Articles
Islam’s “Violent” History
Published on 6th December 2009 by Abdul Ghany Jahangeer Khan, Tilford, Surrey To Karim, It would seem extremely bizarre that someone boasting to have a PhD in History could have such paltry knowledge of what has been happening in the world. You say that Egypt was a Coptic Christian country before the Islamic invasion “by the sword”, and you repeat the same for Lebanon, Syria, Spain and Iran. What was Egypt before it was Coptic Christian, may I ask? What religion did the people of Syria, Lebanon, Spain and Iran have before Christianity or Zoroastrianism? What was Europe before it became p re d om i n a n t l y Christian? They all had other religions which were displaced by Christianity or Zoroastrianism. The religious affiliations of people change over time, and this is a natural process.
thousands and destroying whole cities, what happened to them within a generation? THEY THEMSELVES BECAME MUSLIM! They were the ones holding the swords, yet they accepted Islam. Which sword forced the conquerors to change their faith to Islam?? It w a s the beauty
Will you blame Islam for the wrongdoings of some of its so-called followers? What is Islamic in the evil they do, if at all they are doing it? I doubt that Turks would actively want to drive out their Christian population. I leave it to the Turkish readership to reply to this allegation. To show your fairness, will you now speak of the “Christian invasions” of our recent History? What happened to the Native Americans when European Protestant and Catholic Christians reached their soil? What happened to the Aboriginal people of Australia when they were conquered by Anglican Christians? What happened to the millions of Africans who were taken as slaves by European Protestant and Catholic Christians to work on their plantations around the world in the cruellest of conditions? What happened to the Natives of Central and South America when European Catholics settled in their lands? These were some of the worst tragedies of History, yet no sane person would ever blame Christianity for what those conquerors and settlers perpetrated against innocent Natives. If the destruction brought by Christian invaders to the world is anything to go by, it should be Christianity that you should fear, rather than Islam! Maybe that is why several elders of my family who used to be Christians are now devout Muslims.
Even a cursory glance at the teachings of Islam would show that Muslims were totally forbidden to convert anyone by force. If people were to be converted by force by Muslims, how do we explain the fact that there are have been large communities of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and others living in lands ruled by Muslims for centuries?
I am surprised that there are still people out there who believe in this ridiculous untruth that “Islam was spread by the sword”. Even a cursory glance at the teachings of Islam would show that Muslims were totally forbidden to convert anyone by force. If people were to be converted by force by Muslims, how do we explain the fact that there are have been large communities of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and others living in lands ruled by Muslims for centuries? Their very presence up to this day offers a good answer to this “conversion by the sword” propaganda. When the Mongols invaded the lands of Islam in the Middle Ages, killing hundreds of
32
Tariq Magazine August 2010
of the teachings of Islam that won their hearts over. You say that India was also overtaken by the Islamic invasion by the sword and that Muslims killed millions of Hindus. This is a total lie. What history have you been reading? You mention Turkey, stating that Turks are turning churches into mosques or museums. This has been expressly forbidden by the Holy Prophet Muhammad [saw]. If they are doing that, then they are disobeying the Prophet.