“The question of why people convert to Islam has always generated intense feeling. Proverbs 12:15 tells us that people who are foolish think everything they do is right, without any outside input or advice. Cosmological arguments are found across almost every philosophical tradition, and find prominence in the West in the writings of Aristotle, Avicenna, al-Ghāzāli, Maimonides, Aquinas, Locke, Leibniz, Samuel Clarke, and David Hume. Two of these mentioned models are non-democratic: the theocratic model and the absolute secular model, which are the most extreme models. Andrei Buckareff (2005) and J. L. Schellenberg (2005, 138-9) propose non-doxastic (or, ‘sub-doxastic’) venture models of propositional faith, with Schellenberg emphasising the positive evaluation that persons of faith make of the truth-claim to which they commit themselves. Especially for the Jews and the Christians -whom Islam recognizes as Ahlul Kitab, the People of the Scriptures- Islam guaranteed them freedom of their faith and religious practices under Islamic rule. Without robust religious experiences to draw on, Americans feel less connected to the traditions and beliefs of their parents’ faith.

Merton was a Trappist monk who explored Eastern religious traditions and wrote eloquently about his practice of Christianity. The Muslim conquerors signed treaties guaranteeing to the conquered people the freedom to practice their religion as long as they paid the required tribute to the caliph’s treasury. They shall practice in their religion as freely as the Muslims. Secondly, only after the signing of this treaty, did the Muslims feel safe and secure enough to travel to regions and countries outside Medina. Firstly, until the signing of this treaty, the Muslims were mostly busy in defending themselves against the Meccans (their external enemies) and the Jews (their internal enemies). The Jews of the various branches of ‘Aws, Najjar, Harith, Jashim, Tha’labah, Aws, and all others domiciled in Yathrib (i.e., Medina) shall form with the Muslims one composite nation. The Jews shall join the Muslims in defending Yathrib (i.e., Medina) against all enemies. After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the Muslims gradually conquered Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Iran.

During the reign of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, Syria was conquered in 635 CE, Palestine in 637 CE, Egypt in 642 CE, and also two-thirds of Persia was conquered. During the reign of Abu Bakr, Iraq was conquered in 633 CE. The rest of Persia was conquered during the reign of ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan. It is true that Muslims conquered these neighbouring lands and countries BUT does that mean that Islam, the religion, was spread by force? Hijackings, bombings, a brutal civil war between Christians and Muslims — that’s what Lebanon was known for in the 1970s and 1980s, especially the capital, Beirut, which was reduced to rubble. He met them and invited them to a pact with the Muslims so that each religious group in Medina knew its rights and obligations. I’ve never met him. Muslims confronted the Meccan forces at Badr-80 miles from Medina, and 200 miles from Mecca. Once he settled in Medina, the Prophet realized that there was a minority Jewish community in that city that had no inclination to accept Islam. Still, there are many other religious practices such as Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism that are popular in Germany. There is some evidence that human sacrifice was known in Ireland and was forbidden by St. Patrick.

Remember that cemeteries are eerie (another word with the letter “E” repeated three times). From its uniqueness in history claiming to be the inerrant word of a personal God, to the early date of the manuscripts; From the precision of the copyists, to the internal consistency among so many different authors over such a long period of time. In Northern Germany, Luther adopted the tactic of gaining the support of the local princes and city elites in his struggle to take over and re-establish the church along Lutheran lines. Only when the Meccans violated the conditions of the peace-treaty, did the Muslims take over the city of Mecca without bloodshed-thereafter, in 9th AH, Mecca was declared as a holy city where idol-worshipping was forbidden. In the years and decades after the independence of Pakistan, Deobandi madrassas spread across Pakistan, and one of their principal causes of political activism became India’s treatment of Muslims in the Indian-controlled portion of Jammu and Kashmir. It is undeniable that the Muslim/Arab Empire spread by military force all over the Middle East; but this did not automatically translate into the spread of Islam as a religion. Islam spread in Medina through propagation only.