Why did Muhammad take up arms and Christ didn't? Why did Islam spread by the sword if it were indeed a Religion of Truth, and Christianity didn't?
The sections of this article are:
- About Islam.
- About Christianity.
- Jesus contradicted his own commands! Jesus killed his enemies.
- Other non-peaceful commands by Jesus in the Bible.
In this article, you will see how Islam is a religion of peace and love, and how Jesus and Christianity is not really all about peace. Jesus himself killed people before!
About Islam:
Islam is not a religion of arms and swords! When Allah Almighty revealed the Noble Quran to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, and Muhammad became the Messenger of GOD Almighty, Muhammad had to spread Islam to 365 Pagan Arab Tribes. These tribes showed so much hostility toward the Muslims and Islam, and have imposed so many battles against the Muslims.
Later, when Islam was the religion of what we call today Saudi Arabia, and the 365 Pagan Arab tribes mostly converted to Islam, the Muslims had to yet face another type of challenge.
The Nuclear Soviet Union and the United States of America of our days were the Great Empires of the Christian Romans and the Pagan Persians. If you know geography and history well enough, then you would see that the Muslims were trapped between those two big Super Powers.
Hostility and Battles from those two Empires were imposed upon the Muslims. For instance, when our Prophet peace be upon him sent his messenger to "Kisrah", the Emperor of Persia, introducing Islam to him, Kisrah ordered for the Muslims' Messenger to be executed!
Back then, like today, this was considered a coward act. It was the Persians who showed the hostility toward the Muslims and declared the many battles against Islam.
The Christian Romans weren't any better. For instance, in one of their many battles against the Muslims is when they saw the threat to their religion in the Middle East, the King "Herucl", sent out an army of 100,000 men and ordered them to go to "Madina" in what we call today Saudi Arabia to destroy Islam once and for all.
The Muslims were not stable yet at that time, and they only sent out an army of 3,000 men at that time to drive the Christian Romans away from Madina. The battle was named "The battle of Mo'ta" and it took place in Mo'ta, Jordan today.
The Muslims' plan was to meet the Christian Romans far away from Madina, and to have them stray away from Madina. The army of 3,000 men was successful enough to fight the Christian Romans for few days and then to pull away from the battle and headed South of Jordan. The Romans strayed away from Madina and the small army of the Muslims was able to run away through the mountains. More than half of the 3,000 Muslims however were killed in this operation.
The point is that Islam didn't spread by sword with much choice. The wars were imposed upon the Muslims. The Muslims didn't ask for those wars.
Islam is a Religion of Love and Peace and Forgiveness [1] [2] [3] [4] [5].
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him never took any personal revenge from anyone.
What does the Qu'ran say about violence? Why does the Noble Quran contain Verses that command the Muslims to fight? See the justified and good reasons behind it.
In regards to Jihad and fighting the hostile enemy, Allah Almighty Made it crystal clear
in the Noble Quran about being peaceful to ordinary and peaceful non-Muslims, and being
very hostile to the hostile enemy:
"Fight in the cause of God those who fight you, but do not transgress limits; for God loveth not transgressors. (The Noble Quran, 2:190)"
"But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace, and trust in God: for He is One that heareth and knoweth (all things). (The Noble Quran, 8:61)"
"If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear God, the cherisher of the worlds. (The Noble Quran, 5:28)"
"God does not forbid you from showing kindness and dealing justly with those who have not fought you about religion and have not driven you out of your homes. God loves just dealers. (The Noble Quran, 60:8)"
"And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for God. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrongdoers. (The Noble Quran 2:193)"
"Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy handhold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things. (The Noble Quran, 2:256)"
"Again and again will those who disbelieve, wish that they had bowed (to God's will) in Islam. Leave them alone, to enjoy (the good things of this life) and to please themselves: let (false) hope amuse them: soon will knowledge (undeceive them). (The Noble Quran, 15:2-3)"
"Say, 'The truth is from your Lord': Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it):......(The Noble Quran, 18:29)"
"If it had been thy Lord's will, they would all have believed,- all who are on earth! wilt thou then COMPEL mankind, against their will, to believe! (The Noble Quran, 10:99)"
"Say: 'Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger: but if ye turn away, he is only responsible for the duty placed on him and ye for that placed on you. If ye obey him, ye shall be on right guidance. The Messenger's duty is only to preach the clear (Message). (The Noble Quran, 24:54)"
"Say : O ye that reject Faith! I worship not that which ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. To you be your Way, and to me mine. (The Noble Quran, 109:1-6)"
The reason for
"Jihad" Noble Verses:
The so-called "Jihad" Noble Verses came for specific times and places.
They don't apply for all times and everybody! I can't slay you, a non-Muslim, just
because you're not a Muslim. The pagan Arabs were very hostile people and only knew
the sword as an answer. Many wars were imposed upon the Muslims, and thus, it is
only normal and natural to find Noble Verses that deal with these specific hostile
situations. But the Message of the Noble Quran is PEACE, as clearly
proven in Noble Verses 2:190, 8:61 and 5:28 above.
About Christianity:
Christians love to think that their religion is all about peace and love. This is true for many parts of the Bible, but is SOUNDLY FALSE in many other parts!
Let us examine the Bible:
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (From the NIV Bible, Matthew 5:43-44)"
"But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. (From the NIV Bible, Luke 6:35)"
It is quite clear from the above Verses that Jesus peace be upon him commands his followers to love their enemies and to give them without expecting anything in return. This is all wonderful and I appreciate that Christians bring such Verses up to prove their points about the Bible being a Book of Love and Peace. However, let us look at the other side of the Bible and see if this claim is really true for 100% of the Bible's NT:
Jesus contradicted his own commands!
Above, we saw Jesus commanding his followers to be infinitely patient with their enemies and to help them without expecting anything good in return from them. Yet below, we see Jesus losing his temper and killing his enemies while he was MORE POWERFUL THAN THEM!
If he were in a bad situation where in order to survive he had to kill some of his enemies to enable him to run away or something, then this would be a completely different issue. But below, you will see that Jesus had the full power and his enemies were the WEAK!
"He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them--bring them here and kill them in front of me.' After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. (From the NIV Bible, Luke 19:26-28)"
Luke 19:26-28 is an obvious contradiction to what Jesus taught from Love toward the enemies. According to Luke 19:11, Jesus was telling a parable or story. But even though he was telling a parable, it is clear that Jesus believed in it, since he preached it by his own mouth, and practiced it as shown below.
Jesus did kill an enemy's kids before. Jesus did honor and believe in the idea of this parable. It is also important to know that Christianity is a religion of swords as Christians say "Islam is a religion of swords":
"He said to them, 'But now if you have a purse, take it and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. (From the NIV Bible, Luke 22:36)"
Jesus killed the woman's children:
"So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (From the NIV Bible, Revelation 2:22-23)"
All what the woman was doing is committing adultery, which is something very common among most Christians in the West today anyway with their "boyfriend-girlfriend living together" to "one night stand" to "having sex with his date or girlfriend", etc...
Of course Adultery is punishable in Islam. But I wonder why did Jesus kill the woman's innocent children? What did they do? All this to prove something to the Churches?! I thought you should love your enemies and forgive them? It's not like the woman had killed anybody!! Let alone her children didn't have any part of Jesus and their mother! There is no record in the Bible of these children committing any crimes or sins!
So everything in the Book of Revelation and in the rest of the Bible is doubtful and unreliable.
Other non-peaceful commands by Jesus in the Bible:
As I mentioned above, in the NT, we read about Jesus commanding his followers to buy swords "He said to them, 'But now if you have a purse, take it and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. (From the NIV Bible, Luke 22:36)"
We also read about Jesus bringing corruption and destruction to earth rather than peace "Do not suppose that I [Jesus] have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. (From the NIV Bible, Matthew 10:34)"
Jesus hitting others with a whip, not that it makes him bad, but certainly takes his "perfection" away "So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, 'Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!.' (From the NIV Bible, John 2:15)"
Jesus not respecting the life of the innocent animals, which again takes away his "perfection" from him "He [Jesus] said to them, 'Go!' so they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. (From the NIV Bible, Matthew 8:32)"
Jesus taught his followers to hate! "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters- yes, even his own life- he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26)"
Jesus said that whoever calls somebody a "fool" shall be in danger of hell fire (From the NIV Bible, Matthew 5:22), yet he called people "fools" himself (From the NIV Bible, Matthew 23:17).
So can I now claim that since Jesus took up arms, taught his followers to kill their enemies, buy swords and use them, and hate their parents and to call others fools as he did it himself that Christianity is a false religion?
Quite honestly, I wouldn't be shallow enough to do that. My refusal of Christianity's Trinity and belief of the Bible's historical corruptions comes from a much bigger reasoning than this.
Please visit Answering Trinity - Jesus is not the Creator of the Universe.
Contradictions and proofs of Historical Corruptions in the Bible.
Back to Ask me any question section.
Jihad (Fighting for the Cause of GOD Almighty) started with the Bible!
Allah, Islam, Quran, Muhammad questions and answers.
What is the place of Jews, Christians and non-Muslims in Islam.
Islam's laws on War, Jihad and Terrorism, and treatment of enemy Civilians and Captives.
What does the Qu'ran say about violence? Why does the Noble Quran contain Verses that command the Muslims to fight? See the justified and good reasons behind it.