Why Did They Become Muslims

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.]:
“When we were in school, we were taught that Muslims were
uncultivated people and that the Turks, especially, were altogether
ruthless barbarians. That preconception was so deeply-rooted in my
sub-conscience that I cannot describe the horror and the dismay I felt
when I heard that my son, a civil servant in the Foreign Ministry, was
assigned a duty in Istanbul. On the contrary, the days I spent in
Istanbul were the happiest days of my life. After my son went to
Istanbul, my husband Prof. Müller and I decided to visit him. My
husband was a universally famous person doing research in historical
events. He did not share my fears concerning the Turks, and wanted to
pursue some research in those historical places. Throughout my
preparations for the journey I shivered with the phobia ingrained in
me. How were those savage Muslims going to behave towards us? At
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