Islam - Peaceful Religion — Page 6
THERE IS NO COMPULSION OF FAITH IN ISLAM Then the Holy Qur’an states: There should be no compulsion in religion. Surely, right has become distinct from wrong; so whosoever refuses to be led by those who transgress, and believes in Allah, has surely grasped a strong handle which knows no breaking. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. (Ch. 2:V. 257) Its explanation and practical application can be seen from this Tradition when the Banu Nadir were exiled from Madinah when they failed to fulfil their promise to maintain peace. At that time they also had many children of the Ansar (Muslim inhabitants of Madinah). These children had begun to live amongst the Jews, because in the pre-Islamic days of ignorance, amongst the Arab tribes of Aus and Khizraj, those who had no male children used to pledge that if the next child were born a male they would make him a Jew. Thus, there were many boys from the Aus and Khizraj tribes who had been handed over to Jewish families. When the Jews of Banu Nadir were exiled because of their transgression, the Muslims wanted to get back their own descendants from the Jews. The Holy Prophet of Islam (sa) refrained them from their action on the very basis that ‘there is no compulsion in religion’ that once you hand over your own son to someone else and that someone else makes your descendant a follower of Judaism, you cannot take him back: he would have to go with the Banu Nadir. Then there is the account of a slave of Hadrat Umar (ra) who narrates that although he was a slave of Hadrat Umar (ra) , Hadrat Umar (ra) never forced him to become a Muslim. Hadrat Umar (ra) most certainly used to explain to him with love and affection to become a Muslim but the slave would refuse and Hadrat Umar (ra) would only say: There is no compulsion in faith and fell silent after that. Finally, before his death, he set this slave free. Now who can, therefore, say that there is any room for compulsion or causing a breach of peace in Islam? P AGE 6 Islam Ð A Religion of Peace I know not wherefrom our opponents or from whom they have heard that Islam was spread by the sword. God says in the Holy Qur’an that there is no compulsion in the Islamic faith