Testimony of Some Western Scholars on the Muslim Conquest In his book "Civilization of the Arabs," Dr. Gustav LeBon says, "The reader will find, in my treatment of the Arabs' conquests and the reason of their victories, that force was never a factor in the spread of the Koranic teachings, and that the Arabs left those they had subdued free to exercise their religious beliefs. If it happened that some Christian peoples embraced Islam and adopted Arabic as their language, it was mainly due to the various kinds of justice on the part of the Arab victors, with the like of which the non-Moslems were not acquainted. It was also due to the tolerance and leniency of Islam, which was unknown to the other religions." In another place of his book, Dr. LeBon adds, "The early Arab conquests might have blurred their common sense and made them commit the sorts of oppression which conquerors usually commit, and thus ill-treat the subdued and compel them to embrace the Faith they wanted to spread all over the globe. Had they done so, all nations, which were still not under their control, might have turned against them, and they might have suffered what had befallen the Crusaders in their conquest of Syria lately. However, the early Caliphs, who enjoyed a rare ingenuity which was unavailable to the propagandists of new faiths, realized that laws and religion cannot be imposed by force. Hence they were remarkably kind in the way they treated the peoples of Syria, Egypt, Spain and every other country they subdued, leaving them to practise their laws and regulations and beliefs and imposing only a small Jizya in return for their protection and keeping peace among them. In truth, nations have never known merciful and tolerant conquerors like the Arabs." He further explains, "The mercy and tolerance of the conquerors were among the reasons for the spread of their conquests and for the nations' adoptions of their Faith and regulations and language, which becamse deeply rooted, resisted all sorts of attack and remained even after the disappearance of the Arabs' control on the world stage, though historians deny the fact. Egypt is the most evident proof of this. It adopted what the Arabs had brought over, and reserved it. Conquerors before the Arabs -- the Persians, Greeks and Byzantines -- could not overthrow the ancient Pharaoh civilization and impose what they had brought instead." Then in another place he adds, "A few impartial European scholars, who are well-versed in the history of the Arabs, do confirm this tolerance. Robertson, in his book "Biography of Charlequin," says that the Moslems alone were the ones who joined between Jihad and tolerance toward the followers of other faiths whom they had subdued, leaving to them the freedom to perform their religious rites." In his book "History of the Crusades," Michel Michaud says, "Islam, besides calling for Jihad, reveals tolerance toward the followers of other religions. It released the patriarchs, priests and their servants from the obligations of taxes. It prohibited, in special, the killing of priests for their performance of worship, and Omar Ibn Al-Khattab did not inflict harm on the Christians when he entered Jerusalem as a conqueror. The Crusades, however, did slay Moslems and burn the Jews when they entered the city." In his book, "Islam: Impressions and Studies," Count de Castri says, "After the Arabs yielded to, and believed in the Koran, and people received enlightenment through the True Religion, the Moslems appeared with a new show to the peoples of the earth, with conciliation and treatment on basis of free thinking and belief. The Koranic verses then succeeded one another, calling on kind treatment, after those verses in which warnings had been addressed to the heretic tribes... Such were the instructions of the Apostle after the Arabs had embraced Islam, and the Caliphs who succeeded Mohammed followed his example. This makes me say with Robertson that the people of Mohammed were the only ones who combined kindness to others and the pleasure of seeing their Faith spread. It was this affection that pushed the Arabs on the way of conquest. The Koran spread its wings behind its victorious troops that invaded Syria and moved on like a thunderbolt to North Africa, from the Red Sea to the Atlantic, without leaving a trace of tyranny on the way, except what is inescapable in every war, and never did they massacre a nation who rejected Islam... "The spread of Islam and the submission to its authority seem to have another reason in the continents of Asia and North Africa. It was the despotism of Constantinpole which exercised extreme tyranny, and the injustice of rulers was too much for people to bear... "Islam was never imposed by sword or by force, but it got into the hearts of people out of longing and free will, due to the talents of stimulation and captivation of people's hearts, lodged in the Koran." Many historians admit that the spread of Islam among the Christians of the Eastern Churches, was mainly due to a feeling of dissatisfaction that arose from the doctrinal sophistry which the Hellenistic spirit brought over to Christian theology. It was also due to the abundance of good that such Eastern Christians found in Islam, and due to its ability to rescue them from the disorder they were struggling in. In Caetani, for instance, one reads, "Known for its preference of simple and plain views, the East suffered, religiously, a great deal from the evil consequences of the Hellenistic culture which turned the refined teachings of Christ into an ideology rampant with complicated doctrines and doubts. This led to the rise of a feeling of despair, and even shook the very foundations of religious belief. When, at last, news suddenly came from the desert of the New Revelation, such Eastern Christianity, being torn by inner splits, was shattered... Its foundations were shaken, and, due to such doubts, the clergy of the church were taken by despair. Christianity was incapable, after this, of resisting the appeals of the New Faith which eliminated, with a mighty blow, all the trivial doubts and offered graceful, positive qualities in addition to its doubtless, simple and plain principles. It was then that the East forsake Christ and threw itself into the lap of the Prophet of Arabs."
>> dar elislam and dar el arab????? This is the first time I hear about that???? >> Maybe you have forgotten... Do you know the IMA(institut du monde arabe) in Paris ? You should go there one day and discuss with people, lots of muslims of various origins and active in the domains of art, culture, history and religion. You would learn a lot about Islam and the various approaches. And you would have a clearer view of this religion, that sure needs to evolve. OHLC
>> Concerning your Imam.. this is again bullshit. Contrary to christian religion, an Imam repreents only himself not the whole islam >> I never said something different. As you know official means accredited to emigrate in the country under a religious status, which does not allow people scanned as extremists. Stop lying, you are not bluffing anyone. OHLC
>> I am sorry to say that may be we are in the 21st century but we still have many stupid guys that judge a person on his race religion origin.... I am not but I can tell you that many people that say they are open minded are racist.. >> You are calling me stupid. You are calling me a racist (although I never mentioned race). And then you regret people that judge without knowing... Dont you think you judge me without knowing me ?? >> I am not but I can tell you that many people that say they are open minded are racist.. >> You sure are not open minded. OHLC
These are european historians, not a fanatic Imam. and they do say that force and killing of the others was not the way islam was spread but justice and human rights... Now, apparently you did not answer my questions... Have you read the articles I posted ... After the inquisition in Spain there were no muslim (or openly muslim in spain)... Jews were killed momentarily and those who could escaped to North Africa a muslim region... Do you want to negate that part of history that is known by everybody.. If as you said Islam says to kill the infidels... then why the jews escaped a christian country for a muslim country???? WHY... Why the first synaguogue in europe was built only in the 12th centruy. Why till today you have Christians in arab countries??? Why muslim were chased from Christian countries and when they came back in the 1950's/1960's to rebuild europe they were treated like animals and put in ghettoes.. they did not even have the right to have their own appartment... because at that the french said that these animals needed to be educated to gain the right to live in a normal place...
TF2000, a racist hates someone (or is prejudiced against) for their race. i have nothing at all against any race. in fact i have nothing at all against someone just because they happen to be muslim - afterall, it's not their fault they were born into that faith (or lied to about it in order to convert). i DO have a problem when a religion that is supposed to tell the believer how to live his life - which islam does - includes specific instructions to KILL nonbelievers. there is just no escaping this FACT. it's not propaganda, it is right there in black and white. i also have a problem when the founder of this religion was a crazy lunatic, who is supposed to the most perfect man who ever lived, but goes around MURDERING INNOCENT PEOPLE (all in the quran), RAPING, and BEING SEXUALLY AROUSED BY 6 YEAR OLD GIRLS. so it is quite clear WHAT it is i am AGAINST. so stop calling me a racist. and stop making pointless accusations and trying to rewrite history. do you seriously think you are fooling anybody? (except maybe selectively blind pacifists like vvv) i have already talked at length about why the precepts of this religion are a cause for international divisiveness so i'm not going through all that again. learn to face facts.
1/ what is dar alarab and dar alislam??? Please answer this question.. I don't need to go to the IMA to be informed... 2/ I said that there are people that uses Islam to justify bombings and if you are one of them, then you are a racist.. since you cannot justify bombings because of the religion, race, colour of the other person is different... All the more that this religion is certainly not the worst according to me. Now I took the writing of well known historian and they broke all your sayings about Islam hating the infidels and askilg for their killings.. It is completely the other side that is taken...
Me 2 .. it's over for me.. We discussed it at lenght.. Now, once again what you say is simply wrong.. this is not the way I was educated.. and this is not the way I lived Islam... I was not educated to kill the disbelievers or to hate the other because of his origin or religion yet I cannot say that some people do hate westeners like westeners do hate us... And more than that History proved it and even actual facts reread the text on history I posted... I am not blinding myself but you do not want to open your eyes.. How can you say that Islam ordered to kill the disbelievers and that first thing that the jew did was to escape a christian country for a muslim country. How can you say that and till today you have many christians and jews in the arab world.. It is not as black and white as you want it to be or Bush want it to be... Bush is just bullshitting and wants to hide his incompetence..
2/ I said that there are people that uses Islam to justify bombings and if you are one of them, then you are a racist.. since you cannot justify bombings because of the religion, race, colour of the other person is different... >>Where the hell did I justify the bombings of anything ????? Quote me, please ! And what bombings are we talking about, BTW ? As I told you I am not a racist, if you had a bit of honesty, you would not use slangs. 1/ what is dar alarab and dar alislam??? Dar-El-Arb/Dar-El-Islam. You should first go back to the concepts of : Umma, Djihad, high muslim authority Dar-el-Arb is progressively transformed into Dar-El-Islam through Djihad. When the Sharia becomes law, the land joins Dar-El-Islam. Intermediate steps are the establishment of a HMA. Umma is the whole muslim community, independently of the location of the Muslims. Dar-El-Islam is the the whole land of Islam, even if there are infidels living on it. Need to explain further ? OHLC BTW, I was serious about the IMA.