The
most influential tactic off spreading Islam in the early stages was through
force of the conversion or death. As Quran states in these Surah's we
can see how much Islam would be the religion of peace:
Quran
(2:191-193) - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of
the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of Muslims] is worse
than slaughter [of non-believers]... but if they desist, then lo! Allah is
forgiving and merciful. And fight them until persecution is no more,
and religion is for Allah."
Quran
(2:216) - "Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is
possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a
thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not."
Quran
(4:74) - "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this
world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he
victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward."
Quran
(4:76) - "Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah…"
Quran
(4:89) - "They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus
be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until
they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn
renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case)
take no friends or helpers from their ranks."
Quran
(5:33) - "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His
messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they
should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off
on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for
them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous
chastisement"
Quran
(8:12) - "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve.
Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them"
Quran
(8:39) - "And fight with them until there is no more fitna (disorder,
unbelief) and religion should be only for Allah"
Quran
(8:65) - "O Prophet, exhort the believers to fight..."
Quran
(9:14) - "Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them
to disgrace..."
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."
Quran
(9:41) - "Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your
wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but
knew."
Quran
(9:73) - "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites
and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the
destination."
Quran
(9:88) - "But the Messenger, and those who believe with him, strive and
fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are (all) good things: and
it is they who will prosper."
Quran
(9:123) - "O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near
to you and let them find in you hardness."
Quran
(17:16) - "And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to
the people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the
word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction."
Quran
(25:52) - "Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against
them with the utmost strenuousness..."
Quran
(47:3-4) - "Those who reject Allah follow vanities, while those who
believe follow the truth from their lord.
Thus does Allah set forth form men their lessons by similitude. Therefore when you meet in battle those who
disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make
(them) prisoners,"
Quran
(66:9) - "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites,
and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end."
Hard
to believe there are even more Surah's like above examples.
One
of the good examples of this barbaric and cruel behavior was the conquest of
the great Persian Empire which at the time if not the most advanced in art,
culture, science and more certainly was one of the best.
Arabs
first entered Sassanid territory in 633, when General Khalid ibn Walid invaded
what is now Iraq.
After
the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah in 628, Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad sent
many letters to the princes, kings, and chiefs of the various tribes and
kingdoms of the time, inviting them to convert to Islam. These letters were
carried by ambassadors to Persia, Byzantium, Ethiopia, Egypt, Yemen on the same
day.
With
regards to Persia, Muslim histories further recount that at the beginning of
the seventh year of migration, Muhammad appointed one of his officers, Abdullah
Huzafah Sahmi Qarashi, to carry his letter to Khosrau II inviting him to
convert:
"In
the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Muhammad, the Messenger
of Allah, to the great Kisra of Iran. Peace be upon him, who seeks truth and
expresses belief in Allah and in His Prophet and testifies that there is no god
but Allah and that He has no partner, and who believes that Muhammad is His
servant and Prophet. Under the Command of Allah, I invite you to Him. He has
sent me for the guidance of all people so that I may warn them all of his wrath
and may present the unbelievers with an ultimatum. Embrace Islam so that you
may remain safe. And if you refuse to accept Islam, you will be responsible for
the sins of the Magi."
The
Sassanid court ceremony was notoriously intricate, and it is unlikely that a
letter from what at the time was a minor regional power would have reached the
hands of the Shahanshah until years latter the copy of communications between
Sassanian Yazdgird III (632 AD - 651 AD) and Omar Ibn Al Khatab Khalifat Al
Muslemin, after the battle of Ghadesiyeh. The original copy of this letter from
Yazdgird III (632 AD - 651 AD) is kept in the British museum of London. The
date in which this letter has been written is after the battle of Ghadesiyeh.
From:
Omar Ibn Al Khatab Khalifat Al Muslemin
To:
Yazdgird III Shahanshah of Persian Empire
Bism-ellah
Ar'rahman Ar'rhim To the Shah of the Fars
I
do not foresee a good future for you and your nation save your acceptance of my
terms and your submission to me. There was a time when your country ruled half
the world, but see how now your sun has set. On all fronts your armies have
been defeated and your nation is condemned to extinction. I point out to you
the path whereby you might escape this fate. Namely, that you begin worshipping
the one god, the unique deity, the only god who created all that is. I bring
you his message. Order your nation to cease the false worship of fire and to
join us, that they may join the truth.
Worship
Allah the creator of the world. Worship Allah and accept Islam as the path of
salvation. End now your polytheistic ways and become Muslims that you may
accept Allah-u-Akbar as your savior. This is the only way of securing your own
survival and the peace of your Persians. You will do this if you know what is
good for you and for your Persians. Submission is your only option. Allah u
Akbar.
The
Caliph of Muslims Omar Ibn-Khat'tab
Response
of the Persian King:
In
the name of Ahura Mazda, creator of Life and Intelligence you in your letter
wrote that you want to direct us towards your God, Allah, without having the
true knowledge of who we are and what do we worship! It is amazing that you
occupy the position of Caliph (Ruler) of Arabs, yet your knowledge is the same
as a lowly Arab rambler, roaming in deserts of Arabia and same as a desert
tribal man (mardak) you offer me to worship a united and single God without
knowing that it has been thousands of years that Persians worship the mono God
and they pray to him Five Times a day! In this land of culture and art this has
been the normal path of life for years. When we established the tradition of hospitality
and good deeds in the world and we waved the flag of "Good Thoughts, Good
Words, Good Deeds" in our hands, you and your ancestors were roaming the
deserts, eating Lizards for you had nothing else to feed yourselves and burying
your innocent daughters alive (an old Arab tradition because they preferred
male children to female). Tazi people have no value for God's creatures! You
behead God's children, even the POWs (Prisoners of War), Rape Women, bury your
daughters alive, attack the Caravans, mass murder, kidnap people's wives and
steal their property! Your hearts are made of stone; we condemn all these Evil
which you do. How can you teach us Godly Ways when you commit these actions?
You tell me to stop my Fire Worship! We,
Persians see the Love of Creator and power of inventor in the light of Sun and
warmth of Fire. Lights and Warmth of the Sun and Fire makes us see the light of
truth and warms our hearts to the creator and to one another. It helps us to be
kind to one another; it enlightens us and makes us to keep Mazda's Flame, alive
in our hearts. Our lord is Ahura Mazda and it is strange that you people also,
just discovered him and named him Allah.
But
we are not the same as you; we are not in the same level as you. We help other
human being, we spread love among humanity, we spread Good throughout the
Earth, we have been spreading our culture but in respect for other cultures
throughout the whole world for thousands of years, yet you in the name of Allah
invade other men's land! You mass murder the people, create famine, fear and
poverty for others, you create Evil in the name of Allah. Who is responsible
for this entire catastrophe? Is it Allah who commands you to murder, pillage
and to destroy? Is it you the followers of Allah who do this in his name? Or is
it both? You have risen from heat of the deserts and burnt out infertile lands
with no resources, you want to teach people the love of God by your military
campaigns and the power of your Swords! You are Desert Savages, yet you want to
teach urban people like us who lived in the cities for thousands of years, the
love of God! We have thousands of years of culture behind us, a powerful tool
indeed!
Tell
us? With all your military campaigns, barbarianism, murder and pillage in the
name of Allah, what have you taught to this Muslim Army? What knowledge have
you taught the Muslim that you also insist on teaching it to non Muslim? What
culture have you learned from our Allah, now that you want to force-teach it to
others? Alas, ...... that today our Persian Armies of Ahura have been defeated
from your recently Allah Worshiping Armies; Now, our people have to worship the
same God, the same Five times a day, but forced by the sword to call him Allah
and pray to him in Arabic because your Allah only understands Arabic I suggest,
you and your gang of bandits pack up and move back to your deserts where they
are used to live. Take them back where they used to the burning heat of the
sun, tribal life, eating Lizards and drinking Camel Milk. I forbid you to let
your band of thieves loose in our fertile lands, civilized cities and our
glorious nation. Don't turn these "beasts with hearts of stone"
loose, to mass murder our people, kidnap our women and children, rape our wives
and send our daughters to Mecca as slaves! Don't let them do these crimes in
the name of Allah put a stop to your criminal behavior. Aryans are forgiving,
warm, hospitable, and decent people and everywhere they went, they have spread
seeds of friendship, love, knowledge and truth; therefore, they shall not
punish you and your people for your pirate ways and criminal acts. I beg you to
remain with your Allah in your deserts and do not move close to our civilized
cities, for your believers are "Much Fearful" and your behavior is
"Most Barbaric."
The
attack of the Islamic Arabs led to the end of the Sassanid Empire in 644, the
fall of Sassanid dynasty in 651 and the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian
religion in Iran.
The
most astonishing fact is even though Iranians were forced to convert to Islam
at the time, still the majority of Iranians are now Muslim and they name their
children after the so called holly men or heroes who destroyed their heritage,
culture, empire and their bright future.
