The Rapid Military Expansion
One of Islam's most uncomfortable truths is how it actually spread—not primarily through persuasive preaching or attractive theology, but through military conquest. Within 100 years of Muhammad's death in 632 CE, Muslim armies had conquered an empire stretching from Spain to India, encompassing approximately 5 million square miles. This wasn't gradual conversion through peaceful dialogue; it was systematic military subjugation.
Islamic sources themselves document this clearly. The early Muslim conquests (al-Futūḥāt al-Islāmiyya) were explicitly military campaigns commanded by Muhammad and his successors, aimed at territorial expansion and the establishment of Islamic rule. The pattern was consistent: invade, conquer, impose jizya (tax on non-Muslims), and gradually convert the population through economic and social pressure.
Muhammad's Military Campaigns
Muhammad himself participated in or commanded approximately 29 military expeditions (ghazwat) and sent out about 38 additional raiding parties (saraya). These weren't defensive actions—many were offensive raids targeting caravans, tribes, and settlements. The Quran provided theological justification:
"And fight them until there is no fitnah [disbelief] and [until] the religion, all of it, is for Allah." — Quran 8:39
The hadith literature confirms this militant imperative. Abu Huraira narrated:
"I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,' and whoever said it then he will save his life and property from me." — Sahih al-Bukhari 2977
This wasn't about self-defense or protecting religious freedom. It was an explicit command to fight until people submitted to Islamic authority.
The Conquests of the Rashidun Caliphs
After Muhammad's death, the pattern accelerated under the "Rightly Guided Caliphs" (al-Khulafā' ar-Rāshidūn):
Abu Bakr (632-634 CE): Launched the Ridda Wars, forcing apostate tribes back into Islam through military force. He also began the conquest of Byzantine Syria and Sassanid Persia.
Umar ibn al-Khattab (634-644 CE): Conquered Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and much of Persia. Jerusalem fell in 637 CE. The Byzantine and Persian empires were devastated.
Uthman ibn Affan (644-656 CE): Expanded into North Africa, Central Asia, and Armenia. The conquest of Cyprus brought Islam into the Mediterranean.
Ali ibn Abi Talib (656-661 CE): Though preoccupied with civil war, still maintained military pressure on frontiers.
These conquests weren't missionary journeys—they were military invasions. Cities were besieged, armies were destroyed, and populations were subjugated. The Islamic sources celebrate these victories without apology.
The Doctrine of Offensive Jihad
Islamic jurisprudence developed the concept of dar al-harb (the house of war) and dar al-Islam (the house of Islam). Muslim scholars taught that it was obligatory to wage offensive jihad to expand Islamic territory until the entire world submitted. This wasn't fringe theology—this was mainstream Islamic legal theory.
"Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture—[fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled." — Quran 9:29
Biblical Contrast
The contrast with Christianity's spread is stark. Jesus explicitly rejected the sword:
"Put your sword back in its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." — Matthew 26:52
"My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place." — John 18:36
Christianity spread through the Roman Empire for three centuries while being actively persecuted. Christians were martyred, not martyring others. They converted through testimony, not through taxation and subjugation.
Questions to Consider
- If Islam is truly a religion of peace, why did it spread primarily through military conquest?
- How can Muslims condemn Christian Crusades while celebrating Islamic conquests?
- Why did Muhammad command fighting until people submit to Islam if there is "no compulsion in religion"?
- What does it say about a religion that it needed military force to spread?
- How many millions died in the early Islamic conquests to establish the religion?
Conclusion
Islam spread by the sword. This isn't Islamophobic propaganda—it's documented in Islam's own historical sources. Muslim armies conquered vast territories, imposed Islamic law, and created conditions that pressured conversion over generations. The early Islamic conquests were among the most successful military campaigns in human history.
Related articles: Jihad: The Meaning is War, The Ridda Wars