Islam and Christianity

saw the justice and mercy in Muslims, whom they had been
looking on as enemies. They realized that Islam was a religion
commanding goodness and beauty and guiding people to
happiness pertaining to this world and the next. Without the least
compulsion or threatening, they accepted Islam in large groups
which were mostly the size of a quarter of a town.
A close examination of the two documents provided above will
show you once again that the true Muslims, the true religious
guides showed great toleration towards all the other religions,
helped Christians and Jews, and even repaired their churches and
temples, how much less to force them to convert to Islam or
destroy their temples. Were not there any Muslims who
maltreated Christians? Perhaps, there were some. Yet they were
only a small number of ignorant people who were unaware of the
commandments of our religion. Those people did so in
consequence upon their sensuous indulgences, and were chastised
by other Muslims. No Muslim with common sense and with
sufficient knowledge of the commandments of Islam followed
them. Those people, who were Muslims only in name, persecuted
not only Christians but also Muslims. Their misdemeanour has
nothing to do with Islam. Allâhu ta’âlâ declares in the hundred and
sixty-eighth âyat of Nisâ Sûra of the Qur’ân al-kerîm: “Those who
reject Faith and do wrong, –Allah will not forgive them, nor guide
them to any way.” (4-168)
If explanations of the Qur’ân al-kerîm are examined, it will be
seen that Allâhu ta’âlâ commands (Muslims) always to treat other
people with mercy, compassion and forgiveness, to forgive those
who harmed you, always to smile benignly and to speak softly, to
be patient, and to prefer amity in social relations. It is written in
the annals of the world that our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam’ always recommended amity and offered a compassionate
hand even to those who were opposed to him.
Because Christian priests shut their eyes to truth, represent
Islam as a religion of barbarism, and educate young Christians with
this fallacy, the trepidation which those poor Christians feel during
their first visit to Muslim countries change to astonishment upon
learning the fact. We shall give a few examples. The following are
passages paraphrased from books written on this subject by
Christians. It is written as follows in a book entitled Letters from
Constantinople, written by Ms. Georgina Max Müller, who had
lived in Istanbul, and published in 1315 [1897 C.E.]:
– 237 –