islamic-jihad-legacy-of-forced-conversion-imperialism-slavery

The Arab–Islamic Imperialismshould seek refuge with Allah and give up such thoughts’ [Buhkari 4:496; Muslim 1:242–43]. ProphetMuhammad himself did not undertake any initiative to promote sciences, arts, architecture or other creativelearning during his rule in Medina.The Islamic revelation, vouchsafed in the Quran, was believed by the pious to be the completeencyclopedia of universal knowledge directly revealed by the omniscient Creator. Quran 3:164 says, ‘Allahdid confer a great favor on the believers when He sent among them an apostle from among themselvesrehearsing unto them the signs (knowledge) of Allah, sanctifying them in scripture and wisdom while, beforethat, they had been in manifest error.’ In other words, through the Quran, Allah has opened all his trueknowledge, wisdom and guidance to humankind; all that which humanity has known prior to the coming ofIslam are manifestly erroneous. Allah claims, from the Quran, the encyclopedia of His knowledge, noknowledge of the natural world has been left out: ‘There is not an animal (that lives) on the earth, nor a beingthat flies on its wings; but (forms part of) communities like you. Nothing have we omitted from the Book…’[Quran 6:38]. Allah insists that the Quran is not a forged book but His true guidance and wisdom, containingall knowledge what existed before and what was to come, sent down from the heaven with everything clearlyexplained: ‘In their histories, there is certainly a lesson for men of understanding. It is not a narrative whichcould be forged, but a verification of what is before it and a distinct explanation of all things and a guide anda mercy to a people who believe’ [Quran 12:111].Therefore, the knowledge and guidance contained in the Quran, hold pious Muslims, are all, whichone needs to live a perfect life in this world. A Muslim can secure an auspicious life in Paradise—the sole aimof Muslim life in this world—only by assiduously adhering to the prescriptions and proscriptions of theQuran. In affirmation of this fundamental belief in Islam, Prof. Umaruddin writes: ‘The Muslims came veryearly to believe that, with the advent of Islam, all previous system of thoughts were abrogated. The Quran wasconsidered to be the only true guide to humanity that promised success in this world and the next.’ 397 Dr AliIssa Othman, likewise, affirms that the Quran is "a motivator of thought and an end of knowledge" forMuslims. 398 Therefore, patronized by Abbasid rulers, when the translation of ancient manuscripts fromGreece, India and Egypt etc. made them accessible to Muslims, they were stunned that such vast treasure ofknowledge and wisdom was known to humankind before Islam. In order to conform to Islam’s repudiation ofthe knowledge and wisdom of pre-Islamic times as erroneous and misleading, ‘Certain caliphs, it is said,ordered the originals of the Greek and Latin manuscripts’ to be cast into flames after their translation intoArabic. This was intended for destroying the evidence of their pre-Islamic origin, so that they could be passedon as product of the Islamic age. Consequently, ‘scores of Greek and Latin texts mentioned in the ancientwritings now survive only in their Arabic versions.’ 399The early Muslims, therefore, had no interest in, but only disdain for, such social, cultural,intellectual, political and material achievements. This naturally led to neglect and decline of such endeavors inthe lands Muslims conquered. Islam’s contempt for art, poetry, music, science and architecture etc. had adebilitating impact on them, as says Guillaume, the legacy of Islam ‘has proved least valuable where thereligion has exercised the strongest influence.’ 400 Alberuni in his eyewitness account of Islam’s deleteriousimpact on sciences and learning in India wrote that ‘Hindu sciences have retired far away from those parts ofthe country conquered by us, and have fled to places which our hands cannot yet reach, to Kashmir, Benaras,and other places.’ 401 On the contributions of Muslim invaders to India, Rizwan Salim writes:397. Umaruddin, p. 42398. Waddy, p. 15399. Walker, p. 289400. Arnold T and Guillaume A eds. (1965) The Legacies of Islam, Oxford University Press, p. V401. Lal (1999), p. 20134