Islam_in_Focus_text

the beginning, and meant to create trouble, not so much for
the new Muslim comers as for the new Muslim converts and
their compatriots, the tributepayers. In a national sense, that
attitude was treacherous; in a human sense, mean; in a social
sense, careless; and in a military sense, provocative. But in a
practical sense it needed suppression, not so much for the
comfort of the newcomers as for the sake of the state in
which these very traitors were living. This is the only time
force was applied to bring such people to their senses and
make them realize their responsibilities: either as Muslim by
accepting Islam freely, or as loyal citizens by being tributep-
ayers, capable of living with their Muslim compatriots and
sharing with them equal rights and duties.
3. It may be wise for these critics to study the Qur'an
with honest intentions to see what it ordains with regard to
war and peace. It may be wiser still for them to investigate
the status of the "conquered M
people, and the conditions un-
der which they lived before and after their contact with Mus-
lims. What will they say, if they find out that urgent appeals
were made to the Muslims by natives of the Persian and Ro-
man protectorates to come and deliver them from the op-
pressing foreign rule? What will they think, if they happen
to discover that the Muslim "conquerors" were joyfully wel-
comed by common people as well as by the religious patri-
archs, who were longing for Muslim protection and Muslim
justice of administration? How would they explain the phe-