Islam was born fourteen centuries ago on the Arabian Peninsula. God’s revelation of the Qur’an to Prophet Mohammed (may God bless him and grant him peace), together with the morality of Islam, taught the violent, barbaric, and ignorant people of the region peace, reason, and civilization.
At the beginning of the seventh century, Arabia was one of the world’s most chaotic places. Many tribes lived on these lands, and each of them worshipped a different idol. They would declare war on each another, shed much blood, and even kill children for their misguided beliefs and idols. Their belief system exalted ruthlessness, hate, and violence instead of love, compassion, and kindness. Women were considered lower beings, and the poor and the slaves were ruthlessly exploited.
This dark and bloody world changed entirely with the arrival of Islam and its moral codes. Although the Arabs were the first to join Islam, many other nations soon embraced the light brought by its morality. The Qur’an’s revelation enabled Muslims to achieve unequalled progress in science, culture, thought, and art. With the revelation of the Qur’an’s first verse, the people of the region, who until this event had been stuck in a vicious circle of dark ignorance and bloody violence, were invited to read and think for the first time:
This dark and bloody world changed entirely with the arrival of Islam and its moral codes. Although the Arabs were the first to join Islam, many other nations soon embraced the light brought by its morality. The Qur’an’s revelation enabled Muslims to achieve unequalled progress in science, culture, thought, and art. With the revelation of the Qur’an’s first verse, the people of the region, who until this event had been stuck in a vicious circle of dark ignorance and bloody violence, were invited to read and think for the first time:
Recite: In the Name of your Lord Who created, created man from a clot of congealed blood. Recite: And your Lord is the Most Generous, He Who taught by the pen, taught man what he did not know. (Qur’an, 96:1-5)
The structure of Arab society began to undergo a complete transformation with the arrival of Islam. For instance, Arab tradition decreed the death of all prisoners of war, whereas our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace), guided by God’s revelation, ordered such prisoners to be treated well and fed from the Muslims’ own rations. The following verse reveals these Muslim qualities:
They give food, despite their love for it, to the poor and orphans and captives. (Qur’an, 76:8)
The only thing required of such prisoners was that if they could read and write, they had to teach these skills to the Muslims. Perhaps for the first time ever, Arabia was witnessing compassion, forgiveness, and civilization. As a result, it experienced one of its greatest periods of cultural advancement.
As the years passed, Islam’s justice and high morality spread in waves across Arabia. The Muslims’ fairness, honesty, and determination attracted many Arab tribes. The mighty Muslim army marched on Makkah in 630. Its idolatrous Makkans feared the vengeance that the Muslims would wreak upon them as retribution for their past cruelty. According to Arab tradition, the men of the defeated tribe were killed and the women and children enslaved. But our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) reflected God’s mercy by announcing that no one in Makkah would suffer retribution and that no one was to be forced to accept Islam. This act of forgiveness and tolerance has attracted the attention of Western historians. In PBS documentary Islam:Empire of Faith, Michael Sells, a lecturer at Haverford University, relates our Prophet’s (may God bless him and grant him peace) virtue in the following way:
When Mohammed came into Mecca, he not only did not carry out a bloody revenge, but actually embraced the very Meccans who had fought him for three years and attempted to annihilate him. It was very shocking to the people in his milieu. So within the very founding of a religion, one finds episodes of great generosity, often extraordinary acts of kindness and mercy.1
The important thing was to free the Makkans of their false beliefs. Therefore, our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) headed straight for the Ka`bah, entered the holy mosque, and destroyed all of the idols inside. This event marked the end of idolatry and ended all of the cruelty, injustice, barbarism, and violence committed on its behalf. After being educated by the Qur’an, the Arabs replaced all of the pre-Islamic era’s injustice, exploitation, and blood feuds with a new order based on respect, love, compassion, and justice among all people.
The important thing was to free the Makkans of their false beliefs. Therefore, our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) headed straight for the Ka`bah, entered the holy mosque, and destroyed all of the idols inside. This event marked the end of idolatry and ended all of the cruelty, injustice, barbarism, and violence committed on its behalf. After being educated by the Qur’an, the Arabs replaced all of the pre-Islamic era’s injustice, exploitation, and blood feuds with a new order based on respect, love, compassion, and justice among all people.
This era was later known as the “Blessed Period.”
Tolerance, Justice, and Compassion in Islamic Morality
Islam’s rapid spread continued even after the Prophet’s (may God bless him and grant him peace) death. Within a few decades, Islam spread to all of Mesopotamia and North Africa, and reached Spain in the west and India in the east.
The Arabs, who had been tending their flocks in the desert just a few decades ago, were now the rulers of an empire due to the reason, culture, and awareness they had acquired through Islam. This was the fastest growing empire ever. Within 100 years, the Muslim empire spread over an immense area and firmly established itself. In this huge geographic area, many different religious denominations existed side by side. Most of them, however, were composed of Christians and Jews. The Muslims, as a general rule, were always very tolerant toward all religious groups in their lands, did not force people to embrace Islam, and respected every person’s freedom of conscience, for the Qur’an says:
The Arabs, who had been tending their flocks in the desert just a few decades ago, were now the rulers of an empire due to the reason, culture, and awareness they had acquired through Islam. This was the fastest growing empire ever. Within 100 years, the Muslim empire spread over an immense area and firmly established itself. In this huge geographic area, many different religious denominations existed side by side. Most of them, however, were composed of Christians and Jews. The Muslims, as a general rule, were always very tolerant toward all religious groups in their lands, did not force people to embrace Islam, and respected every person’s freedom of conscience, for the Qur’an says:
There is no compulsion where religion is concerned. (Qur’an, 2:256)
Churches and synagogues were protected. At a time when enforced proselytization was a common practice, such tolerance was unique.
One of the most extraordinary examples of this tolerance was the conquest of Jerusalem. The patriarch of the city’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher feared that his church would be destroyed by the Muslims. Thus, Caliph `Umar visited the church and said that there was nothing to worry about. When the time for prayer came, he asked the patriarch for permission to leave so that he could pray nearby. The al-Aqsa mosque was built later on that very spot
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