Through Force or Faith? — Page 124
?— A Reply to Pope Benedict XVI 124 the goggles of prejudice that permit him to see only the baseless assertions of the adversaries of Islam. What he said about this holy verse also shows the same because this verse was revealed not in the thirteen years of Meccan period but even four years after migra- tion; in Rabī al-Awwal A. H. 4, when Muslims had already gained clear dominance over the infidels of Makkah at the Battle of Badr and the Battle of Uhud had already been fought. It was the time when Muslims were rapidly gaining in power and one could fear the coercion of people into Islam in the arrogance of power. (Abū D ā wūd, Kit a bul Jih a d, Chapter Regarding Compelling a Captive to Accept Islam, part 3, hadith number 2682. Ibn Hish ā m, vol. 4, Chapter on the Expulsion of Banī Na d īr) In this regard, one should keep in mind that when Muslims received the permission for defensive war, they were still extremely weak ( S u rah A l-e-‘Imr a n, 3:124). Similarly, cursory view of history tells us that most of the expeditions under the command of the Holy Prophet Muhammad s as took place before the conquest of Makkah while they were still weak and their dominance, victory, and power were still unrealized. This fact on one hand disproves the assertion of the Pope that Muslims fought wars after acquiring power and on the other it proves that these wars of Muslims were indeed defensive and were the wars for their survival. General Condition of Muslims at the Outset of Defensive Wars It is also pertinent to analyse the allegation of the Pope from the perspective of the general state of Muslims when the defensive