The Muslim Attitude to Conversion

Like Buddhism and Christianity, Islam is a missionary religion. From the day the Prophet Muhammad was entrusted by God with the mission to revive the Abrahamic tradition by conveying afresh the divine message regarding ‘the concept of the unity of God and man, he and his followers were placed under obligation to preach Islam, i.e., submission to God. The Quran is the scripture of Islam. According to ‘the faith of a Muslim’, it is the word of God revealed to the Prophet through the mediation of arch-angel, Gabriel. No force or economic persuasion was to be used as the Quran accommodates and accepts variety and diversity in culture as a fact of human life. It says : ‘If the Lord had so willed, He could have made mankind one people. But they will not cease to  dispute, except those on whom they Lord has bestowed his mercy” (Quran.11 18-19). Influenced by the teachings of Quran, its followers showed tolerance to non-Muslims. In every conquered land, the non-Muslims were given full religious freedom and also conferred the status of ‘protected person’. The burden of taxes upon the non-Muslims was alleviated as the Canon law of Islam permitted only the  collection of Kharaj (one fifth of the agricultural produce) and poll-tax from  them.