Despite obstacles, Islam continues to spread

Since the advent of Islam,as the final and all-compassing Message to
mankind up to the moment, its adversaries left no opportunity to
thwart it and curb its followers. Right from dayone, they did their
level best to kill it in the bud using different ways.
Due to the fact that this new religion holds all people equal in terms
of rights, duties, human value, etc, regardless of their ethnic,
social or economic backgrounds, the rich and leading figures in
Makkah, fearing lest they would lose their prestige and wealth, stood
adamantly in the face of the then nascent Message. They tried to put
different kinds of obstacles to hinder the spread of Islam, in
feverish attempts to maintain their positions and prevent any sort of
threatto their interests.
In their war against Islam, they tried many kinds of weapons: bodily
torture, economic sanctions, false propaganda, and financial
seduction, noneof which was of any fruit.
With the Help of Allaah, the Most Exalted, then thewill, patience and
perseverance of Prophet Muhammadand his faithful companionsIslam could
successfully pass all those hard tests. It survived all the hardships
and expanded its span to include not only theArabian Peninsula, rather
spacious lands outside it.
By the tenth century, Islam became the main religion, or at least, the
religion of the majority of nations in an area covering more than half
of the civilized world stretching over three continents from the
Pyrenees and Siberia in West and North Europe tothe farthest end of
Asia, up to China and New Guinea in the East; from Morocco in North
Africa to the southern tip of Africa, covering two-thirds of the
African continent.
It is one of the most striking facts of human history that the spread
ofIslam over such a vast area took place within three centuries. Most
striking of all, within halfa century after the Hijrah)Prophet
Muhammad'sMigration from Makkah to Al-Madeenah(, Islam had already
conquered the whole of North Africafrom Egypt to Morocco, all the
Middle Eastern lands from Yemen to Caucasia and from Egypt to the
lands beyond Transoxiana )portion of Central Asia corresponding
approximately with modern-day Uzbekistan and southwest Kazakhstan(.
What makes Islam spread?
There are many reasons why nations have been, from past to the
present, so ready to embrace Islam, what is pointed out by Muhammad
Asad, a Jewish convert to Islam,probably being the foremost:
"Islam appears to me like a perfect work of architecture. All its
parts are harmoniously conceived to complementand support each other,
nothing lacking, with theresult of an absolute balance and solid
composure. Everything inthe teaching and postulate of Islam is in its
proper place." ]Islam at the Crossroads, p.5[
Most of Western writers, especially those under the influence of the
Church, have never failedto accuse Islam of spreading by the sword.
The causes of this prejudice lie mainly in the fact that the spread of
Islam has often occurred at the expense of Christianity. While Islam
has, for centuries, obtained numerous conversions from Christianity
without much effort or organizedmissionary activities, Christianity
has almost never been able to achieve conversions fromIslam in spite
of sophisticated means and well-organized missionary activities, and
it has always been at a disadvantage in its competition with Islam for
fourteen centuries.
This has caused its missionaries and most of the orientalists to
develop a complex within themselves by depicting Islam and introducing
it as a regressive, vulgar religion of savage people.
If history is to be read with an objective eye, such allegations will
easily be debunked.
In addition to many other reasons which are responsible for the spread
of Islam, it is the exemplary life-style and unceasing efforts of
individual Muslims to transmit the message of Islam throughout the
world which lie at the root of the conquest of the hearts by Islam.
Islamic universalism is closely associated with the principle of
'enjoining the good' for Islam is to be spread by Muslims by means of
this principle. This principle seeks to convey the message of Islam to
all human beings in the world and to establish a model Islamic
communityon a world-wide basis.
Among every four humans in the world, oneof them is Muslim. Muslims
have increased by over 235% in the last fifty years up to nearly 1.6
billion. By comparison, Christians have increased by only 47 %...
Islam is the secondlargest religious group inFrance,Great
BritainandUSA.
The following statistics show the growth of Islamin the world from)1989-1998(:
North America:)25%(
Africa:)2.15%(
Asia:)12.57%(
Europe:)142.35%(
LatinAmerica:)4.73%(
Australia:)257.01%(
Western fierce media campaign against Islam and Muslims escalated
after the 11thof September attacks. Biased media, especially in
theUSA, rushed into a feverish contest to depictIslam as a religion
based on savagery, intolerance and blood-thirst.
Not only in the media were Muslims harassed intheUnited States of
America,Britain,Australia, and other European countries; rather, they
were physically attacked at their homes, in the streets, in public
places, and in their Mosques, Islamic centers, etc. The same attitude
was, unfortunately, maintained toward the Noble Prophet of Islamand
the Noble Quran.
Islamophobia reached its peak when a Danish newspaper published
heinous caricatures picturing the Prophetas a terrorist. The noble
Quran was also desecrated in theUSand some other countries, which
indicates the deep hatred towards Islam andMuslims.
There have been many rigid regulations and extremist procedures
enacted against Muslims in theUSand some European countries, on the
pretext of their "war on terror". Many Muslim students were banned
from completing their studies, many families expatriated, Islamic
activities limited or stopped, Muslim men andwomen subjected to
sophisticated checking and screening procedures in airports, women
with hijab and men with beards mockedor harassed, etc. In brief, a
Muslim has become for them a word synonymous to "suspect".
Nonetheless, even after the events of September, a wave of new Muslims
embraced Islam all over the world. In theUSAalone, more than 30000
persons embraced Islam.
By the year 2020, Islam is projected to be the largest religion in the world.
To sum up, in spite of all the feverish attempts on the part of the
adversaries of Islam, old and new, Islam is still sweeping the globe
easily and peacefully, thus conquering and illuminating the minds and
hearts, no matter how hard and intricate their conspiracies are.
Allaah, the Most Glorious, Says in the Quran )what means(:"It is He
)Allaah( Who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of
truth to manifest it over all religion, although they who associate
others with Allaah dislike it."]Quran 9: 33[