Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 304
304 Relations between the Followers of Different Relig- ions Concerning the relations between the followers of different religions, I desire to say here is that Islam teaches a far wider toleration than any other religion. For instance: (1) It forbids the use of disrespectful language towards the founders, holy men, or leaders of any religion. (2) It teaches that Prophets have appeared in all nations and no religion can, therefore, be described as wholly false. (3) It prohibits compulsion in matters of faith and forbids religious wars; for truth has been made manifest from falsehood, and he whom truth gives life shall live and he whom truth kills shall die. An erroneous impression exists in some quarters that Islam permits propagation of the faith by the sword. Nothing could be further from the truth. Islam permits fighting against only an aggressor who attacks the Muslims and only so long as he keeps up the fight. Can such a religion be charged with encouraging propaga- tion by the sword? The truth is that those who attempted to destroy Islam by the sword, were themselves de- stroyed by the sword; and nobody has ever condemned defensive wars. If Islam was propagated by the sword, how were those who wielded the sword won over to Islam? The religion which could win over such adherents,—men who sacrificed their all for the faith and established it