Spread by the Sword
American author James Michener in his article ‘Islam: The Misunderstood Religion,’ that carried by Reader’s Digest in its May 1955 issue, says:
"No other religion in history spread so rapidly as Islam. The West thought that this surge of religion was made possible by the sword. But no modern scholar accepts this idea, and the Qur’an is explicit in the support of the freedom of conscience."
This reason that Islam spread so widely was that it differed from Christianity in two regards: firstly, the majority of Christians were illiterate their relationship with their religion was not through a personal knowledge of God or the Bible it was through the teachings of the Church; secondly, Christianity was the religion of empire. Whereas in contrast Muslims, had a personal relationship with God through the Qu'ran; and Islam was the religion of the people. In short, Christianity was imposed by Rome, it was the oppressor religion, Islam was the religion of liberation.
1 comment:
This is what shocks me about what the Pope said - "no modern scholar accepts this idea" - he's not only needlessly insulted Islam, he's showing how ignorant he is too. I've read quite a few of his other speeches, I'm no fan of his, but his other speeches seemed more intelligent.
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