BY SHEIKH ABU ISLAM YUSUF SHAQEERO. This article has been reproduced from Islamic Revival. The least that can be said regarding the statement that Islam was spread by the sword is that it is a statement that holds no credibility. The enemies of Islam have attempted to pass this off to non-thinking Muslims where they claim the objective of fighting is to make people enter Islam by way of force, even though the falseness of this view is as clear as the sun.

Amr ibn Al-‘As was commander of the army sent to conquer Egypt during the Caliphate of Umar ibn al-Khattab. After the conquest Amr became Egypt’s first Islamic governor (wali). The Muslim forces laid siege to the Babylon Fortress in 641CE (in the area known as Coptic Cairo today) where al-Muqawqis, the Egyptian Ruler was holed up. General Amr ibn Al-‘As sent a delegation of ten men, headed by Ubadah ibn as-Samit, to speak with al-Muqawqis.

Israel once again bombs the men, women and children of Gaza. Predictably the rulers in the Muslim world give their usual lip service condemnation. Egypt’s Mohamed Mursi said, “The Israelis must realize that we don’t accept this aggression and that it can only lead to instability in the region.” But like his predecessor Mubarak, Mursi indeed accepts this aggression by refusing to take any concrete action such as tearing up the 1979 peace treaty or sending the army in to Sinai to annex Gaza back to Egypt.

A new anti-Islamic film ‘The Innocence of Muslims’ has been released in America. Unable to control their venom and hatred for Islam, the kuffar have once again unleashed a vicious attack on our beloved Prophet ﷺ.

In March 2009 two female US Journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling were seized by North Korean border guards while reporting for California-based Current TV. They were subsequently tried and sentenced to 12 years in prison for “hostile acts” and illegal entry into North Korea. After their imprisonment America worked tirelessly to get the women released and in August 2009 dispatched former US President Bill Clinton to speak with North Korea’s Kim Jong Il. The meeting was productive and the two women were later released.

In 1916 Britain and France hatched a secret agreement to divide the lands of the Khilafah between them. This plan became known as the Sykes-Picot agreement, named after French diplomat François Georges-Picot and British diplomatic advisor Mark Sykes. Under the agreement Britain was allocated control of Jordan, Iraq and a small area around Haifa. France was allocated control of South-eastern Turkey, Northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. The controlling powers were left free to decide on state boundaries within these areas. The Middle Eastern map today is the legacy of Sykes-Picot with the borders matching Mr Sykes and Mr Picot’s lines drawn using a ruler over the former lands of the Caliphate. The Middle East turned from a once united area under one state into a multitude of small and weak states unable to challenge the western powers till this day.