Jihad of the Sword

Greetings and thanks for your question.

In order to understand what led Abu Bakr (r.a) to defeat the Byzantium Empire you would have to first go to the Quran.

The following verses of the Quran can begin answering this question for us:

Surah Taubah Verses 107

AND [there are hypocrites] who have established a [separate] house of worship in order to create mischief, and to promote apostasy and disunity among the believers, and to provide an outpost for all who from the outset have been warring against God and His Apostle. And they will surely swear [to you, O believers], "We had but the best of intentions!" - the while God [Himself] bears witness that they are lying

These were revealed as a warning against a man named Abu Amir who was a Christian, fled to Byzantium Empire and kept instigating the emperor Heraclius to conquer Arabia and destroy Madinah, which was the capital of the Muslims. He had left behind his secret followers i.e. Hypocrites (who pretended to be Muslims) and ordered them to build a mosque so that Muslims could be divided and if he succeeded in doing that then the military support of the Muslims will be diminished which will make it easy for them to be destroyed if the Byzantium Army invaded Arabian Peninsula. Once Allah (swt) revealed the knowledge of this plot to Prophet Muhammad (SallAllahu alaihi Wassallam) he had that mosque demolished and as a result of this plot led an army to face the Byzantiums in an expedition which called Tabuk.  

The above Verses are part of the Surah Taubah, chapter 9, which deals mainly with the expedition of the Tabuk. This man named Abu Amir was a Christian monk who had followers in Syria as well.

The spread of Islam throughout the Arabian Peninsula which bordered the Byzantium empire was also perceived as a threat to them, therefore when the news reached Madinah that the empire was gathering forces to march on the peninsula, the Muslims led this expedition. However this expedition came to an end soon after the news came that either the Byzantium forces are not ready to invade or they had given up the idea. Since Islam supports Jihad in self-defense only the Muslims abandoned the idea to fight the Byzantiums.

In those days 2 powers fought each other in the Middle East to control power, the Persians and the Byzantium. They never looked at the desert Arabs and never wanted to even go to the deserted dry land. But by the time Abu Bakr (r.a) became the Muslim Caliph and the Muslims gained strength, they were looked upon as inevitable threat by these 2 super powers that needed to be conquered and finished immediately. Basically if the Muslims had not acted in self defense against these powers that bordered them, they would have been eliminated instead.

airmano wrote: syed_z ... But by the time Abu Bakr (r.a) became the Muslim Caliph and the Muslims gained strength, they were looked upon as inevitable threat by these 2 super powers that needed to be conquered and finished immediately. Sounds like G.W. Bush. Airmano

Yes I agree, but don't forget to mention Obama, lol...

Saved wrote: They are saying they want the whole world to be an Islamic state, that means many restrictions will be placed on non-Muslims.

This is a propaganda that Western Media lies about Islam and Muslims which people like yourself are eager to swallow. Since the Quran is against such practices then how can Islam or Muslims in general even condone such actions?

     Surah Yusuf:103
Yet - however strongly thou mayest desire it -most people will not believe [in this revelation]

Allah has already decreed that even if Muslims eagerly desired the majority of people on earth will not accept Islam. Even if Muslims tried doing such it will be futile.

Saved wrote: So, if this is true, shouldn't Christianity and other religions be careful and unite with others to stop this hidden agenda of theirs like the Christians and Muslims fight the restrictions to build a Mosque in NJ?

Saved....that's a good idea but I have to disappoint you by mentioning a major fact about the Christian History. Since its inception there has always been major divisions and wars amongst them. At first in the face of early persecution of followers of son of Mary ( alaihi salam ) then the major division of Catholics vs Orthodox church. Not to forget the religious wars of Europe. The Renaissance period fighting. The world wars 1 and 2 which led towards millions getting killed. Then division of communist Russian bloc vs AmeRican lead western bloc, which is still boiling and might lead towards World War 3.

But why does this happen? Why aren't they able to fully unite? Only Allah can answer that:

Surah Al Maida Verse 14

From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the day of judgment. And soon will Allah show them what it is they have done.

Since majority of Christians have forgotten the promise they had made to son of Mary ( alaihi salam ) about following his correct teachings they cannot escape Allah's will.