Hi! So there's an aspect of Islam that I'm having a hard time understanding. I'm curious what other people think about this. I'd love to hear your opinions, whether you are Muslim are not!
Sincerity (Ikhlas) is a huge deal in Islam and having incere belief is an extremely important aspect of being a Muslim general. We see verses in the Quran that say things like, "Let there be no compulsion in religion" (2:256) that validate this concept. But where I start getting confused is looking at verses like "And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah." I understand the first part, but doesn't the part about "until religion is for Allah" imply forcing others to accept Islam? Further, looking at it historically, you could almost make a case that some of the earliest believers adopted Islam simply because they were on the losing end of battles and/or were trying to avoid paying the jizya, which is of course NOT sincere belief.
What are your thoughts? How can these seemingly conflicting ideas be reconciled?
Sincerity (Ikhlas) is a huge deal in Islam and having incere belief is an extremely important aspect of being a Muslim general. We see verses in the Quran that say things like, "Let there be no compulsion in religion" (2:256) that validate this concept. But where I start getting confused is looking at verses like "And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah." I understand the first part, but doesn't the part about "until religion is for Allah" imply forcing others to accept Islam? Further, looking at it historically, you could almost make a case that some of the earliest believers adopted Islam simply because they were on the losing end of battles and/or were trying to avoid paying the jizya, which is of course NOT sincere belief.
What are your thoughts? How can these seemingly conflicting ideas be reconciled?