If we were to take a step back from all the negative news we’re receiving from numerous news agencies and from our daily exposure to hidden messages suggesting that Islam is an intolerant and aggressive Religion, we might actually achieve something.
 

Unfortunately, in today’s day and age the media has made Islam seem like the most intolerant Religion but in reality, if one wanted to look at the logistics of things and evaluate the Holy Quran they will without a doubt conclude that Islam is in fact the most tolerant religion.
 

So how is Islam the most tolerant religion? And is it in fact the most tolerant religion?

One of the most important aspects of the Human Rights issue is the respect and tolerance which society must show towards the religions of other people; this, of course, includes the issue of freedom of religion.
 

Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, believes in prophets and messengers of God- One inter­esting way of understanding the Islamic view on freedom of religion is to look at the role of the prophets and messengers.
 

Had they been sent to forcefully bring the people into their teachings? Were Moses, Jesus and Muhammad ordered by the Almighty to impose their teachings upon the people by sword? Absolutely not! Look at the Qur'an, the holy scripture of Islam; the revealed words of God where He clearly outlines the duty of his mes­sengers by saying:
 

“(And as for My messenger,) there is no (obligation) on him except to deliver (the. message). God knows what yon expose and what conceal”. (5:99).
 

Once the people of Mecca said to Prophet Muhammad that if god did not want them to worship idols then why He does not forcefully prevent them from doing so. Then God sent the following message:
 

“(O Muhammad) This is not a new excuse; those who weft before, them made, the same excuses. Is there anything upon the messengers except the dear conveying of the message”. (16: 35).
 

So we see that from the Qur'anic point of view, the mission of the prophets and messengers of God was not to forcefully impose their teachings on the people but to guide them and ask them to accept God with their own will, in one revelation, God says to Prophet Muhammad:
 

"But if the people turn away (then do not be sad because) We did ma sent you to be a guardian over them. It is for you only to deliver the mes­sage." (42:43).
 

The Qur’an clearly says that reli­gion cannot be forced on anyone. It says,
 

"There is no compulsion in (accept­ing) the religion (of Islam)…”
 

Why? Because:

"truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error. " (2:256).
 

If one wold analyze the life of Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon Him) they would surely conclude that he is the most tolerant Prophet. The Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon Him)faced much difficulty and opposition in his own birth- place, the city of Mecca. He was eventually forced to migrate to Medina. But in spite of all the oppo­sition and even physical torture that his followers suffered in Mecca, Prophet Muhammad always approached the unbelievers of Mecca with tolerance. At one stage of his mission, the Prophet read to them a short chapter from the reve­lation:
 

“O you who do not believe! I worship not what you worship, and you are not worshipping what I worship; nor am 1 worshipping what you wor­ship; neither -art you worshipping what I worship. Therefore, to you your religion; and to me my religion!” (chap. 109)
 

When Prophet Muhammad migrated to Medina, he found that besides those who hid accepted Islam, there was a large Jewish com­munity in that, city but this did not bother him He did not contemplate on forcing them into the Fold of Islam, instead, he made a peace agreement with them and called them ahlul kitab—the people of the Scripture. This was indeed the supreme example of tolerance shown towards the followers of other religions.
 

The peace agreement between the Prophet and the Jews of Medina dearly guaranteed the phys­ical safety and security of the Jewish community and also the freedom to practise their religion freely as long 35 that community also abided the terms of the treaty.
 

So we see that even historically, the Prophet of Islam was prepared to live in peace with the followers of other monotheistic religions, espe­cially Judaism and Christianity.
 

Even the letters that the Prophet wrote to the rulers of various countries and nations around Arabia are interesting documents for our discussion. In none of the letters does the Prophet threaten them of a military aggression if they did not accept the message of Islam. The letter to the Christian King of Abyssinia ends with the words: "I have conveyed the message and now it is up to you to accept it. Once again, peace be upon him who follows the true guidance."
 

We have an interesting historical document with us from our fourth Imam, ‘Ali Zaynul Abidin (a.s,). This document is entitled as Risalatu 'l huquq which means “The Charter of Rights”.
 

In this Risalah, the Imam has mentioned rights related to vari­ous issues and people in human soci­ety, the last part is on the rights of non-Muslims in a Muslim society. Among other things, it says: “And there must be a barrier keep­ing you from doing any injustice to them, from depriving them of the protection provided by God, and from flaunting the commitments of God and His Messenger concerning them.
 

Because we have been told that the Holy Prophet said, "Whosoever does injustice to a protected non- Muslim, then I will be his enemy (on the Day of Judgement)," In a letter which Imam 'Ali wrote for his governor in Egypt, he says, "Sensitive your heart to mercy for the subjects, and to affection and kindness for them. Do not stand over them like greedy beasts who feel it is enough to devour them, for they are of two kinds; either your brother in faith or like you in Creation." {Nahju 'l-Balagha, letter 53).
 

Unfortunately, the events after the First World War to the present time have created an atmosphere in the Western world where Islam is branded as a religion of terror and where Muslims are generally labelled as terrorists. History books, especially by the Orientalists, like to present the picture of the Muslims as holding the Qur'an in one hand and the sword in another—thus implying that wherever the Muslims went, they gave only two choices to the conquered people: Islam or death.
 

However, more serious historians would challenge this distorted pic­ture of Muslims. There is no deny­ing that Muslims in Middle East and Asia conquered lands of other peo­ples but they did not impose their religion over them. There is a clear distinction, in history, between, "the expansion of Muslim states" and "the expansion of Islam" as a reli­gion.
 

For example, Muslims ruled India for many centuries, but majori­ty of its citizens always remained non-Muslims. India came under Muslim rule by force, but Islam pen­etrated among the people of India by propagation and example of the Sufis. This is a fact which has been clearly elaborated by the famous journalist-writer of India, Khuswant Singh, in the first volume of his The History of Sikhs.
 

Sayid Rizvi has a very beautiful saying regarding this topic, he says: if we were to compare the attitude of the Muslim rulers towards the minori­ties living under their rule during the nineteenth century—with the atti­tude of the Europeans and the Americans towards their minorities, I dare to say that the record of the Muslims would be much better.
 

I think it would be sufficient to quote Roderic H- Davison, a prominent Western historian of the Ottoman Empire. On the issue of tolerance towards the minorities, Davison writes1:
 

"It might in fact have been argued that the Turks were less oppressive of their subject people than were Prussians of the Poles, the English of the Irish, or the Americans of the Negroes - There is evidence to show that in this period {late 19th centu­ry}, there was emigration from inde­pendent Greece into the Ottoman Empire, since some Greeks found the Ottoman government s more indulgent master {than their own Greek government}".
 

The best example of the tolerance shown by the Prophet to other religions may be the constitution itself, called the ‘Saheefah’ by early historians.  When the Prophet migrated to Medina, his role as a mere religious leader ended; he was now the political leader of a state, governed by the precepts of Islam, which demanded that clear laws of governance be laid out to ensure harmony and stability in a society which once had been distraught by decades of war, one which must ensure the peaceful coexistence of Muslims, Jews, Christians and polytheists.  Due to this, the Prophet laid down a ‘constitution’ which detailed the responsibilities of all parties which resided in Medina, their obligations towards each other, and certain restrictions which were placed on each.  All parties were to obey what was mentioned therein, and any breach of its articles was regarded as an act of treachery.
 

The first article of the constitution was that all the inhabitants of Medina, the Muslims as well as those who had entered the pact from the Jews, Christian, and idolaters, were “one nation to the exclusion of all others.”  All were considered members and citizens of Medina society regardless of religion, race, or ancestry.  People of other faiths were protected from harm as much as the Muslims, as is stated in another article, “To the Jews who follow us belong help and equity.  He shall not be harmed nor his enemies be aided.”  Previously, each tribe had their alliances and enemies within and without Medina.  The Prophet gathered these different tribes under one system of governance which upheld pacts of alliances previously in existence between those individual tribes.  All tribes had to act as a whole with disregard to individual alliances.  Any attack on other religion or tribe was considered an attack on the state and upon the Muslims as well.
 

The lives of the practitioners of other religions in the Muslim society was also given protective status.  The Prophet said:
 

“Whoever kills a person who has a truce with the Muslims will never smell the fragrance of Paradise.”
 

Since the upper hand was with the Muslims, the Prophet strictly warned against any maltreatment of people of other faiths.  He said:
 

“Beware!  Whoever is cruel and hard on a non-Muslim minority, or curtails their rights, or burdens them with more than they can bear, or takes anything from them against their free will; I (Prophet Muhammad) will complain against the person on the Day of Judgment.” (Abu Dawud)
 

With that said it is clearly evident that the Religion of Islam is truly tolerant and has been ever since day one.