How to be Free from Sin — Page 12
12 the world. But they failed to understand this, being guided more by their passions than their reason. God only permitted the Muslims to fight when He saw that the disbelievers had become deserving of death due to their atrocities. But He also made the provision that any- one who accepted Islam would be spared. It is this which has, perhaps, caused the critics to draw erroneous conclu- sions. They do not seem to understand that the injunction was concerned not with coercion but with offering clem- ency to those who deserved to die. Calling this teaching coercive is the height of absurdity. They merited their punishment, not because they were non-Muslims, but be- cause they were killers. And since God was aware that they had perfectly understood the truth of Islam, there- fore, out of His grace, He granted them an opportunity to atone for their sins. This is further evidence that Islam did not teach coercion, rather it provided respite to those who should have been killed for their bloodshed. Muslims suffered many hardships, and the degree of prejudice that existed against them was such that if any member of a tribe entered Islam he would at once be exe- cuted or would live in constant fear of his life. Muslims had to fight to win peace. But even under these difficult circumstances, they never drew the sword unless the two conditions of war were met. War was always thrust upon them and they never fought with the intention of spread- ing the faith. They only fought for the sake of security and self-defence, but ignorant Maulaw i s later gave it a differ- ent complexion and began to take pride in something