a national or a racial civilization nor does it run counter to human nature. In all cases, Islam should not be identified with Muslims, these may become weak or less influential but Islam remains firm. The Islamic civilization is therefore permanently buoyant and has self renewing cycles and unrelenting dynamics.

The five characteristics outlined hereabove draw their sustainability from the principles of the Islamic religion, since they are founded on them and are intrinsically bound up to them. They are like a precious diamond that remains unaltered whatever are the historical circumstances or the upheavals shaking Islamic societies up and down.

The Islamic civilization had once headed the march of science and knowledge during the Middle Ages which are considered in Europe as the age of darkness while they are an age of enlightenment for our civilization.

In this respect, it is worth pointing out that George Sarton, in his book : "Introduction to the History of Science", classified scientific accomplishments throughout history into several periods, each lasting half a century, and identified with the name of a scientist at a world scale. From 750AD to 1100 AD, i.e. 350 years, all token scientists were from the Islamic world: Jaber Ibn Hayan, Al Khawarizmi, Al Razi, Al Massoudi, Abou Al Wafa, Al Bairouni and Omar Al Khayam who were all Arab, Turkish, Afghan or Persian Muslims who excelled in various domains such as Chemistry, Mathematics, Medicine, Geography, Natural Science and Astronomy. From 1100AD on, and over another 250 years, Europeans started to appear alongside Muslim scholars such as Averroes, Al Tossi and Ibn Annafis. At this juncture, and at the outset of the European renaissance, Europeans started to translate, study and develop sciences so far practiced by the Islamic world. This established historical fact was affirmed and emphasized by the Muslim scientist residing in Germany, Dr. Mohamed Mansour, who was chosen by the Cambridge University as a member of 2000 international personalities who marked human life throughout the last century.

Generally speaking, civilization is the yield of all efforts made by humans to improve their living conditions, regardless of whether such effort is intentional or not or whether its outcomes are material or moral. Therefore, the Islamic civilization is the blessed fruit of the efforts made by the Islamic Ummah throughout different ages to improve life and improve human conditions.

Civilization being a response to human needs, the Islamic civilization has met all these needs at different eras and had been, for many decades, the uncontested leading civilization of the world. The Islamic civilization has therefore the privilege of setting up the cornerstone of modern European civilization since it had contributed through its achievements in the areas of medical science, pharmacy, chemistry, mathematics and physics, to the acceleration of the advent of the renaissance and the ensuing revival of different sciences which continued, since then, to develop and yield.

Answer 1

The teachings of Islam are very simple and based on human nature. All the Prophets (about 1, 24, 000) preached Islam. It does not bind a person in unnecessary shackles and bounds. One has to Worship ONE and ONLY Almighty God NO SON, NO Parents, NO Partner, No Associate) and fear none else. There is no priesthood are going to jungles and shirking from human beings in Islam. A Muslim spends a normal life with his spouse and children. All human beings are the off-spring of Hazrat Adam (AS). They are equal in the eyes of Almighty God. There is No caste system or discrimination on the bases of color. These simple teachings of Islam appealed to the Africans and they embraced Islam.

Answer 2

Given the choice "Convert or die" doesn't leave any non-Muslim believers.

Answer 3

The cases of "Convert or Die" are generally rare in Islamic history and are almost completely non-present concerning the transmission of Islam in West Africa prior to 19th century. Islam spread in West Africa by word of mouth between Saharan and Sub-Saharan merchants. For many Africans it was a far more advanced and complex form of religion than anything that they had seen, making it very attractive. When Islam had enough adherents in the area south of the Sahara, African Islamic Empires like Ghana, Mali, and the Songhai helped to further spread and evangelize Islam.

The main three factors are:

• Quran; Muslims holy book that reflects real Allah (God in English) words to prophet Muhammad (PBUH); states many scientific facts that are not yet discovered at the time or validated. So, Muslims tried to prove these scientific statements.
• Islam teachings; Quran and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) saying; encourages Muslims to think about the universe and to discover it to be more faithful
• Islam religion encourages Muslims to work for the benefit of humanity and the universe and to keep the nature from all what could spoil it.

As this is a contentious topic, there are several different answers.

Answer 1

The question of Islam's spread by Sword is a very complex one. The Muslim faith has often been credited as a religion spread by force and coercion.

The question, if answered in a logical way, has two answers: Yes & No. Let us take a look at the 'Yes' first,

"Unlike Christianity, which preached a peace that it never achieved, Islam unashamedly came with a sword."

-Steven Runciman (1903 - 2000)

Muhammad, the founder and prophet of Islam, began preaching his visions in Mecca (in present-day Saudi Arabia) in 610. Within 25 years he and his supporters, called Muslims, had gained control of the whole Arabian Peninsula.

By 650 A.D. a structured Islamic state ruled the Arabian Peninsula, the entire Fertile Crescent and Egypt; by the early 700s Islam subjugated a wide area, stretching from the edges of China and India in the east to North Africa and Spain in the West.

This rapid spread of the religion was due to two factors: Conquest & Conversion. These two ideas were mutually dependent. The former, no doubt, was a contributor to the propagation of Islam.

In the later days of Islam, many tyrants started converting their subjects to Islam by force. These conversions didn't take place in very large numbers and cannot be held responsible for such a great populace of Muslims throughout the world.

Conclusion: It is an irrefutable fact that a portion of the Muslim populace (a very small one) was converted by force.

And now for the 'No':

"Every new opinion, at its starting is precisely in a minority of one. In one man's head alone. There it dwells as yet. One man alone of the whole world believes it, there is one man against all men. That he takes a sword and try to propagate with that, will do little for him."

-Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

As pointed by Carlyle, It is impossible for an idea to spread by force. There must be some logic to it that tempts the conscious and subconscious of people and makes them accept it. So is it with Islam.

When an Idea is deeply rooted in the mind, it is impossible to replace it with the use of force. Force only reduces the allure of an idea, no matter how great it is. Even if a person is coerced into believing a notion, he will never accept it by heart.

De Lacy O'Leary rightly said that "History makes it clear 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 myth that historians have ever repeated."

If Islam was spread by sheer force, then how can you explain these facts?

1. In spite of Muslim dominion of the Arabian Peninsula and neighboring countries, 14 million Arabs belong to the Coptic Christian Church.

2. Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population. It is a historical fact that no Muslim Army ever entered Indonesia.

3. Muslims ruled India for nearly a millennium. Today 80% of the Indian populace is non-Muslim (primarily Hindu).

4. Muslims ruled Spain for some 800 years. When they left the country, the majority of the population was Christian.

5. In the mid portion of the last century, the amount of Muslim population increased rapidly. Which war forced such large amount of converts?

6. Today, Islam is the fastest growing religion in U.S.A. Which war is causing this huge proliferation in the population of Muslims?

The answer is clear. Sword was and is being used to convert people to Islam but this is the sword of intellect, not of coercion.

An appropriate analogy

During the Portuguese colonization of the Indian subcontinent, the Christian preachers were able to convert many people to Christianity (especially in Goa). After some decades, they started the Inquisition of new converts. Instead of an increase in the number of converts, there was a rapid decrease in number of converts to Christianity and a rapid increase of converts from Christianity.

Conclusion: The notion that Islam was spread by sword is as absurd as the notion that the Christian faith was spread by thumbscrews.

The above arguments were all from facts; let's now explore the idea of forced conversion in the context of the Islamic set of beliefs.

The word 'Islam' itself means peace. According to the faith, it is haram to force anybody to the convert to Islam. The Lord proclaims straightaway in the Holy Qur'an that:

"The truth is from your Lord; so let whosoever will, believe, and let whosoever will, disbelieve"( 1 8.28).

These words prove that the very essence of Islam is against the notion of forced conversion and depends upon the free will of a person. It is also said in the Qur'an that:

"Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error" (2:256)

Even if the rightful Muslims were tempted to resort to the use of force, they were prohibited from using it by the proclamation of the Lord.

Conclusion: The idea of forced conversions is against the essence of Islam. No fair Muslim will ever resort to such a heinous method.

In a nutshell; it can be said that the overall spread of Islam was not due to the sword, as is regurgitated by most Western historians but due to some other factors among which the effective preachers are one.

Answer 2

The alternative answer that is not conveniently skewed to hide the truth from an Islamic bias, is based on the Hindu historic records which proves that the Muslims invaded their country and destroyed many aspects of their beliefs and culture forcing them to convert even terrorizing, raping, pillaging/plundering their society.

It was just after the reign of Emperor Ashoka who created a Buddhist society.

There are many honest historic records of war where the Hindu kings fought against the oppressive Muslims who conquered and forcibly converted their citizens.

It is an established fact that the Abrahamic religions were always driven by the directive to forcibly convert others to their belief system. It is also evident in the laws of the land where Abrahamic beliefs dominate Governance.

The evidence of such behaviors with respect to Abrahamic followers, continue to be the cause of religious wars around the world up to the present time. A person simply has to look at the wars in many countries to realize the fact that religious greed and prejudices are usually at the root of it.

Answer 3

Islam was also a political force, i.e the Islamic Caliphates. The armies of these Caliphates were also fighting an expansionary war for territory just as every other empire did in those days. As the above answers note, the call to "convert or die" was very rare, but when countries were annexed to the Caliphates, many citizens did convert either because they saw the Truth of the religion or to gain from the tax, work-related, and legal benefits that came from conversion.

Many Muslims claim that these empires expanded peacefully. They did not, but by the sword as no country just opens it doors to a new power. In fact, Muslims are very proud of their conquest of the Byzantine Empire and the "liberation" of its territories.

While the religion of Islam did not usually expand through forcible conversion, it is not a ridiculous assertion to say that forcible conversion works. Europe did this in many places which is what assured the strength of Catholicism in Spain, Austria, and France as opposed to Protestantism which grew organically in each of those territories. As for citing Qur'anic verses in support of this idea, there is also verse 9:5 which is the famous "kill them wherever you find them" verse. Of course, Islamic Empires have typically been more tolerant (and thus more approving of the "no compulsion" verse) but the treatment of non-Muslims by Muslims was conditioned more on the governmental powers at any one time than by actions proscribed in the Qur'an since the Qur'an could sensibly be read either way. As to the Goa Analogy, since the Portuguese only controlled Goa, the Indian converts could easily flee to non-Portuguese controlled areas, but when you have an Empire whose borders stretch across timezones without break, there is no way to escape and so you are forced to deal with whatever the government may send your way.

The statistics on Western Conversion to Islam are taken out of context. In many Muslim countries it is either by law or by de facto societal conduct that conversion out of Islam to other religions (such as Christianity) is forbidden and punishable by death. On top of that, proselytization of these non-Muslim faiths is also punishable by long jail terms. As a result, Muslims who realize the Truth of other religions are few and far between and those who would admit to doing so are even rarer. Compare that to Western countries where conversion out of Christianity is barely even a consideration among other Westerners and certainly not something worth killing over.

Furthermore, the Apologist's "facts" need a little more clarification:

1. In spite of Muslim dominion of the Arabian Peninsula and neighboring countries, 14 million Arabs belong to the Coptic Christian Church. --> True, but what happened to all of the Christians who lived in Tunisia (Tunis was an important Christian city). What happened to all of the Moroccan Jews (there were 260,000 in 1940 and there are now 3,600)? What happened to the Christian population of Anatolia? The fact that there are some Arab Christians left does not mean that force was not used, but merely that the result of the use of force has not fully achieved its goal. In October of 2012 another Coptic Church in Egypt was bombed (as is typical) and there was no recourse for Copts other than to flee.

2. Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population. It is a historical fact that no Muslim Army ever entered Indonesia. --> True, accept for the Muslim armies that were constructed by Muslim Indonesians. Commerce and peaceful religious acquisition was only a beachhead. It took centuries of Sultanates and repressive policies in Indonesia to convert most Indonesians to Islam. Even today, Indonesian Islam is the most syncretic forms of Islam outside of Africa since not all of the local culture has been successfully purged.

3. Muslims ruled India for nearly a millennium. Today 80% of the Indian populace is non-Muslim (primarily Hindu). --> Using the population of India alone is disingenuous. Muslims controlled Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as India as part of one unified Empire. If the populations of Pakistan and Bangladesh are added to India, the subcontinent is 35% Muslim, which makes sense given that Muslims only occupied the area for less than 500 years and internal information movement in India is very slow given a high terrain difficulties. This is why the largest Muslim populations were along Rivers where major cities were built by the Mughal. The closer to such a population center, the more likely a person would be compelled to convert. Akbar was known for his tolerance and reviled by Muslims for it although loved by non-Muslim Indians. His grandson Aurangzeb was known for compelling conversion and loved by Muslims for it and hated by non-Muslim Indians.

4. Muslims ruled Spain for some 800 years. When they left the country, the majority of the population was Christian. --> True, but there was never a major intent to convert Spaniards. Also between 1293 and 1492, the only area under Muslim control was Granada which meant that most Muslims were under Christian rule. Many of them converted to Christianity in order to reap the benefits of being Christian in a Christian society and to avoid the various massacres that occurred in 14th and 15th century Spain against Muslims.

5&6. In the mid portion of the last century, the amount of Muslim population increased rapidly. Which war forced such large amount of converts? Today, Islam is the fastest growing religion in U.S.A. Which war is causing this huge proliferation in the population of Muslims? --> Yes, multi-culturalism in the West has allowed Islam to come to various countries and expose new people to its religion. We would see the same going on in Islamic Countries if they were open to multi-culturalism. However, since they refuse to allow proselytization of other faiths within their borders and openly murder Muslims who leave Islam, most Muslim conversion to Christianity is minimal and kept secret to avoid death. The fact that Muslims are compelled to stay Muslims by force is just as problematic as forcibly converting non-Muslims to Islam.

Islam wasn't spread by force the people did have options we wasn't like here you have to be a Muslim if we did do that we betrayed our religion we are not allowed to force anyone we may convince and persuade but we will never ever force anyone.

Another Answer:

The reflections of history shows that the Islamic founder, Muhammad, engaged in war for much of his adult life, spreading his Islamic religion which required complete obeisance to him - with this human leader often called by Muslims as 'the perfect man.'

Some Muslims, called militants, following the Koran or Quran, seek to annihilate, enslave or subjugate their enemies - basically anyone who does not accept Islam. Koranic verses like Sura 2:193 says, 'Fight againts them until idolatry (or worship of any god but Allah) is no more and [Allah's] religion reigns supreme.'

Islamic teachings are quite the dichotomy to Christian teachings which has Jesus telling us to love our neighbor as He has loved us, and to turn the other cheek. If someone asks for our coat, Jesus says we should give him our shirt as well. Christianity is so much harder to follow. Islam teaches subjugation or death to the unbeliever while Christianity teaches a loving opportunity to join the Family of God - via our free will we chose or not.