The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 44
Seal of the Prophets - Volume II 44 against the Holy Prophet sa without holding back. A multitude of allegations have been recorded in the Holy Qur’ān, books of Ḥadīth , and history. State of Muslims at the Commencement of Jihād Refutes the Notion of Compulsion Then we see that when Jihād was initiated by the Muslims, their state at the time also refutes the notion of compulsion. Is it possible for a war of compulsion to be waged by a mere handful of people- against whom the entire country was armed - and who could barely sleep at night due to fear? In such a state of affairs, only such a person can set out to fight who either believes that now the only means to avert death is to take up the sword in self-defense, or if he believes that now death is inevitable either way, so why not die in the field of battle like men. An individual who is not mad cannot set out to fight for any other purpose except for the two just mentioned, in such conditions as were prevalent among the Muslims at that time. This is proof of the fact that the early wars of Islām were in security and self-defense, not for the purpose of compulsion and terrorism. No Individual Has Ever Been Coerced to Become Muslim Then it should also be remembered that if these wars of the Holy Prophet sa and his Companions were for the purpose of converting people to Islām by force, then we should be able to find examples of such people who were converted to Islām by force. After all, history has recorded the names of thousands of Muslims and disbelievers. In the very least, there should be an example of one such person who was compelled to accept Islām at the dint of the sword. The fact is that not a single example of forceful propagation can be found in history. On the contrary however, history does affirm such examples, where an idolater expressed his acceptance of Islām in the very course of fighting, but the Muslims did not consider his declaration of Islām to be true. They finished him off with the thought that his proclamation of Islām was due to fear, and that his expression of Islām was not accompanied by the affirmation of his heart. As such, historical record proves that once Usāmah bin Zaid ra , who was the son of Zaid bin Ḥārithah ra , the freed-slave of the Holy Prophet sa and was very dear to him, encountered a disbeliever in war. When the disbeliever saw that Usāmah ra had subdued him, he said, “I become a