THE SPREAD OF ISLAM OUTSIDE OF ARABIA
Islam spread worldwide because of its simple, rational, and easily understandable teachings.
When the Prophet of Islam left this world, Islam had achieved a dominant position in Arabia. However, the communities that were situated around Arabia were following a religion, culture, and language that were different from that of Islam. At that time, the vast world known as the Arab world had not come into existence. This state of affairs posed a permanent threat to Islam. The truth is that had Islam been limited to the Arabian Peninsula, its survival would have been very difficult. For the permanent existence of Islam, it was essential that the religion of Islam, its language, and its culture should assume a dominant position in a vast area. This development took place almost half a century after the death of the Prophet. However, when such a situation evolved it was thanks to the religious power of Islam rather than to its political power. The truth is that political power is insufficient to bring about a great development of this kind. Had it been possible to change people by using political power, then all the people in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh would have been converted to Christianity.
After the death of Prophet Muhammad, many battles took place between the Muslim and non-Muslim nations outside of Arabia. The Muslims, in a very short period, conquered major parts of the region from Asia to Africa, but it is a fact that no forced conversion took place in these conquered territories, for instance, in Egypt, which was brought into the Islamic fold under Umar Farooq, the second Caliph. An article on Egyptian history, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, states that the Muslims conquered Egypt very rapidly in 642 A.D. But they strictly adhered to the policy of religious tolerance. The article says, “There was no attempt to force, or even to persuade the Egyptians to convert to Islam. The Arabs even pledged to preserve the Christian churches.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 6/487-88). Similarly, Professor T.W. Arnold in his book, The Preaching of Islam, states that the Muslim conquerors of Egypt showed total religious tolerance towards the Christians. According to him, “There is no evidence of their widespread apostasy to Islam being due to persecution or unjust pressure on the part of their new rulers.” (The Preaching of Islam, p. 103)
Similarly, Prof. Arnold has written in his book on page 110 that ‘these conversions were not due to persecution.’
Now the question arises as to how it happened that, when the Egyptians were not subjected to forced conversion, the majority of them came into the fold of Islam. The answer to this question has been given by the well-known Egyptologist, Sir Arthur Keith:
“The Egyptians were conquered not by the sword, but by the Quran.” (Sir Arthur Keith, A New Theory of Human Evolution, London Watts & Co., 1950, p. 303)
The same was true in other conquered countries. No coercion was resorted to in order to bring the non-Muslim population in these countries into the fold of Islam. Actually, during the interaction with the Muslims who came to these countries, the local people would hear about Islam. They also studied Islamic books. All this revealed to them that Islam was more rational than their ancestral religions and that the teachings of Islam were easier to understand and more practicable. Having formed these impressions, they gradually embraced Islam, and finally, the majority of them accepted Islam, bringing into existence a vast Muslim world stretching across the known world.
