Through Force or Faith? — Page 107
Chapter 2 Islamic Teachings about Jihad by Mohammad Ilyas Munir With reference to jihad , a spirited but false propaganda is made against the Islamic teachings that, God forbid, Islam is the faith of coercion and it is the religion of terrorism. These days, too, this propaganda is being made vehemently. Benedict XVI has also very callously attacked the great personage of Muhammad s as , who was sent as mercy to all worlds, on the same account in his Regensburg lecture. He has said that Muhammad s as brought, in the name of jihad , such teachings that resulted in propagation of faith with the sword and people were coerced into Islam. This kind of criticism of Islam is done entirely by way of malice. In the following section, this entirely wrong and false accusation is reviewed in the light of the Holy Quran, and is refuted on the basis of the Arabic lexicon and in the light of the actual practice of the Holy Prophet s as and his companions. Before we respond to the accusation of the Pope, we would like to make it clear that some support to the opponents of Islam in this accusation is provided by those who subscribe to the doctrine of propagation of faith with the force of the sword and believe that sword also had a role in the rise of Islam. Some Muslims persist in