Islam Illuminates the World

Allah's revelation of the Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) fourteen centuries ago, 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 disordered 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:

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. (Surat al-'Alaq: 1-5) 

In the Name of your Lord Who created, created man from clots of blood. Recite: And your Lord is the Most Generous, He Who taught by the pen.(Surat al-'Alaq:1-4) Before the advent of Islam, ignorance prevailed over Arab society.

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 Allah bless him and grant him peace), guided by Allah's revelation, ordered such prisoners to be treated well and fed from the Muslims' own rations. Allah reveals these Muslim qualities in the following verse:

They give food, despite their love for it, to the poor and orphans and captives. (Surat al-Insan: 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 Mecca in 630. Its idolatrous Meccans 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 Allah bless him and grant him peace) reflected Allah's mercy by announcing that no one in Mecca would suffer retribution and that no one was to be forced to accept Islam. This act of forgiveness and compassion 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 Allah 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 Meccans of their false beliefs. Therefore, our Prophet (may Allah 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."

Justice and Compassion in Islamic Morality

Islam's rapid spread continued even after the Prophet's (may Allah 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 compassionate toward all religious groups in their lands, did not force people to embrace Islam, and respected every person's freedom of conscience, for Allah says:

There is no compulsion where religion is concerned. (Surat al-Baqara: 256)

Churches and synagogues were protected. At a time when enforced proselytization was a common practice, such compassion was unique.

THE ISLAMIC IMPRINT c.800-1200

One of the most extraordinary examples of this compassion 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.

The Muslims gave Jerusalem one of the world's most spectacular works of architecture: the Qubbat as-Sakhrah (Dome of the Rock), which was built on the rock believed to be the place from where Prophet Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) ascended to the heavens. The stunning motifs and golden dome of this architectural masterpiece reflects Islam's sense of art and civilization.

Qubbat As-Sahra

In this environment of compassion, non-Muslims were even given the democratic right to voice their complaints. During the Umayyad era, many Christians in Damascus (Sham) occupied important positions in the state bureaucracy and fulfilled their religious obligations as they wished. Some wrote even books that criticized Islam and Muslims without fear of retribution.

At the same time, Europe was governed by a dark fundamentalism and barbarism. The Catholic Church was oppressing the Jews and even Christians of other denominations. Forced proselytization, as well as torture and murder in the name of religion, were common. On the other hand, Muslims have always treated the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) with compassion, for Allah orders this in the Qur'an.

The St. John church of Damascus is another example of this compassion. The Muslims who conquered the region began to perform their Friday prayers in the church, and allowed the Christians to continue to use it for their Sunday services. Two separate faiths were sharing peacefully the same sanctuary. As the number of Muslims in the city grew, the Muslim leadership bought the church from the Christians with their consent. Next door, a mosque was built, and the décor of the forecourt buildings was enriched by Islamic motifs. Byzantine-era pillars were decorated with stunning examples of Islamic art.

Throughout the history of Islam, its compassion toward Jews and Christians continued. Jews fleeing the terror of the Spanish Inquisition found refuge and peace on Ottoman soil. The source and reason for such compassion was the morality of the Qur'an, for Muslims are told:

Only argue with the People of the Book in the kindest way—except in the case of those of them who do wrong—saying: "We believe in what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to you. Our God and your God are one, and we submit to Him." (Surat al-'Ankabut: 46)