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438chapter sixcommunities. It allows them to live according to their diverse spiritualinterests and encourages them to achieve God’s rewards in theNext World in whatever way they want. To expand one specificreligion by force and to destroy or reuse houses of worship thatbelong to other religious communities is to blatantly ignore themeaning of this verse. Not even Communist China, which is officiallysecular, dared to demolish the Buddhist temples in Tibet—surely notout of respect for Buddhism but because of international pressureand the fears of the Chinese rulers lest they provoke a political scandal—nonetheless,their restraint is more in line with the Book thanwhat happened several times in history during the Islamic call( al-da#wa) that spread menace, intimidation, and sheer violence:If it had been your Lord’s will, they would all have believed—all whoare on earth! Will you then compel mankind, against their will, tobelieve! (Yånus 10:99)It is in the spirit of the Book to allow as many religious creeds as existin this world. The call to MuÈammad’s message ( al-Êm§n) must bebased on the acknowledgment that other religions—and this includesthe so-called non-Abrahamic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism,Mazdaism, Jainism, and Shintoism—have a legitimate right to exist,bearing in mind that the religion of al-isl§m is based only on beliefin God and the Last Day combined with faith in the unity of God(tauÈÊd).The three aims of qit§l form a single unity whereby each aim isinterconnected with the others. Verse 9:40 states the condition thatany fight between two opponents must aim, if it can be regarded asa fight in God’s way, at restoring God’s word concerning freedom,justice, and equality in human societies. The envisaged ideal of completesubmission to God is the human characteristic of voluntaryobedience or disobedience, not a relationship of servitude that suppresseshumans’ free will and their choice of religion. Verse 2:251states that mutual competition among men for material prosperitydoes not necessarily lead to armed conflict and normally stays withinthe realm of peaceful rivalry. It warns against the stifling of healthycompetition between groups and sections of human society andstresses the natural inclination of humans to contend with oneanother, which, if suppressed, leads to a serious decline of materialstandards in human civilisation. Finally, verse 22:40 brings this ideaof a peaceful contest onto the level of spirituality, since it forbids the