New Literature for a New Era

Islam in Theory II:
Qur’an Forbids Compulsion and Coercion

And here are just a handful of examples of Qur’an’s position on the subject of coercion and compulsion in matters of faith:

• Qur’an declares categorically: “There is no compulsion in faith.”
• Qur’an demands: “Are you going to force them to become believers?”
• Qur’an tells the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, to tell those who reject his message: “I don’t worship what you worship. Nor shall you worship what I do. So, you follow your way and I shall follow mine.”

Now tell me the truth, knowing full well that God is our witness, when did you ever hear or read language this clear and this categorical in its rejection of coercion? And just where did you hear or read it?

The right and proper thing to do for everyone is to go back to their own respective “religious” texts – and other ancient texts – and see what they have to say on these subjects, making sure these texts are at least 1400 years old.

A Practical Way Forward

There is more where these examples came from. So, here is a practical way forward for everybody, and here is what truly honest and God-fearing people can do:

• Put the Qur’an in one column.
• Put your own religious text in another column.
• Track the two together like a good computer would do.
• Then see what each source has to say on the question of violence.

That means look at the theory and look at the practice of each side – Christianity and Islam, Christians and Muslims. And then decide honestly, with God as our witness, who is really teaching and practicing what.

Then believe what you want, do what you want.

Did you know this is almost a direct echo from the words of the Qur’an in paraphrase?

If, on the other hand, you have a better formula to resolve some of these issues honestly and peacefully, put it forward and let us talk about it.

Islam in Practice I:
The Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, at Makkah

Now let us turn to some of the practices of Islam. Here is one of Prophet Muhammad’s, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, last acts in life.

Not when he was weak and without support and just starting out his mission. But when he was strong and powerful and stood at the very pinnacle of his political and military success.

The Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, and his Muslim followers, had been subjected to two decades of unmitigated hate, hostility, conspiracies, persecution, torture, killings and wars by the unbelieving people of Makkah. Now, all of a sudden, these were brought to a sudden end by God Almighty, just as he had promised.

If you are truly honest and God-fearing, you will check out three things:

• One, you will check to see how many people lost their lives in this takeover by the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, and his Muslim followers, of the enemy nation, “country” and city-state of Makkah.
• Two, you will check to see how many babies were butchered, how many houses of worship were torched, how many “religious” leaders were massacred and how many women were raped during these massive military operations?
• Three, you will check to see what kind of a general treatment the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, meted out to the “vanquished and defeated” enemy nation, society, “country” and people.

And you will also keep in mind that this was several hundred years before Magna Carta gave the English nobles the right of Habeas Corpus – protection against wrongful imprisonment and the king’s duty to produce the accused before a jury of his peers.

And this was also a full 1300 years before the Geneva Conventions came up with some protections against torture and such other things.

And now we all know how thin that ice can be.

Islamic Practice II:
The Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, Forgives His Worst Enemies

The Prophet’s, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, takeover of the enemy state of Makkah was swift and almost bloodless. And it was, like everything else in his life and mission, miraculous. And now his worst enemies of over two decades stood before him, defeated, crestfallen and helpless.

Among them were those who had killed and mutilated some of his best and most beloved personal friends and companions.

Among them were those who had killed his beloved and brave uncle, tore up his body and chewed up his liver.

Among them were those who had bloodied and injured him in battle and broke his teeth.

“How do you expect me to treat you?” he asked.

The 10,000 saints, as the Bible calls them, who had rolled down the hills of Paran with him as the Bible puts it, stood still.

“You were always a kind and compassionate man, Muhammad, generous to the core,” pleaded his enemies.

Over 20 years of their cold-blooded aggression, their simmering hate and hostility, their extreme cruelty and barbarity, their conspiracies and intrigue, their vicious lies and propaganda against the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, against his faith of Islam and against his Muslim followers, swimming before their eyes.

The Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, then raised his head and replied: “I will say to you what Prophet Joseph said to his brothers,” he said, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. “Go, you are free. There shall be no revenge against you today.”

And so it was that Islam entered Makkah in a tidal wave. There was no bloodbath. There was no rape. There was no plundering and pillaging. And there was no genocide. And there was no torture.

Enemies of 23 years were set free and told to go home.

The Prophet’s, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, Forgiveness Wins Converts

Now ask yourself this: How would the Prophet’s, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, enemies have reacted to this superhuman display of kindness, generosity and forgiveness? How would you have reacted if you were in their place?

These people knew from the beginning that what the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, taught was quite reasonable and rational and it made more sense than anything that they had in their own religious mumbo-jumbo.

Their fight with him, as most fights in this world are, was mostly about wealth, power, position, status, conceit, arrogance, ego, race, revenge, personal leadership, land and tribal domination.

So, when they finally lost their fight against truth and against reason, and the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, gave them their freedom and security back, they had nowhere to go but to Islam.

They willingly and voluntarily converted to Islam in wave upon wave.

Thus, it was not violence and force that got them to covert to Islam, but Islam’s basic rationality on the one hand and the Prophet’s, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, kindness, compassion, generosity and forgiveness on the other hand.

Islam in Practice III:
Khalifah Umar Takes Control of Jerusalem from the Christian Priests

Jerusalem was under the control of Pope’s Christian followers. They sent word to Khalifah Umar that if he came personally to Jerusalem, and if they found him to be the right man, they will throw open the gates of the city to him without a fight.

Umar came riding on a camel, which he took turns sharing with his slave. As master and slave approached the gates of Jerusalem, it was the slave’s turn to ride the camel, while Umar, the Ruler, walked along side on foot.

The Christian priests of the Holy Land saw this divinely designed super-human spectacle of human equality with their own eyes. They needed no further proof of who Umar really was and what he stood for.

Those were the days when truth and honesty and integrity were still the hallmarks of “religion” in most instances. So, Umar personally took control of the holy city without shedding a drop of blood.

Later, as the prayer time approached, the priests asked Umar to perform his “prayers” inside the church, Umar excused himself saying: “If I do my prayers inside the church, some day the Muslims may demand control of the church. So, it is better I do my prayers outside.”

Another proof to the priests of Jerusalem what kind of a man Umar, this follower of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, really was and what kind of a message and faith he represented.

Islam Spread Based on Merit, Not Based on Force

Ask yourself this:

Wouldn’t you want to be a part of a system that taught the most wonderful things in life; that offered a most rational model of God and his relationship to your own life; that offered all human beings, regardless of race or gender, a wonderful life of  dignity, freedom and equality on earth; that offered them a fair and equal chance of salvation and bliss in the next life based on their own beliefs and behavior in this life; and that showed you in practice how to make your life better on earth, while making it also better in the next life?

Wouldn’t you say to yourself, especially if you had been denied all these things all your life – and for centuries:

“You mean there really is a system like that somewhere? Unbelievable!
Let me check this Islam out. It sure seems to make a lot of sense.
And it sure looks like the thing I can use to make my life better?”

That is what you are likely to say yourself. And that is precisely what a lot of people in the world ended up saying.

And that is also precisely what is happening to a lot people even now – even as all kinds of lies, distortions and propaganda are let lose against Islam and the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam.