Were wars made in order to spread the religion and to inform the people about the words of Allah?

Were wars made in order to spread the religion and to inform the people about the words of Allah?

Dear Brother / Sister,

- All of the wars made in the period of the Prophet (pbuh) are wars of defense. The polytheists expelled the Muslims from their land, grabbed their possessions and tried to violate their independence by using the land of Madinah while going to Damascus. That all of the wars made against the polytheists took place around Madinah shows that they were made by Muslims as wars of defense against the attackers.

- It is necessary not to forget that the wars made by the Muslims during the Era of Bliss were made based on the orders of Allah. Allah, who is the owner of all land and property, who can do whatever He wishes in His land and nobody has the right to question Him.

- If there were no wars, there would be no degree called martyrdom, whose owners are described as people of Paradise in the Quran. However, Allah wants to give His slaves the degree of martyrdom. Through martyrdom, the belief of slaves is tested and the sincere ones are given a lofty degree. The following verse, which was sent down related to the Battle of Uhud, sheds light on the issue:

“If a wound hath touched you, be sure a similar wound hath touched the others. Such days (of varying fortunes) We give to men and men by turns: that Allah may know those that believe, and that He may take to Himself from your ranks Martyr-witnesses (to Truth). And Allah loveth not those that do wrong…” (Aal-i Imran, 3/140 and 141)

- When the Companions went all over the world, they did not go as warriors but as apostles of peace in order to spread Islam. They worked at least fifty times more than the missionaries – compared to the conditions of that time.

- It is necessary to establish a dialogue with the people in order to convey the message of the religion to them. At that time, it was not possible for the administrators to allow the Muslims to do it and to travel freely. Thus, it became necessary to neutralize the tyrants in order to enable people to search and find the truth with their free will; material wars sometimes became necessary in order to pave the way for people to choose the true religion.

- The Christian world set many places on fire with the Crusades during the Middle Age; it should not be forgotten that the European nations, especially the British, invaded all over the world in the twentieth century and that they even used the missionaries for their own imperialistic aims.

- Therefore, it is completely wrong and contrary to historical facts to regard Christianity as the religion of peace and Islam as the religion of war; it means to be a slave of the sly suggestions of the western cultural imperialism.

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