Why Did They Become Muslims

Nasrâniyyat, the original form of Christianity, was a religion
commanding belief in the Unity of Allah. The dogma of Trinity, or
Tripartite Godhead, was the result of misinterpretation which
provided opportune material for Jews to play upon in their activities
to demolish Nasrâniyyat. Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’ advised, “And unto him
that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; ..,” (Luke: 6-
29) and invoked a blessing on his persecuters, saying, “... Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do. ...” (ibid: 23-34) While
both religions communicate mercy and compassion, and while both of
them are based on patience and goodwill, why is all this enmity and
cruelty against each other through the centuries? These savageries and
cruelties are unilateral, and they have always been perpetrated by
Christians, who acknowledge this fact.
The aforesaid horrendous events have been derived from
literature written by Christian priests and Christian historians. There
might be some justification for scepticism if we had obtained this
information from books written by Islamic scholars. How long did
these cruelties against Muslims continue? Let us refer to foreign
sources to see how long these cruelties and the tribunals called
Inquisition continued. According to European sources, the tribunals
of Inquisition continued for six long centuries, from 578 [1183 C.E.] to
1222 [1807 C.E.], and in those hideous tribunals, which had branches
in Italy, in Spain and in France, an untold number of people were
unjustly slaughtered, burned, or tortured to death either in the name
of religion or for the sake of priests’ personal interests or because they
had propounded new ideas.
The Jewish and Muslim populations in Spain suffered from those
tribunals until their complete extirpation was accomplished,
whereupon the Spanish King Ferdinand V [d. 922 (1516 C.E.)], who
had sentenced his own son to death in these tribunals, voiced his pride
by saying, “There are no Muslims or other irreligious people left in
Spain now.” The tribunals of Inquisition, which stigmatized all sorts of
scientific improvements and technical inventions as sinful, annihilated
not only the votaries of other religions, but also all the illuminated
members of the society.
Even Gallilee was sued in the court of Inquisition for his
declaration that the earth was a round planet rotating and revolving,
a fact which he had learned from the Muslims, and it was only his own
official retraction that saved his head. The tribunals of Inquisition
were supervised by members of the church, all the proceedings were
conducted in strict secrecy, and the sittings and hearings were held
behind the scenes. The Inquisition is a shame for the history of
humanity, particularly for Christianity. Napoleon Bonaparte had to
overcome a series of severe difficulties to abrogate Inquisition in
– 294 –