What sword? Where was the sword? The Muslim trader did the job. His good conduct and moral rectitude achieved the miracle of conversion. "All what you say seems incontrovertible, Mr. Deedat," says the Christian controversialist, "but we are talking about Islam at its very beginning, the way in which your prophet converted the pagans to his faith! How did he do it if not with the sword?"
ONE AGAINST ALL?
We
can do no better than to allow Thomas Carlyle himself to defend his
Hero Prophet against this false charge; - - -
"THE SWORD INDEED: BUT WHERE WILL YOU GET YOUR SWORD! EVERY
NEW OPINION, AT ITS
STARTING, IS PRECISELY IN A
MINORITY OF ONE. IN ONE MAN'S HEAD ALONE, THERE IT DWELLS
AS YET. ONE MAN ALONE OF THE
WHOLE WORLD BELIEVES IT; THERE IS ONE MAN AGAINST ALL
MEN. THAT HE TAKE A SWORD, AND
TRY TO PROPAGATE WITH THAT, WILL DO LITTLE FOR HIM.
YOU MUST FIRST GET YOUR SWORD! ON
THE WHOLE, A THING WILL PROPAGATE ITSELF AS IT
CAN. WE DO NOT FIND, OF THE
CHRISTIAN RELIGION EITHER, THAT IT ALWAYS DISDAINED THE
SWORD, WHEN ONCE IT HAD GOT ONE.
CHARLEMAGNE'S CONVERSION OF THE SAXONS WAS NOT
BY PREACHING."
Heroes and
Hero-Worship. p. 80
At
the age of forty when Muhammad {pbuh} declared his mission from
heaven, there was no political party, or
royalty, and certainly no family
or tribe to back him up. His people - the Arabs, immersed in
idol-worship and
fetishism were not by any means a
docile people, they were no easy meat. They were a very volatile
people. given
to internecine and fratricidal wars: subject to "all kinds of
fierce sincerities - " {Carlyle}.
One man, single handed, to wean such a people required nothing short of a miracle. A miracle did happen. God alone could have made Islam and Muhammad {pbuh} to triumph through with flimsy, gossamer support. God fulfilling His promise:
One man, single handed, to wean such a people required nothing short of a miracle. A miracle did happen. God alone could have made Islam and Muhammad {pbuh} to triumph through with flimsy, gossamer support. God fulfilling His promise:
And
have We not raised high
the esteem in which thou
O Muhammad are held?
Holy Quran 94:4
To Be Continued....