Refuting Islam

Was Islam’s Early Expansion About Faith — or Empire?

April 15, 2025

The conventional narrative promoted by many Muslims is that Islam spread across the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of Europe primarily through its compelling message of monotheism, moral reform, and spiritual truth. The early Islamic conquests, we are told, were not about territorial domination but about dawah (inviting others to Islam) and liberation from oppressive regimes.

But is that really what happened?

Did the rapid expansion of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries reflect a sincere religious mission — or was it primarily an imperial enterprise cloaked in theological language?

Let’s examine what the historical record reveals — and how it challenges the idea that early Islam was a purely spiritual movement.

1. The Historical Timeline: Military Conquest, Not Missionary Work

Consider the breathtaking speed of Islam’s territorial expansion after the death of Muhammad in 632 CE:

By 636, Muslim armies had defeated the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of Yarmouk.
By 641, they had conquered all of Egypt.
By 651, they had overrun the Persian Sassanian Empire.
By 711, Muslim forces had crossed into Spain.
By 732, they were halted only at the Battle of Tours in France.

This was not slow, organic conversion. It was military conquest at an imperial scale.

There were no mass Qur'anic recitation campaigns or interfaith dialogues across these frontiers. There were armies, generals, tribute demands, and submission treaties.

If this were about spreading faith, why were swords leading the charge?

2. Muhammad as a Military Leader

Muhammad’s own life sets the precedent. Far from being just a spiritual sage, he acted as a warlord, politician, and head of state.

From the moment he migrated to Medina, Islam transformed from a spiritual message to a militarized movement. He led or ordered dozens of expeditions (ghazawat), including:

The Battle of Badr (624) — a raid turned full-scale battle.
The Battle of Uhud (625) and Battle of the Trench (627).
The conquest of Mecca (630) — without a call for peaceful conversion.
The destruction of pagan shrines across Arabia after his consolidation of power.

In fact, according to Sahih Muslim 1731, Muhammad explicitly stated:

“I have been commanded to fight the people until they say: 'There is no god but Allah.’”

That is not a call for peaceful persuasion. That is religious coercion — at swordpoint.

3. Qur'anic Mandates for Expansion

Islamic military expansion was not just a political accident — it was theologically sanctioned.

“Fight those who do not believe in Allah… until they pay the jizyah with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.”
— Qur’an 9:29

This verse formed the ideological basis for Islamic imperialism for centuries. It was used to justify:

Jihad against Christian and Jewish kingdoms.
The establishment of the dhimmi system for non-Muslims.
Expansionist warfare as a religious obligation.

In traditional jurisprudence (fiqh), offensive jihad (jihad al-talab) was considered a collective duty (fard kifayah) of the Muslim community. Classical scholars like Al-Shafi’i, Al-Mawardi, and Ibn Taymiyyah all treated expansionist jihad as essential to the Islamic mission.

4. What About Forced Conversions?

Apologists often claim, “Islam forbids forced conversions,” citing Qur’an 2:256:

“There is no compulsion in religion…”

But this claim fails under scrutiny.

First, the verse was likely abrogated (canceled) by later, more militant verses like 9:5 ("the verse of the sword").

Second, while Islam did not always force people to convert on pain of death, it created a suffocating environment for non-Muslims:

Heavy jizyah taxes as financial pressure.
Second-class dhimmi status with legal and social humiliation.
Outlawing of evangelism, especially toward Muslims.
Apostasy laws — converting from Islam was punishable by death.

Over generations, these pressures led to widespread conversion by coercion and attrition, not necessarily by conviction.

5. The Spoils of War: Motivations Beyond Faith

Islamic conquests were also highly profitable for the early Muslim elite.

“Know that whatever of war-booty that you may gain… one fifth is for Allah and the Messenger…”
— Qur’an 8:41

This institutionalized the idea that plunder, land, and slaves were divinely sanctioned rewards for jihad. Early Muslim armies:

Seized massive wealth from Byzantine and Persian treasuries.
Enslaved tens of thousands — including women taken as concubines.
Distributed land and titles among Arab tribes as a form of political control.

This was empire-building — spiritualized and legitimized through religious texts.

6. The Caliphate: A Theocratic Empire

The successor states to Muhammad — the Rashidun, Umayyad, and Abbasid Caliphates — were not spiritual communes. They were empires, complete with:

Bureaucracies.
Standing armies.
State-imposed religious hierarchies.
Systematic extraction of wealth from conquered peoples.

These caliphates fought not just non-Muslims, but each other — often violently — over political power, not spiritual truth.

Even Muslim-on-Muslim bloodshed, such as the civil wars during the First and Second Fitnas, reveals that political ambition, not pure faith, often drove the Islamic state.

7. Conclusion: A Religious Empire, Not a Peaceful Mission

Islam’s early expansion was neither accidental nor purely devotional.

It was a military imperial project wrapped in theological language — one that combined sword and scripture to dominate territory, extract wealth, and build a theocratic empire.

Yes, the faith grew.

Yes, many sincere believers were involved.

But the engines of conquest were not mosques and Qur’ans. They were horses, swords, and armies.

The claim that Islam spread purely through its message is a myth — one contradicted by the very Qur’an, Hadith, and historical record.

Refuting Islam

Tuesday, April 15, 2025