Islam was not spread by the sword, as is a common myth. The Quran explicitly states there is no compulsion in religion. Prophet Muhammad preferred peaceful means of spreading Islam and only engaged in defensive wars when attacked by enemies. Islam grew rapidly from 1 person to 40,000 in 23 years through wisdom and preaching, not force. Non-Muslim populations survived for centuries in Muslim lands, disproving claims Islam forces conversion. Evidence shows Islam spread through hearts and minds attracting sincere followers, not the sword.

1. ISLAM & SWORD

2. The first impression most Koreans get when they
first hear about Islam and
the Quran can be expressed as :
“The Quran in one hand and sword in the other”.
Let's see how true this _expression is;

3. Islam states the methods how to invite people to
Islam.
There isn't any among them forcing people by sword or any
other weapon to accept Islam
On the contrary main tool is wisdom, smooth expressions
and a smiling face.
"Invite to the way of Allah (SWT) with wisdom, and fair
preaching…” (Surah An- Nahl 16/125).

4. In The Quran Allah (SWT) says:
"There is no compulsion in religion “
( Surah Al- Baqara 2/256)
Religion should be chosen by own decision.
The property of religion is not compulsion; on the
contrary religion prevents forcing.
According to this verse of The Quran, nobody may
be forced to accept religion.
Because, religions addresses to the hearts.

5. The essence of religion is faith (iman). The place of faith (iman)
is the heart. It is not acceptable just to say “I believe…” coming
only from your mouth but not from your heart.
Those, without having faith (iman) in their hearts, say I believe
are only double faced hypocrites (munafiq).
According to Islam hypocrites (munafiq) are more harmful than
unbelievers (kafeer).
Because they pretend to be muslim though they aren't. So the
faith (iman) as a result of someone's fear of death is not
acceptable.

6. Religion means Love of Allah (SWT) and deep belief in Him.
And Love couldn't be placed in hearts by force.
There is an interesting example for this issue in The Quran. When
Allah (SWT) sent his prophets Moses and Aaron (AS) with His
following order to the pharaoh:
" Speak to him mildly, perhaps he may accept admonition or fear of
Allah" (Surah Ta-ha 20/44)
It can be easily seen that it is an order of The Quran to use mild
way a soft language even you talk to the most stubborn unbeliever.
Compulsion is contrary to the spirit of Islam.

7. No doubt the first person, who delivered the message of The Quran
was his messenger Muhammad (SAW).
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) preferred way of peace in his 23 years
guidance life.
Always war was started by his enemies, the unbelievers.

8. They could not prevent Islam
spreading and boosting though
they tried every way. Islam
started with only one person
but reached to 40.000 in 23
years.

9. In the last 10 years of the Prophet Muhammad’s life there were more
than 50 wars.
After these wars the land of muslims reached 1.5 million square
km.
The dead rate of enemies was only about 150 people totally, which
means the aim of muslims is that, people get known Islam rather
than dying without belief.
Through the history none of other religions spread as fast as Islam.

10. The unacceptable myth that Islam was spread by sword
the (non-Muslim) historian De Lacy Leary wrote:History
makes clear.
However, that, the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping
through the world and forcing Islam at the point of sword
upon conquered races in one of the most fantastically
absurd myth that historians have ever accepted. (Islam
at the crossroad, London, 1923, p.8)

11. It should also be known that
Muslims ruled Spain for nearly 800
years. During this time, and up to
when they were finally forced out,
the non-Muslims there were alive
and flourishing. Additionally,
Christian and Jewish minorities
have survived in the Muslim lands
of the Middle East for centuries
such as Egypt, Morocco, Palestine,
Lebanon, Syria and Jordan and all
have Christian, Jewish populations.

12. If Islam taught that all people are supposed to be killed or
forced to become Muslim, how did all of these nonMuslims survive for so long in the Middle of the Islamic
Empire?
Additionally, if one considers the small number of
Muslims who initially spread Islam from Spain and
Morocco in the West to India and China in the East, one
would realize that they were far too few to force people
to be members of a religion against their will.

13. Additionally, the great empire and civilization established
by the Muslims had great staying power, its citizens were
proud to be part of it.

14. The spread of Islam stands in contrast to the actions of the followers
of Christianity, who since the time of the Emperor Constantine have
made liberal use of the sword-often basing their conduct on Biblical
verses.
This was especially true of the colonization
of South America and Africa, where native
peoples were systematically wiped-out or
forced to convert.

15. It is also interesting to note that when the Mongols invaded and
conquered large portions of the Islamic State instead of destroying
the religion they adopted it.
This is a unique event in history-the conquerors adopting the religion
of the conquered!
Since Genghis Khan and his soldiers were the victors, they certainly
could not have been forced to become Muslims! Ask any of the 1.5
billion Muslims alive in the world today, whether they were forced!

16. The largest Muslim country in the world today is Indonesia-and there
were never any battles fought there! So where was the sword? How
could someone be forced to accept a religion like Islam?
As a result we can say that all evidences prove that Islam is not the
religion of sword. Islam is the last and perfect religion of Allah
(SWT), which is accepted and adopted by the sincere heart not by
force.