Response to “Prophet or Conqueror”

No, I am reading the same book as everyone else. I also have been to each lecture and class thus far. I am asking whether or not it was necessary for Muhammad to spread his message by force, meaning amassing an army and marching into territories that were not Muslim with the intent of having them convert. I agree that he didn’t want to use excessive violence, but it seems just contradictory to God’s message since it seemed that people converted more out of fear of the consequences of not converting.

This leads me to my next point: did people really have a choice in converting to Islam or not? If they didn’t, their trade would be disrupted and they would be seen as “hostile” to Islam. Also, even if they were able to maintain their own religious beliefs, they had to pay a tax to Islam in order to continue about their traditions. Wouldn’t that push people to convert in order to not bare these types of consequences?

I am saying that, perhaps ideally, Muhammad should have spread his message by telling people and letting them decide for themselves, instead of worrying about being taxed or seen as enemies to a growing military-religious state.