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They refuse to see any virtue in Islam and to associate the Muslims with any high
motives
The dispute between these various sections is quite serious and sometimes takes the
shape of academic discussion. But be that as it may. The fact of the matter is that none
of these critics has made any serious attempt to understand the whole question and
present the truth in any honest manner. None of them has had the needed insight and
the moral courage to come out with the true version of the entire case. How heavy
their burden will be when they discover some day that they have misled and
misinformed millions of people! How serious their responsibility will be when they
know that they have committed grave offenses against the truth, against the Muslims
and against their own followers!
It will be impossible to present here the viewpoint of Islam in detail concerning each
war or battle. However, there are certain main points which will, when mentioned,
give a fair idea of the whole Matter
1. It should be remembered that Muhammad, who was commissioned by God as a
mercy for all mankind, tried to approach the rulers of the neighboring territories,
inviting them to embrace Islam and share in the mercy of God. It should also be
remembered that they did not only reject his gracious invitation but also derided him
and declared open wars against the Muslims. In his lifetime the Roman and Persian
soldiers crossed the Muslim borders in various raids. So by the time of his death the
Muslims were involuntarily at war with their neighbors
That state of affairs continued, and whatever happened later in the following
generations has to be seen in the context of those first incidents. This meant at the
time that all Christendom, including Spain and France, was at war with the emerging
world of Islam. The adventure of the Muslims in Europe has also to be seen in the
light of these circumstances. The fact that all christendom was operating as one power
is proven by the unquestionable authority of the Roman papacy over Christians. It is
also proven by the general mobilization of Christian powers against Islam during the
Crusades of the Middle Ages and even of the first quarter of this twentieth century
So, when Rome sanctioned war against Islam, the Muslims could not be denied the
full right to fight back on any battleground – whether in Palestine or in the Fertile
Crescent, Italy or Hungary. This is what took them to Spain and Southern France.
They could not afford to be encircled from all around by the mighty power of Rome
and Persia. Nor could they just wait to be wiped out from the face of the earth. Orders
were issued from Rome to slay Muhammad and present the Royal Court with his cut
head, something which the pagan Romans had done to the early Christian pioneers.
However, it must be admitted that some wars of later centuries had no relation to
Islam, although they were fought by Muslims. They were not for the spread of Islam.
Rather, they were motivated by certain local and, perhaps, personal reasons.
Aggression is aggression, whether it be from or against the Muslims, and the attitude
of Islam toward aggression is known and unchangeable. So, if there was aggression in
those later wars, it could not be justified by Islam or acceptable to God
2. None of the said critics tries to understand the nature and circumstances of those
early centuries. The media of mass communication did not exist. There was no press
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