slam, in the tenth century, was the main religion, or at least, the religion of

the majority of peoples in an area covering more than half of the civilized
world stretching over three continents from the Pyrenees and Siberia in
West and North Europe to the farthest end of Asia, up to China and New
Guinea in the East; from Morocco in North Africa to the southern tip of
Africa, covering two-thirds of the African continent. It is one of the most
striking facts of human history that the spread of Islam over such a vast
area took place within three centuries. Most striking of all, within half a
century after the Hijra, Islam had already conquered the whole of North
Africa from Egypt to Morocco, all the Middle Eastern lands from Yemen to
Caucasia and from Egypt to the lands beyond Transoxiana. It was during
the reign of the third Caliph Uthman, that the Muslim envoys reached the
Chinese Palace where they were welcomed enthusiastically, an important
event marking, according to the historians, the beginning of Islam’s entry
into this country. There are many reasons why peoples have been, from
past to the present, so ready to embrace Islam, those pointed out by
Muhammad Asad, a Jewish convert to Islam, probably being the foremost:

‘Islam appears to me like a perfect work of architecture. All its arts are
harmoniously conceived to complement and support each other, nothing
lacking, with the result of an absolute balance and solid composure.
Everything in the teaching and, postulates of Islam is in its proper
place.’( Islam at the Crossroads, p.5)

Most Western writers, especially under the influence of the Church, have
never failed to accuse Islam of spreading by force of the sword. The causes
of this prejudice lie mainly in the fact that the spread of Islam has often
occurred at the expense of Christianity. While Islam has for centuries
obtained numerous conversions from Christianity without much effort or
organized missionary activities, Christianity has almost never been able to
achieve conversions from Islam in spite of sophisticated means and
wellorganized missionary activities, and it has always been at a
disadvantage in its competition with Islam for fourteen centuries. The defeat
of Christianity in the face of Islam has caused its missionaries and most of
the Orientalists to develop an inferiority complex within themselves by
depicting Islam and introducing it as a regressive, vulgar religion of savage
peoples. (John Cogley, Religion of Secular Age; Muhammad Asad, The
Road to Mecca). The same attitude has unfortunately been maintained
toward the Holy Prophet of Islam. This is clear in the confessions of some
unbiased writers of the West: According to P. Bayle:

‘Muslims, according to the principles of their faith, are under an obligation to

use force for the purpose of bringing other religions to ruin [probably he
means Jihad which is not for the purpose he suggests.]; yet, in spite of that,
they have been tolerating other religions for some centuries past. The
Christians have not been given orders to do anything but preach and
instruct, yet, despite this, from time immemorial they have been
exterminating by fire and sword all those who are not of their religion. We
may feel certain that if Western Christians, instead of the Saracens and the
Turks, had won the dominion over Asia, there would be today not a trace left
of the Greek Church, and that they would have never have tolerated
Muhammadanism as the ‘infidels’ have tolerated Christianity there. We
(Christians) enjoy the fine advantage of being far better versed than others
in the art of killing, bombarding and exterminating the Human Race. ‘(Bayle
P., Dictionary, article Mahomed, 1850)

Islam is indebted for its unequalled spread to its religious content and
values, which is admitted by all objective Western intellectuals:

‘Many have sought to answer the questions of why the triumph of Islam was
so speedy and complete? Why have so many millions embraced the religion
of Islam and scarcely a hundred ever recanted? Why do a thousand
Christians become Muslims to one Muslim who adopts Christianity? Some
have attempted to explain the first overwhelming success of Islam by the
argument of the sword. They forget Carlyle’s laconic reply. First get your
sword. You must win men’s hearts before you can induce them to imperil
their lives for you; and the first conquerors of Islam must have been made
Muslims before they were made fighters on the Path of God. Others allege
the low morality of the religion and the sensual paradises it promises as a
sufficient cause for the zeal of its followers: but even were these admitted to
the full, no religion has ever gained a lasting hold upon the souls of men by
the force of its sensual permissions and fleshy promises...

‘In all these explanations the religion itself is left out of the question.
Decidedly, Islam itself was the main cause for its triumph. Islam not only
was at once accepted (by many peoples and races) by Arabia, Syria,
Persia, Egypt, Northern Africa and Spain, at its first outburst; but, with the
exception of Spain, it has never lost its vantage ground; it has been
spreading ever since it came into being. Admitting the mixed causes that
contributed to the rapidity of the first swift spread of Islam, they do not
account for the duration of Islam. There must be something in the religion
itself to explain its persistence and spread, and to account for its present
hold over so large of a proportion of the dwellers on the earth... Islam has
stirred an enthusiasm that has never been surpassed. Islam has had its
martyrs, its self-tormentors, its recluses, who have renounced all that life
offered and have accepted death with a smile for the sake of the faith that
was in them.’ (Stanley Lane-Poole, Study In a Mosque, pp. 86-9).

A. J. Arberry has also pointed out that the reason for the spread of Islam is
Islam itself and its religious values. (Aspects of Islamic Civilization, p.12)

He writes:

‘The rapidity of the spread of Islam, noticeably through extensive provinces

which had long been Christian, is a crucial fact of history. The sublime
rhetoric of the Qur’an, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which
move men to tears and ecstasy…and the urgency of the simple message
carried, holds the key to the mystery of one of the greatest catalysms in the
history of religion. When all military, political and economic factors have
been exhausted, the religious impulse must still be recognized as the most
vital and enduring.’

Brockelman, who is usually very unsympathetic and partial, also recognizes

the religious values of Islam as the main factor for the spread of Islam
(History of the Islamic Peoples, p.37). Rosenthal makes his point as follows:
‘The more important factor for the spread of Islam is the religious Law of
Islam (Shari‘a, which is an inclusive, all-embracing, all-comprehensive way
of thinking and living) which was designed to cover all manifestations of life.’
(Political Thought in Medieval Islam, p.21).

Besides many other reasons which are responsible for the spread of Islam,
it is the exemplary life-style and unceasing efforts of individual Muslims to
transmit the message of Islam throughout the world which lie at the root of
the conquest of hearts by Islam. Islamic universalism is closely associated
with the principle of ‘amr bi’l-ma’ruf (enjoining the good) for Islam is to be
spread by Muslims by means of ‘amr bi’l-ma’ruf. This principle seeks to
convey the message of Islam to all human beings in the world and to
establish a model Islamic community on a worldwide basis. The Islamic
community is introduced by the Qur’an as a model community: We have
made of you an Ummah justly balanced, that you might be witnesses
(models) for the peoples, and the Messenger has been a witness for you
(2.143). A Muslim or the Muslim community as a whole thus has a goal to
achieve. This is the spread of Islam, conveying the truth to the remotest
corner of the world, the eradication of oppression and tyranny and the
establishment of justice all over the world. This requires the Muslim to live
an exemplary life, and thus the moral and the ethical values of Islam have
usually played an important part in the spread of Islam. Here follow the
impressions of the influence of Islamic ethics on black Africans of a Western
writer of the nineteenth century:

‘As to the effects of Islam when first embraced by a Negro tribe, can there,
when viewed as a whole, be any reasonable doubt? Polytheism disappears
almost instantaneously; sorcery, with its attendant evils, gradually dies
away; human sacrifice becomes a thing of the past. The general moral
elevation is most marked; the natives begin for the first time in their history
to dress, and that neatly. Squalid filth is replaced by some approach to
personal cleanliness; hospitality becomes a religious duty; drunkenness,
instead of the rule becomes a comparatively rare exception chastity is
looked upon as one of the highest, and becomes, in fact, one of the
commoner virtues. It is idleness that henceforward degrades, and industry
that elevates, instead of the reverse. Offences are henceforward measured
by a written code instead of the arbitrary caprice of a chieftain–a step, as
everyone will admit, of vast importance in the progress of a tribe. The
Mosque gives an idea of architecture at all events higher than any the
Negro has yet had. A thirst for literature is created and that for works of
science and philosophy as well as for the commentaries on the Qur’an.’
(Quoted from Waitz by B. Smith, Muhammad and Muhammadanism, pp.42-
43)

The tolerance of Islam is another factor in the spread of Islam. Toynbee

praises this tolerance towards the People of the Book after comparing it with
the attitude of the Christians towards Muslims and Jews in their lands. (A
Historian’s Approach to Religion, p.246). T. Link attributes the spread of
Islam to the credibility of its principles together with its tolerance, persuasion
and other kinds of attractions (A History of Religion). Makarios, Orthodox
Patriarch of Antioch in the seventeenth century, compared the harsh
treatment received by the Russians of the Orthodox Church at the hands of
the Roman Catholic Poles with the tolerant attitude towards Orthodox
Christians shown by the Ottoman Government and prayed for the Sultans
(T. Link, A History of Religion).

This is not the only example of preference by the followers of the religions
for Muslim rule over that of their own co-religionist. The Orthodox Christians
of Byzantium openly expressed their preference for the Ottoman turban in
Istanbul to the hats of the Catholic cardinals. Elisee Reclus, the French
traveller of the nineteenth century, wrote that the Muslim Turk allowed all
the followers of different religions to perform their religious duties and
rituals, and that the Christian subjects of the Ottoman Sultan were more free
to live their own lives than the Christians who lived in the lands under the
rule of any rival Christian sect (Nouvelle Geographie Universelle, vol. 9).
Popescu Ciocanel pays tribute to the Muslim Turks by stating that it was
luck for the Romanian people that they lived under the government of the
Turks rather than the domination of the Russians and Austrians. Otherwise,
he points out, ‘no trace of the Romanian nation would have remained,’ (La
Crise de l’Orient).

The Muslims’ attitude towards the people they conquered is quite clear in
the instructions given by the rightly-guided Caliphs: ‘Always keep fear of
God in your mind; remember that you cannot afford to do anything without
His grace. Do not forget that Islam is a mission of peace and love. Keep the
Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) before you as a model of bravery and
piety. Do not destroy fruit-trees nor fertile fields in your paths. Be just, and
spare the feelings of the vanquished. Respect all religious persons who live
in hermitages or convents and spare their edifices. Do not kill civilians. Do
not outrage the chastity of women and the honour of the conquered. Do not
harm old people and children. Do not accept any gifts from the civil
population of any place. Do not billet your soldiers or officers in the houses
of civilians. Do not forget to perform your daily prayers. Fear God.
Remember that death will inevitably come to every one of you some time or
other, even if you are thousands of miles away from a battlefield; therefore
be always ready to face death.’ (Andrew Miller, Church History; Ali lbn Abi
Talib, Nahj al-Balagha)
A historical episode which Balazouri, a famous Muslim historian, relates,
tells about how pleased the native peoples were with their Muslim
conquerors is of great significance:

When Heraclius massed his troops against the Muslims, and the Muslims
heard that they were coming to meet them, they refunded the inhabitants of
Hims the tribute they had taken from them, saying: ‘We are too busy to
support and protect you. Take care of yourselves.’ But the people of Hims
replied: ‘We like your rule and justice far better than the state of oppression
and tyranny in which we were. The army of Heraclius we shall indeed, with
your help, repulse from the city.’ The Jews rose and said: ‘We swear by the
Torah, no governor of Heraclius shall enter the city of Hims unless we are
first vanquished and exhausted.’ Saying this, they closed the gates of the
city and guarded them. The inhabitants of other cities–Christians and Jews–
that had capitulated did the same. When by God’s help the unbelievers
were defeated and Muslims won, they opened the gates of their cities, went
out with singers and players of music, and paid the tribute (Futuh al-
Buldan).

To sum up, although most Western writers, under the instigation of biased
Orientalists of the Church, have alleged that Islam spread by the force of the
sword, the spread of Islam was because of its religious content and values,
and ‘its power of appeal and ability to meet the spiritual and material needs
of people adhering to cultures totally alien to their Muslim conquerors’,
together with some other factors. Some of these factors are the tolerance
which Islam showed to people of other religions, the absence of ecclesiastic
orders and hierarchy in Islam, mental freedom and absolute justice which
Islam envisages and has exercised throughout the centuries, the ethical
values it propagates, and Islamic humanitarianism, universalism and
brotherhood, and its inclusiveness. Sufi activities, the moral superiority of
Muslim tradesmen, the principle of ‘enjoining the good’, and Islamic
dynamism and the magnificence of the Islamic civilization contributed of
their own to the spread of Islam.

The main religious qualities which attracted people to Islam were:

(i) the simplicity of the theological doctrines of Islam based on the Divine
Unity;
(ii) rationalism of the Islamic teachings;

(iii) the complete harmony of the Islamic ideals and values with human
conscience;

(iv) the inclusiveness and comprehensives of Islam, covering all aspects of

physical, mental, and spiritual life of individuals and societies, hence the
harmony of religion and life which it established;

(v) the lack of formalism and mediation;

(vi) the vividness, dynamism and resilience of the Islamic theology, and its
creativity and universalism, and its compatibility with established scientific
facts;

(vii) the cohesion and harmony of the Islamic principles, and

(viii) the shortcomings of other theological systems.