Islam and Forced Conversion

What does Islam really teach about forced conversion?  Muslims are told to fight unbelievers until they are either dead, converted to Islam, or in a permanent state of subjugation under Muslim domination. Allowing people of other faiths to live and worship independently of Islamic rule is not an option.https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/forced-conversion.aspx Quran Quran (8:38-39) - “Say to those who have disbelieved, if they cease (from disbelief) their past will be forgiven... And fight them until there is no more Fitnah (disbelief and polytheism: i.e. worshipping others besides Allah) and the religion (worship) will all be for Allah Alone [in the whole of the world ]. But if they cease (worshipping others besides Allah), then certainly, Allah is All-Seer of what they do.” Translation from the Noble Quran Quran (9:29) - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." Suras 9 and 5 are the last major chapters that Muhammad narrated - hence abrogating what came before, including the oft-quoted verse 2:256 -"There is no compulsion in religion...". Quran (9:5) "But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them..."  This is one of the verses that abrogates 2:256, since prayer and charity are among the Five Pillars of Islam, as salat and zakat (see below).  Some say that the textual context limits the application of this verse to non-Muslims in Arabia at the time of narration.  While there is some merit to this, it does not change the fact that the Quran is sanctioning violence as a means of coercing religion. Quran (9:11) - (Continued from above) "But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then are they your brethren in religion"In conjunction with the preceding passage, this confirms that Muhammad is speaking of conversion to Islam. Quran (9:56-57) - "And they swear by Allah that they are most surely of you, and they are not of you, but they are a people who are afraid (of you). If they could find a refuge or cave or a place to enter into, they would certainly have turned thereto, running away in all haste." This refers to people living with the Muslim tribe who may not be true believers, but must pretend to be in order to survive. They have no safe refuge to escape the Muslims. If Islam were a religion of peace, then why the fear? Quran (2:193) - "And fight them until fitna is no more, and religion be only for Allah. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrong-doers." The key phrase here is to fight until "religion be only for Allah." Qur'an (3:83) - "Are they seeking a religion other than Allah's, when every soul in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or by compulsion?" But didn't the earlier verse (2:256) state that there is "no compulsion in religion"? This contradiction is resolved by abrogation - where the later verse supersedes the earlier one.  Hadith and Sira Sahih Muslim (1:33) The Messenger of Allah said: "I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer and pay zakat." To be safe, people must profess faith in Allah (the shahada) and follow Islamic practices (the zakat and salat).  Violence is thus sanctioned until the victims embrace Muhammad's religion and become obedient, practicing Muslims. Sahih Muslim (19:4294) - "When you meet your enemies who are polytheists (which includes Christians), invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withhold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them ... If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them" Osama bin Laden echoes this order from his prophet: "Does Islam, or does it not, force people by the power of the sword to submit to its authority corporeally if not spiritually? Yes. There are only three choices in Islam … . Either submit, or live under the suzerainty of Islam, or die.” (source: The al-Qaeda Reader p. 19-20) Sahih Bukhari (84:59) - "Allah's Apostle said, 'I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.' And if they say so, pray like our prayers, face our Qibla and slaughter as we slaughter, then their blood and property will be sacred to us and we will not interfere with them except legally and their reckoning will be with Allah.'"  Sahih Bukhari (53:392) - "While we were in the Mosque, the Prophet came out and said, "Let us go to the Jews" We went out till we reached Bait-ul-Midras. He said to them, "If you embrace Islam, you will be safe. You should know that the earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle, and I want to expel you from this land. So, if anyone amongst you owns some property, he is permitted to sell it, otherwise you should know that the Earth belongs to Allah and His Apostle." Sahih Bukhari (2:24) - "Allah's Apostle said: "I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah's Apostle, and offer the prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity, so if they perform a that, then they save their lives and property from me except for Islamic laws and then their reckoning (accounts) will be done by Allah." Sahih Bukhari (60:80) - "The Verse:--'You (true Muslims) are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind.' means, the best of peoples for the people, as you bring them with chains on their necks till they embrace Islam." Sahih Bukhari (60:40) - "...:And fight them till there is no more affliction (i.e. no more worshiping of others along with Allah)." 'Affliction' of Muslims is defined here as a condition in which others worship a different god other than Allah. Muslims are commanded to use violence to 'rectify' the situation.  Sahih Bukhari (59:643) - "Testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, or else I will chop off your neck!" Words of a military leader who Muhammad sent on an expedition with the mission of destroying a local religion in Yemen. Ibn Kathir v.4 p.133, Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 959 - Then the apostle sent Khalid bin Walid… to the Banu al-Harith and ordered him to invite them to Islam three days before he attacked them. If they accepted then he was to accept it from them, and if they declined he was to fight them. So Khalid set out and came to them, and sent out riders in all directions inviting the people to Islam, saying, “If you accept Islam you will be safe.” So the men accepted Islam as they were invited. The text goes on to say that Khalid taught the al-Harith about Islam after their "conversion," proving that it was based on fear of slaughter rather than a free and intelligent decision. Ibn Kathir (Commenting on Quran 2:256 in the unabridged version of his tafsir) - "Therefore all people of the world should be called to Islam. If anyone of them refuses to do so, or refuses to pay the jizya, they should be fought till they are killed." Notes Muhammad's efforts to recruit peacefully at Mecca netted less than 100 followers in 13 years - mostly friends and family. His tactics changed drastically during his last ten years. Once he obtained the power to do so, he began forcing others to accept his claims about himself at the point of a sword. In many places in the Hadith, he tells his followers that he has been ordered by Allah to fight unbelievers until they profess their faith in Islam (the Shahada).  During these later years, Muhammad did not seem at all bothered by conversions that were made under obvious duress. These include that of his sworn enemies Abu Sufyan and his wife Hind. According to Muslim historians, when Abu Sufyan went to seek peace with Muhammad, he was instead forced to embrace Islam. The exact words spoken to him in Muhammad's presence were, "Submit and testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of Allah before you lose your head" - (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 814, Ibn Kathir v.3 p.392). He did. The entire city of Mecca followed suit, even though the residents and leaders originally detested Muhammad and resisted his preaching.  Most of them "converted" to Islam the day that he abruptly marched his army into their unprepared city.  Only the most credulous of believers would think that this was a genuine religious epiphany - just happening to coincide with the sword at their necks. Those who would not change their religion were forcibly expelled from Mecca following that last Haj (Quran 9:5).  Christians and Jews living in Arabia at the time suffered the same fate, courtesy of a deathbed directive from Muhammad. They were given the choice of either accepting Islam or being forced from their land (Sahih Muslim 19:4366). The Jews at Khaybar were not at war with Muhammad when he ordered his Jihadis to attack them. Even his faithful son-in-law, Ali, whom he chose to head the mission, was somewhat perplexed as to the pretext on which they were to assault this peaceful farming community so far from Medina: Muhammad said: 'Proceed on and do not look about until Allah grants you victory', and Ali went a bit and then halted and did not look about and then said in a loud voice: 'Allah's Messenger, on what issue should I fight with the people?' Thereupon he (the Prophet) said: 'Fight with them until they bear testimony to the fact that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger' (Sahih Muslim 31:5917) The Jews at Khaybar were caught entirely be surprise, of course. Their wealth was stolen and their women and children taken and distributed as slaves by the prophet of Islam to his men. Muhammad even took a woman for himself - after having her husband put to death. Before he died, Muhammad sent his warriors against other Arab tribes, such as the al-Harith, demanding that they either convert to Islam or be wiped out (naturally, they opted for the Religion of Peace). He cursed Christians and Jews to the very end (Bukhari 8:427).  According to al-Shafi in "The Ordinances of the Quran", Muhammad "defeated the people until they entered Islam by hook or by crook." Muslims are taught to follow in the way of their prophet. A devotee under the reign of Umar put it this way "Our Prophet, the Messenger of our Lord, has ordered us to fight you till you worship Allah Alone or give Jizya (i.e. tribute)" (Bukhari 53:386).  Likewise, Abu Bakr, Muhammad's closest companion and immediate successor, pressed Jihad aggressively into foreign territory against people who did not want war and were of no threat. In a letter sent to the Persians, the caliph bluntly stated, "You should convert to Islam, and then you will be safe, for if you don't, you should know that I have come to you with an army of men that love death, as you love life." Through the centuries, Muslims have forced Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, pagans and others to accept Islam, either by bluntly offering them death as an alternative, or by making their lives so miserable (ie. taxes, denial of rights...) that the conquered eventually convert to Islam under the strain. Forced conversions persist among extremists. Recently in Egypt, a Christian girl was kidnapped and told that she would be raped if she did not convert. In 2010, an 11-year-old Christian boy in Pakistan was kept enslaved in chains (1, 2) by his Muslim landlord, who proudly told the world that he would liberate the lad if he embraced Islam.  Neither of these examples of attempted forced conversion was condemned by Islamic organizations, even in the West. From the Muslim perspective, the victim in each case technically retains the "choice" to convert, even if the alternative is death or persecution. In fact, some even lauded the Pakistani slave-owner for being magnanimous in offering freedom and debt relief to his subject for embracing Islam. Since Muslims believe so sincerely that their religion is truth, some can't help but feel, on some level, that forced conversion is more of a favor done to the subject - a case of the end justifying the means. As Muhammad said, "Allah marvels at those who are brought to paradise in chains"(Bukhari 52:254). After the high-profile kidnapping and forced conversion of hundreds of Christian girls by Boko Haram in 2014, a Muslim woman in the UK famously proclaimed that they had actually been "liberated" from the "shackles of slavery."  In 2016, a bill introduced in Pakistan to ban the forced conversion of minorities was slammed as being "against the spirit of Islam." In 2017, Malaysia arrested a Turkish scholar (at Turkey's request) for the crime of teaching that Islam should never use coercion to win converts or retain 'believers'.  Both Malaysia and Turkey have been hailed as models for Islamic compatibility with secular democracy and freedom. It is also important to note the critical role that jizya plays in Islamic conversion.  According to the Quran, paying a "tax" to Muslims is the only avenue of escape for those who don't want to leave their religion. This source of income explains why Muhammad and his successor did not forceeveryone to convert to Islam following a military conquest. As Muhammad realized with the Jews of Khaybar - the survivors of which were allowed to keep their farming community provided they directed the profits of their labor to him - it was often more lucrative to leave local economies in place rather than killing every male who wouldn't convert. This became a loose rule for the Muslim armies that swept across Christian, Jewish, Persian, Hindu and Buddhist lands in the decades that followed. Part of the money collected was used to finance further Islamic military expansion, producing more income and more "converts". As Muhammad put it: "My sustenance is under the shade of my spear, and he who disobeys my orders will be humiliated by paying Jizya" (another translation: "My provision has been placed under the shadow of my spear, and abasement and humility have been placed on the one who disobeys my command.") This hadith has been quoted by al-Qaeda and is found in the original version of Bukhari and Ahmad (5114 or 4869, depending on the translation). In fairness, Muslims have generally tended to follow verse 2:256 of the Quran, which states, "Let there be no compulsion in religion." and have not felt it right to force others into embracing Islam. However, this does not change the religion itself.  Verse 2:256 was clearly abrogated by later verses, particularly in Sura 9.  The practice of killing apostates if they do not recant their chosen faith would not otherwise have become an acceptable part of Islamic law.  (In 2017, Pakistan rejected a law that would have banned forced conversion of Christians and Hindus). Another point to keep in mind is that in Islam, practice is more important than belief. Muslims are commanded to fight unbelievers until they say they believe in Allah (or pay the Jizya), but there seems to be a tacit understanding that belief itself can't be forced (this may be what is really meant by "there is no compulsion in religion"). Nevertheless, once a subjugated individual outwardly converts to Islam under the strain of taxes and discrimination, they are not allowed to recant upon penalty of death. Their children must also be raised Muslim. And, if they aren't, it is a sign of apostasy - subject to death. This is how Islam managed to spread so successfully within conquered populations to ratios in the high 90th percentiles over the native religion. It is ironic that the Muslim community is most sensitive to a non-Muslim presence in "Muslim lands" when those lands were not originally Muslim until they were conquered by force. The blatant double standard is rhetorically dismissed by declaring that Islam was the original religion practiced by Jews (such as Moses) and Christians (such as Jesus and his followers). Thus the conquered populations are said to be "reverts." This trick is less clever and persuasive than many Muslims seem to realize. One last point of interest is that Muhammad's practice of ordering people to profess their belief in him proved disastrous both for his own family and the legacy of his religion.  By the time of his death, his empire included a great many people and tribes who had accepted his rule merely to avoid war and slavery. Many of them wanted out after he died, and several wars were immediately fought, resulting in thousands of deaths and cementing Islam's legacy of violent intolerance. Even Muhammad's sworn enemy of Abu Sufyan may have gotten the last laugh. So ambitious was the prophet of Islam, that he accepted his former foe's outward profession of allegiance (at the point of a sword) in order to expand his empire. Yet, it was Abu Sufyan's own children who ultimately benefited - at the expense of Muhammad's family.  Abu Sufyan's son, Muawiyah, inherited the empire after defeating Muhammad's adopted son, Ali. He also poisoned Hasan, one of the prophet's two favorite grandsons.  Abu Sufyan's grandson, Yazid, became the next caliph and promptly had the head of Muhammad's other favorite grandson, Hussein, brought to him on a platter. Such are the perils of forcing others to say that you are a prophet when they do not believe it to be true.  See also: MYTH: Muhammad Rejected Conversions Made Under Duress Forced Conversions (WikiIslam)

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The Myth: Muhammad Never  Approved of Religious Conversion Made  Under Duress "Our Prophet (peace be upon him) always taught that there is no compulsion in religion nor any condition in which a conversion under duress is acceptable."  The Truth: The oft-quoted Qur’anic verse “let there be no compulsion in religion” (2:256) takes a serious beating against the reality of Muhammad’s later years.  The prophet of Islam had no real power when this seemingly tolerant passage was "revealed".  Things were much different, however, by the time the ninth Sura was recited, which explicitly calls for forcing others into prayer and paying the jizya (9:29). Examples from Muhammad’s life prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was not opposed to forcible conversions and even ordered them once he had the military authority to do so, Continuing the story of Abu Sufyan (see Myth: Muhammad always Chose Peace over War), when the Meccan leader visited the Muslim army camp in 630 in an attempt to convince Muhammad not to make war, he was chased into their prophet's presence at the point of a sword.  There he was “invited” to embrace Islam: [Muhammad] said, “Woe to you, Abu Sufyan, isn’t it time that you recognize that I am Allah’s apostle?” He (Abu Sufyan) answered, “As to that I still have some doubt.” I (the narrator) said to him, “Submit and testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the apostle of Allah before you lose your head,” so he did so.(Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 814) It is obvious that this "embrace" of Islam was neither genuine nor volitional.  Yet, there was no admonishment from Muhammad.  The prophet of Islam fully accepted the “conversion” and immediately made use of Abu Sufyan to further his political goals.  (Abu Sufyan and his progeny had the last laugh, however, as they went on to inherit the Muslim empire and murder the prophet's favorite grandchildren... but that is a different story). After he had conquered Mecca, Muhammad began ordering the executions of those who had insulted him or apostatized.  One of these was his former scribe, Abdullah bin Sa’d, who transcribed Muhammad's “revelations” from Allah, but lost his faith in the "prophet" when the latter adopted suggested editing (Allah’s word was supposed to be unalterable).  Abdullah saved himself by reverting back to Islam in Muhammad’s presence at Mecca as the prophet of Islam waited for someone to strike off his head: The apostle remained silent for a long time til finally he said ‘yes.’  When Uthman [and Abdullah] had left, he said to his companions who were sitting around him, “I kept silent so that one of you might get up and strike off his head!”  One of the Ansar said, “Then why didn’t you give me a sign, O apostle of Allah?”  He answered that a prophet does not kill by pointing. (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 819). Several poets were murdered by Muhammad at Mecca for the crime of having mocked him.  Another such poet, named Ka’b bin Zuhayr, saved his own skin by converting to Islam after finding no other way to avoid execution. (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 888-889).  The Hadith also records that many other Meccans converted to Islam under obvious duress.  As one apprehensive observer noted to Muhammad at the time: (They embraced Islam because) they were defeated at your hands (and as such their Islam is not dependable). (Sahih Muslim 4453) These sorts of conversions were fully recognized by Muhammad, as proven by this hadith, in which he rebukes a soldier for killing a person who had "converted" merely to save his life: Allah's Apostle sent us towards Al-Huruqa, and in the morning we attacked them and defeated them.  I and an Ansari man followed a man from among them and when we took him over, he said, "La ilaha illal-Lah."  On hearing that, the Ansari man stopped, but I killed him by stabbing him with my spear.  When we returned, the Prophet came to know about that and he said, "O Usama! Did you kill him after he had said "La ilaha ilal-Lah?"  I said, "But he said so only to save himself."  The Prophet kept on repeating that so often that I wished I had not embraced Islam before that day.  (Bukhari 59:568) (Note that Muhammad was not in the least bit concerned that the victims were slaughtered while fleeing the Muslim army.  This is another strike against the myth that Muslims are only supposed to fight in self-defense). By this time Muhammad was spreading Islam by any means necessary.  He was even using captured wealth to buy loyalty: Allah's Apostle gave (gifts) to some people to the exclusion of some others. The latter seemed to be displeased by that. The Prophet said, "I give to some people, lest they should deviate from True Faith” (Bukhari 53:373). Muhammad actually captured a man’s wife and children, then used them as leverage to force his conversion:  The apostle told them to tell Malik that if he came to him as a Muslim he would return his family and property to him and give him a hundred camels. (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 879) Islam was being cheapened.  It was no longer a religion, but rather a political allegiance established by force.  Muhammad sent one of his men to Yemen with a military force, where a local pagan leader was told, “Testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah, or else I will chop off your neck." (Bukhari 59:643) Neither was there any heartfelt religious conviction in the reluctant “conversion” of the Thaqif tribe, for example: [The Thaqif leaders said to one another] “We are in an impasse. You have seen how the affair of this man [Muhammad] has progressed. All the Arabs have accepted Islam and you lack the power to fight them… don’t you see that your herds are not safe; none of you can go out without being cut off.” (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 915) Their solution was to “accept Islam,” and so they sent their couriers to Muhammad to announce their conversion, ask for a promise that they would no longer by harassed by the Muslims, and request a grace period before they had to 'give up' their old religion: The riders of Thaqif had come to make their submission and accept Islam on the apostle’s conditions provided that they could get a document guaranteeing their people and their land and animals… Among the things they asked the apostle was that they should be allowed to retain their idol al-Lat undestroyed for three years.  The apostle refused, and they continued to ask him for a year or two and he refused… (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 916) Obviously the Thaqif were not acting out of a true belief in Islam, but rather from the desperation in which non-Muslims Arabs were finding themselves in the wake of Muslim aggression.  Muhammad had the power and he was directing his armies to wipe out those who would not submit to Islam. “Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah,” were his instructions to one of his military leaders (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 992).  Muhammad also congratulated a faraway king on accepting Islam and “killing the polytheists” under his reign, even as he directed another military leader to “invite” a neighboring tribe to Islam and then slaughter them if they refused: Then the apostle sent Khalid bin Walid… to the Banu al-Harith and ordered him to invite them to Islam three days before he attacked them. If they accepted then he was to accept it from them; and if they declined he was to fight them. (Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 959) Khalid’s famous pronouncement, “If you accept Islam then you will be safe,” is echoed by Jihadists like Osama bin Laden to this day. Further Reading: Myths of Muhammad Index

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