Islam: The peaceful religion|Reply to Robert Spencer

Recently I came across a book namely “The history of jihad from Muhammad to ISIS”. It left me in curiosity of the true evidences. People feel it is okay to blame the religion and its teachings and mar Islam’s reputation. After surfing many books and stuffs available I took 6 Verses from the divine book of Islam to make people think to get a clear vision of islam.

The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born and lived in Mecca for the first 62 years of his life (570–632 CE). Orphaned early in life, he became known as a prominent merchant, and as an impartial and trustworthy arbiter of disputes. He married his first wife, the wealthy 40-year-old widow Khadijah at the age of 25. He would also marry Aisha and many others later in his life.

According to the Muslim tradition, Muhammad began receiving revelations at the age of 40; some of his peers respected his words and became his followers, while others, including tribal leaders, opposed, ridiculed and eventually boycotted his clan, and Muhammad and his followers were killed, tortured, harassed, assaulted and forced into exile Several attempts were made on his life. When his uncle and chief protector, Abu Talib who was the head of the clan of Banu Hashim died, Muhammad migrated to Medina in 622, where he had many followers who agreed to help and assist him.

He remained there until returning to conquer Mecca in December 629 and died there in June 632.

At the time of Muhammad's birth, women in 7th century Arabia had few if any rights. Even the right of life could be in question, since it was not uncommon for small girls to be buried alive during times of scarcity. In the Qur'an, it is said that on Judgment Day "buried girls" will rise out of their graves and ask for what crime they were killed. Part of Muhammad's legacy was to end infanticide and establish explicit rights for women.

Islam teaches that men and women are equal before God. It grants women divinely sanctioned inheritance, property, social and marriage rights, including the right to reject the terms of a proposal and to initiate divorce. The American middle-class trend to include a prenuptial agreement in the marriage contract is completely acceptable in Islamic law. In Islam's early period, women were professionals and property owners, as many are today. Although in some countries today the right of women to initiate divorce is more difficult than intended, this is a function of patriarchal legislation and not an expression of Islamic values. Muhammad himself frequently counseled Muslim men to treat their wives and daughters well. "You have rights over your women," he is reported to have said, "and your women have rights over you."

Muhammad was orphaned at an early age. He once remarked that, "Heaven lies at the feet of mothers." As the father of four daughters in a society that prized sons, he told other fathers that, if their daughters spoke well of them on the Day of Judgment, they would enter paradise.

 6 Verses of Quran That Prove Islam Is a Peaceful Religion

1. Muslims cannot preemptively initiate a war

[2:190] “You may fight in the cause of GOD against those who attack you but do not aggress. GOD does not love the aggressors.”

[2:192] “If they refrain, then GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.”

[2:193] “You may also fight them to eliminate oppression, and to worship GOD freely. If they refrain, you shall not aggress; aggression is permitted only against the aggressors.”

They are only allowed to act in defense. Muslims have permission from God to fight back only when they are expelled from their houses or lands.

2. Muslims are not allowed to stray away from the divine justice

[2:190] “Fight for the cause of God, those who fight you, but do not transgress, for God does not love the transgressors.”

The idea of unrestricted, apocalyptic warfare as professed by Isis, is totally un-Islamic.

3. Muslims must treat prisoners of war with honor

The gruesome acts of beheading, rape, and enslavement are not allowed in the Holy book.

[76:8-9]”And feed with food the needy wretch, the orphan and the prisoner, for love of Him (saying) : We feed you, for the sake of Allah only. We wish for no reward nor thanks from you..”

4.  Followers of Islam are not allowed to force their religious beliefs upon their enemies or anyone for that matter

[2/ 256] “There is no compulsion where the religion is concerned.” 

5. Freedom of thought and religion are essential according to the Quran

 [Surat al-Ma’ida, 48] “We have appointed a law and a practice for every one of you. Had God willed, He would have made you a single community, but He wanted to test you regarding what has come to you. So compete with each other in doing good. Every one of you will return to God and He will inform you regarding the things about which you differed.”

6. The Quran preaches the importance of doing good

[2:195] “And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction; but do good; for Allah loveth those who do good.” – Al Baqara

Seerat-e-Nabi SAW

1.     The Garbage Thrower: (a heart touching story)

She thought till late at midnight and finally decided how to take revenge from him. She could not sleep all night, because she was too eager to take revenge for the idols she worshiped. Even before the first ray of sunlight had entered her window, she was busy sweeping her house. She saved all the garbage in a basket, placed it on the roof of her house and proudly looked at it for a while, then with an impatient look on her face, she looked at the street that she lived on, and thought, “No one has ever seen him angry. Everybody will praise me when they will see him shouting at me and getting mad. They will laugh at him and make fun of him.” She looked at the basket again and grinned.

Meanwhile, she heard footsteps, announcing the approach of the end of her waiting. “Finally my prey has arrived,” she thought, as she saw a man dressed in clean, white clothes coming that way. She picked up the basket in her hands and threw all the garbage on him when he passed by. Much to the woman’s disappointment, he did not say anything and continued on his way.

She did the same the following day thinking, “Maybe this time I will be able to annoy him.” But he was too gentle to shout at a woman. She misinterpreted his attitude as fear and decided to repeat the same mischief everyday in order to keep him frightened, so that he might stop preaching the Oneness of God.

This gentleman whom the woman hated so much was our Beloved Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the last prophet of Allah Almighty. He ﷺ did not want to disappoint the woman and so continued to walk down the street everyday, instead of picking an alternate route, and prayed for the woman to recognize the Truth.

One day, the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ did not find the woman to be on the roof of her house with the basket. This worried him ﷺ, because he ﷺ thought something must have happened to her for not being over there. So he ﷺ knocked at the door. “Who is it?” asked a feeble voice. “Muhammad bin Abdullah,” was the reply, “can I come in?” The woman feared, “I am sick, and too weak to fight or talk back, therefore Muhammad has come to take revenge for what I have been doing to him.” But the permission to enter her house was in such a gentle voice that she allowed him in.

Our Beloved Prophet ﷺ entered the house and told the woman that not finding her on the roof had worried him and he thus wanted to inquire about her health. On finding out how ill she was, he gently asked if she needed any help. Hypnotized by the affectionate tone in the Holy Prophet’s ﷺ blessed voice, she forgot all fear and asked for some water. He ﷺ kindly gave her some in a utensil and prayed for her health, while she quenched her thirst. This made her feel very guilty for being so cruel to him ﷺ in the past and she apologized for her mean behavior. He ﷺ forgave her and came to her house everyday to clean it, to feed her and to pray for her, till she was on her feet again. The kind attitude of the Holy Prophet ﷺ inspired her into the recognition of the Truth, and his prayers were answered in the form of yet another addition into the growing number of Muslims. #HeIsMuhammad ﷺ

2. THE HOLY PROPHET (peace be upon Him)  AND THE SOUR GRAPES

One day a poor man brought a bunch of grapes to the holy prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) as a gift.
The holy prophet (pbuhf) ate one, two, three and then the whole bunch of grapes by himself. He did not offer grapes to anyone present. The poor man who brought those grapes was very pleased and left. One of the companions asked, "O prophet of Allah (peace be upon Him) ! How come you ate all the grapes by yourself and did not offer to any one of us present?

The holy Prophet (peace be upon Him) smiled and said, "I ate all the grapes by myself because the grapes were sour. If I would have offered you, you might have made funny faces and that would have hurt the feelings of that poor man. I thought to myself that it's better that I eat all of them cheerfully and please the poor man. I did not want to hurt the feelings of that poor man."
Such were the manners of this most noble prophet of Allah. 

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3. SACRIFICE OF THE LAMB

Just as the Prophet (S.A.W.), and his companions landed from their rides, and laid the loads down, it was decided that they would sacrifice a lamb for dinner.

One of the companions volunteered: "I will sacrifice the lamb."

Another: "I will skin it."

Third: "I will cook it."

Fourth: " I will...."

The Prophet (S.A.W.): "I will gather the wood from the desert."

The group: "O Messenger of Allah, it is not becoming of you to discomfort yourself as such. You rest. We will be honored to do all this on our own."

The Prophet (S.A.W.): "I know that you are eager to do it all, but Allah isn't pleased with the slave who distinguishes between himself and his companions, and considers himself better than others."

Then he went to the desert, and gathered some wood, and brought it to the group.

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4. THE HUMBLE ONE

One day Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was going somewhere at noon and it was too hot in the desert when He (S.A.W) saw an old woman carrying her luggage on her head. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) helped her and took the luggage from the woman and carried it for her..

Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) asked the woman that where she was going and why? She said that I am leaving this town as I have heard that a magician named Muhammad (S.A.W) is in town.

As Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was very patient and kind, He (S.A.W) didn't say a word and kept listening. The old lady kept complaining that why she was leaving the town.

In short the basic reason of her to leave the town was her misconception about Muhammad (S.A.W), who was walking beside her and she didn't knew it.

While walking with the Holy Prophet (peace be upon Him), that old women noticed that this young man have a brightness on his smiling and humble face. And she also noticed that His sweat is perfumed. She was very impressed.

When they reached the destination, Muhammad (S.A.W) put down the bag and was about to leave when the old woman said,"O, kind person! At least tell me your name!". Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) replied,"I am the person because of whom you left the town."The old lady was amazed to listen that and said that such a kind, helping and true person can never be wrong and therefore she also accepted Islam

5.  Mercy of our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him) toward others

"By the grace of Allaah, you are gentle towards the people; if you had been stern and ill-tempered, they would have dispersed from round about you"

 [Quran, 3: 159]

1. A Mercy Towards non Muslims and his Enemies.

 The prisoners of war taken captive at the battle of Badr were amongst his bitterest enemies. Nevertheless, he sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) made sure that they were given the best of treatment. Among them was Suhayl bin 'Amr who was a fiery speaker and was denouncing the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ). 'Umar may Allaah be pleased with him one the Prophet’s closest companions, suggested that two of his lower teeth be pulled out so that he might not be so vile in his speeches. The Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) replied: “Were I to do this, Allah would disfigure me on the Day of Judgement, despite the fact that I am His messenger.”

And the Prophet himself said, "Indeed, I am sent as a mercy." (Muslim)

When the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) went to Ta'if to invite its people to Islam they met him with denial and ridicule and encouraged street boys to throw stones at him until his feet bled. Even under such circumstances, when angels sought his permission to destroy the town, the Prophet refused saying. "i am sent as a mercy and not as a punishment"

His mercy was a general mercy; which included everyone, the non-believer as well as the believer. When Tufayl bin `Amr ad-Dausiy gave up hope on the guidance of his tribe he went to the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) and said, "O Messenger of God, the tribe of Daus has disobeyed and refused, so supplicate to God against them." The Prophet faced Makkah and raised his hands, and the people were certain that Daus would be destroyed. But the Prophet of Mercy only said, "O God, guide Daus and bring them [to Islam]." (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

And when he conquered Makkah, entering it with ten thousand soldiers, God gave him the decision concerning those who had abused and persecuted him, plotted his assassination, expelled him from his homeland, killed his companions and tortured them because of their religion. One of his companions said, "Today is a day of massacre." But the Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) said, "No, but today is a day of mercy."

Then he went before the defeated people whose eyes were wide with fear and whose hearts were trembling, waiting to see what the victorious conqueror would do with them. Their own practice was that of revenge and murder. But the Prophet said to them, "O Quraysh, what do you suppose I should do with you?" They replied, "What is good. You are a generous brother and the son of a generous brother." The Messenger of God replied, "Go, for you are free."

Abu Huraira reported it was said to Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him): Invoke curse upon the polytheists, whereupon he said: I have not been sent as the invoker of curse, but "I have been sent as mercy."

Muslim..vol 3..no 2112

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2. The Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) and the Appreciation of Women

 Fourteen centuries ago, the Messenger of God declared through divine revelation that women were equal in humanity and faith with men.

The Messenger of God confronted many cruel and unjust practices against women during his time. Some of the Arabs, considering women inferior, would bury their daughters alive but the Prophet spoke out against such evil customs. The Qur'an describes it thus:

And when one of them is informed of [the birth of] a female, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief. He hides himself from the people because of the ill of which he has been informed. Should he keep it in humiliation or bury it in the ground? Unquestionably, evil is what they decide.

(16:58-59)

 The Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) used to encourage kindness to women and girls. He said,“Whoever supports two daughters until they reach the age of puberty, he will come on the Day of Resurrection with me [like this], and he joined his fingers.” (Muslim)

 Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him) emphasized kindness to mothers. Once a man came to him asking, "O Messenger of God, who is most entitled to my good companionship?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man said, "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked again, "Who is next?" The Prophet once again repeated, "Your mother." The man asked for the fourth time, "Who is next?" The Prophet then said, "Your father."

The Messenger of God used to consult women, deal with them gently, support them in all situations and give them their complete rights in a way never dreamt of before. He was also concerned with educating women. He even appointed a day for them to assemble and would come to teach them from that which God had taught him. (Muslim)

He did not make women prisoners within the house, but allowed them to go out to take care of their needs, visit their relatives and the sick. He allowed them to buy and sell in the marketplace as long as they adhered to modest conduct and proper dress. He also allowed them to attend the mosque and forbade preventing them, saying, "Do not prevent your women from [coming to] the mosques." (Ahmad and Abu Dawud)

He prohibited beating women and said, "Do not strike the female servants of God." (Abu Dawud) And he urged kindness toward them with the words, "Be advised to be good to women." (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) This means good treatment, respect for her rights, concern for her feelings and avoidance of any kind of harm. And he told his companions, "The best of you is the best of you to your wives." (Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi)

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3. What Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him) Said About the Environment

 The Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) recognized the importance of looking after the environment. He taught that human beings were God’s agents on the earth and it is their duty to protect it. On one occasion, he said: “The world is green and beautiful, and God has appointed you his guardian over it.” (Sahih Muslim).

He encouraged believers to plant trees and regarded it a sin to destroy them without a valid reason. He said: “There is none amongst the believers who plants a tree or sows a seed and then a bird, a person or an animal eats from it, except that it is regarded as a charity [for which he can expect God’s pleasure and reward].” (Sahih al-Bukhari)

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 4. A Mercy for Children

 Allah’s Messenger sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allaah exalt his mention ) was particularly compassionate towards children. When he saw a child crying, he sat beside him or her and shared his or her feelings. He felt the pain of a mother for her child more than the mother herself. Once he said: “I stand in prayer and wish to prolong it. However, I hear the cry of a child and cut the prayer short for the anxiety which the mother is feeling.” [Al-Bukhaari]

Narrated Abu Huraira:

Allah's Apostle kissed Al-Hasan bin Ali while Al-Aqra' bin Habis At-Tamim was sitting beside him. Al-Aqra said, "I have ten children and I have never kissed anyone of them," Allah's Apostle cast a look at him and said, "Whoever is not merciful to others will not be treated mercifully."

Bukhari. vol 3. no 955

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5. Mercy toward Animals

Naratted by hazrat Abdullah bin jaffar that "once Prophet Muhammad went to a Muslim's garden. There was a camel. When that camel saw Prophet Muhammad, it started crying. Prophet Muhammad went close to him and put his hand over its head and said "where is his master?" an ansari Muslim came forward and said "oh Prophet! this is my camel" Then Prophet Muhammad said "Allah made you owner of this camel, dont you fear Allah regarding this poor animal. He complained me that you don't give him enough to eat and take too much work"

Sunan abi Dawood, no 2549

Masnad Ahamd, 1754

Naratted by hazrat Anas bin malik that. once Prophet Muhammad passed by a group. They had hunted a deer and it was tied to a poal. That deer said some thing to Prophet Muhammad. Then Prophet Muhammad asked the group "who is the owner of this dear?". Group replied "we are her owner". Prophet Muhammad then said "free her, she want to feed her fawns and after that she will come back to you". People asked "oh Allah's Prophet who will take guarantee of her return?" Prophet Muhammad said "i take her guarantee". They freed the deer. she went..feed her fawns and came back. when she came back they tied her again. After some time Prophet Muhammad passed by that group again and then he asked. Who is the owner of this dear. That group said "we are". Prophet Muhammad asked. "would you sell this dear to me?" . The group said "oh Allah's Prophet "it is yours". Then Prophet Muhammad freed that deer.

Tabrani, Mojam ul owsat. no 5547

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Naratted by hazrat Abdullah bin Masood "once we were with Prophet Muhammad during a journey. We passed by a tree where a sparrow had two hosts (sparrow's babies). Some muslims took those hosts. That sparrow began circling the group and was saying some thing. Prophet Muhammad then asked "who took this sparrow's hosts and hurt her?" some people said "we did this". Then Prophet Muhammad ordered them to put those hosts back. And they did exactly that.

Bahaki, Dalail e naboowah..vol 1. no 321.

The Messenger of God (blessings and peace be upon him) once said:

“Whilst a man was walking on a road, he became very thirsty. He found a well, climbed down it, drank his fill, and then came out. He then saw a dog panting hard and eating the damp earth. So he said: ‘This dog is thirsty, like I was.’ So he again went down into the well and filled his leather sock with water. Holding his sock in his mouth, he came out of the well and then gave the water to the dog. Therefore, God appreciated the man and forgave him his sins.” The Companions asked: ‘O Messenger of God! Do we get reward for being kind even to animals?’ The Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) replied: ‘There is reward for showing kindness to every living thing.’”

 (Al- Bukhari and Muslim)

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6. Conclusion

The love and compassion of Allah’s Messenger sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam ( may Allah exalt his mention ) for all kinds of creatures was not of the kind claimed by today’s ‘humanists’ and many Muslims too. He was sincere and balanced in his love and compassion. He was more compassionate than any other person. He was a Prophet raised by Allah, the Creator and Sustained of all beings, for the guidance and happiness of conscious beings - mankind and jinn - and the harmony of existence. Therefore, he lived not for himself but for others; he is a mercy for all the worlds.

“Indeed, in this [Quran] is notification for a worshiping people. And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” [Quran: 21:106-107]

Narrated Jarir bin 'Abdullah: Allah's Apostle said, "Allah will not be merciful to those who are not merciful to mankind." Bukhari..vol 3..no 2275

Narrated Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As: The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: "The Compassionate One has mercy on those who are merciful. If you show mercy to those who are on the earth, He Who is in the heaven will show mercy to you". Abu Dawood..vol 3..no 1533

Narrated AbuHurayrah: I heard AbulQasim (peace_be_upon_him) who spoke the truth and whose word was verified say: "Mercy is taken away only from ill fated (Caitiff)."