The common image of Islaam being spread by an Arab on camel back riding in off the desert with a Quraan in one hand and a scimitar (a curved sword) in the other offering a choice of either accepting Islaam or losing one's head.
As mentioned earlier under the issue of apostasy, forcible conversion is prohibited in Islaam. The religion did not spread by the sword. There were military confrontations between the Muslim state and the existing world powers of Rome and Persia. However, the areas conquered were put under Muslim administration and the populations were free to maintain their own beliefs. Muslims ruled Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon from the 8th century and sizeable Christian communities continued to exist over the past 13 centuries. Muslims ruled Spain for 700 years and India for 1000 years without the vast majority of the population converting to Islaam.
The largest Muslim country in the world today is Indonesia, having over 200 million citizens, never saw a Muslim soldier. Islaam spread there and in Malaysia and Philippines by trade. That was also the case of Islaam's spread in West African countries like Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Chad and Niger. Also, Islaam is the fastest growing religion in America today with anywhere between 300 and 500 converts daily. This is taking place without any soldiers or even missionaries.
Terrorism
Terrorism is defined by the American government as the threat or the use of violence to advance a political cause by individuals or groups, whether acting for or in opposition to established governmental authority, when such actions are intended to shock, stun, or intimidate a target group wider than the immediate victims. Actually such a general definition will include all wars of liberation from the American War of Independence to the French Revolution. The worst aspect and perhaps the most common feature of terrorism is the unleashing of violence against innocent civilians.
The State of Israel is the most recent example of the establishment of a state by terrorism. It was established by Jewish terrorist groups, the most infamous of which was the Stern Gang.
The term "Muslim terrorist" is used to label Islaam as a terrorist religion. However, it is a misnomer. When IRA bombers struck, they were not labeled as "Catholic terrorists" even though the struggle is between Catholic Ireland and Protestant Northern Ireland supported by Protestant England. Likewise, when Timothy McVeigh blew up the CIA headquarters in Oklahoma City in 1995 killing 168 people, he was not labeled as a "Christian terrorist", though he was Christian and a terrorist. In fact the "Muslim terrorist" label was attached to the activities of the PLO who were a mixture of Muslims, Christians and communists. The PLO is not, nor was it ever, a Muslim organization. It is a nationalist organization working for the establishment of a secular Palestinian state.
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