Minorities in an Islamic State — Page 75
75 Without the free exchange of views, the human mind will become like stagnant water and will lose all its freshness. And this will undoubtedly cause the downfall of any people who are stupid enough to impose such restrictions. As regards Islam, it should be noted that all the earliest wars that the Muslims fought were fought because their opponents denied them the basic human right of freedom of speech. After the advent of the Holy Prophet sa , when he began to preach to the people of Mecca, the chiefs of Mecca tried to persuade him to keep his views with him and not to preach them. First they tried to buy his silence by offering him wealth and chiefdom of Mecca. When the Holy Prophet sa refused, they decided to use force in silencing him. They decided not to meet argument by argument but to draw the sword and put down the new teaching by force. The Holy Prophet sa and his followers suffered continuously and consistently at the hands of the Meccan disbelievers and even after they escaped to Medina to uphold their right to profess, practice and preach what they believed, they were not left alone. The ruthless Quraish attacked them time and again. The enemy was out to extirpate Islam, it was therefore necessary to fight the enemy in defence to truth and freedom of belief. Otherwise they would have been forced to surrender their conscience to the disbelievers.