War and Peace in Islam

language of the community to which they were being sent.” (Seerat an-Nabi, Ibn Hisham, Vol. 4/279) This incident has been recorded in the present Bible. Here are some excerpts in brief: Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations. (Matthew, 28:19) And the gospel must first be preached among all the nations. (Mark, 13:10) Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark, 16:15) In obedience to these injunctions of Christ, his followers left Palestine. After Christ had left the world, they spread over different cities and countries. They propagated their religion peacefully and those who embraced their faith also adopted the path of peace in propagating the divine message. In this way, the spread of Christianity continued from generation to generation. As a result of this non-aggressive activity on the part of the followers of Christ, within a period of two hundred years after the advent of Christianity, it spread to many eastern countries. Subsequently, these Christians entered Europe. Here they were initially faced with great difficulties. However, they quietly began propagating Christianity until the time came when the European Emperor Constantine the Great came under its influence, converted to Christianity in 337 and proclaimed it to be the official religion of his empire. Subsequently, the majority of Europeans entered the Christian fold. The Quran tells us that during the life of Christ, God decreed that the followers of Christ should prevail over their enemies. In the third chapter of the Quran, addressing Christ, God said: “I shall .... Exalt your followers above them (the disbelievers) till the Day of Resurrection.” (3:55)