The Guiding Light — Page 360
S u rah al-Baqarah, Verse 255-258 360 enjoins Muslims in the clearest and strongest of words not to resort to force for converting non-Muslims to Islam. In the face of this teaching embodied in the words, There should be no compulsion in religion , it is the height of injustice to accuse Islam of countenancing the use of force for the propagation of its teaching. The verse not only gives the commandment that in no case is force to be resorted to for the purpose of converting non- Muslims to Islam, but also gives the reason why it should not be used, saying : Surely, right has become distinct from wrong, i. e. , the true path has become distinct from the wrong one and therefore there is no justification for using force. Islam is a manifest truth. Anyone who sincerely desires to see this truth can easily see it; but if there is a person who does not desire to see it, no force can possibly make him do so. All that we have to do is to point out its beauties to non-Muslim; it rests with them to accept it or reject it as they like. ﺇمي ﺎﻥ (I m a n) or faith as defined by Islam consists in believing in a thing with the heart or the mind and expressing that belief with the tongue. No force on earth can bring about that change. The person who sticks to true faith and shuns false ones is here represented as laying hold of a strong ﻋﺮوہ (‘ urwah )