Early Conversions to Islam: Difference between revisions

Two of the four schools of [[Sunni]] [[jurisprudence]] and [[Islamic law]] (the Hanbali and Shafi'is) permit the forced conversion of Idolaters and pagans upon Islamic conquest (on pain of death), whereas the other two schools (the Hanafis and Malikis) maintain that the conquered practitioners of any religious faith are simply to be reduced to the status of ''[[Jizyah]]''-paying [[Dhimmitude|''dhimmis'']].<ref>Gerhard Bowering, ed. (2009). ''Islamic Political Thought: An Introduction''. Princeton University Press. pp. 127–128. ISBN <bdi>9781400866427</bdi>.</ref><ref>Wael B. Hallaq (2009). ''Sharī'a: Theory, Practice, Transformations''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 327–328. ISBN <bdi>9780521861472</bdi>.</ref>

In the 9th century, Samaritans of [[Palestine]] faced persecution and forced conversion at the hands of a rebel leader ibn Firāsa, against whom they were defended by Abbasid caliphate troops.<ref>{{cite book|author=Moshe Gil|title=A History of Palestine, 634-1099|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tSM4AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA822|publisher=CUP Archive|page=822|year=1992}}</ref>

In an invasion of the Kashmir valley in 1015, Mahmud of Ghazni plundered the valley, took many prisoners and carried out conversions to Islam.<ref>{{cite book|title=The History and Culture of the Indian People: The struggle for empire|author=Ramesh Chandra Majumdar|authorlink=|year=1951|page=12}}</ref> In his later campaigns, in Mathura, Baran and Kanauj, again, many conversions took place. Those soldiers who surrendered to him were converted to Islam. In Baran (Bulandshahr) alone 10,000 persons were converted to Islam including the king. Al Qazwini writes that "when Mahmud went to wage religious war against India, he made great efforts to capture and destroy Somnath, in the hope that the Hindus would then become Muhammadans."<ref>{{cite book|title=India 2001: Reference Encyclopedia, Volume 1|page=29|author=Catherine B. Asher|publisher=South Asia Publicaitons}}</ref> Tarikh-i-Yamini, Rausat-us-Safa and Tarikh-i-Ferishtah speak of construction of mosques and schools and appointment of preachers and teachers by Mahmud and his successor Masud. Wherever Mahmud went, he insisted on the people to convert to Islam. <ref name="imwat-1">{{cite book| title=Indian Muslims:Who Are They| first=K.S. |last=Lal |chapter=1 |year=2004 |isbn=978-8185990101 |asin=B003DRH2FI}}</ref> The raids by Muhammad Ghori and his generals brought in thousands of slaves in the late 12th century, most of whom were compelled to convert as one of the preconditions of their freedom.<ref name="imwat-1">{{cite book| title=Indian Muslims:Who Are They| first=K.S. |last=Lal |chapter=1 |year=2004 |isbn=978-8185990101 |asin=B003DRH2FI}}</ref><ref>Habibullah, ''The Foundation of Muslim Rule in India'', (Allahabad, 1961), pp.69 and 334</ref><ref>Hasan Nizami, ''Taj-ul-Maasir'', II, p.216</ref><ref>Titus, Murray. ''Islam in India and Pakistan'', ([[Calcutta]], 1959), p.31</ref> Qutb ud-Din Aibak is said to have demolished almost 1,000 temples and built mosques on their foundations.<ref>{{cite book|title=Islamic Civilization in South Asia: A History of Muslim Power and Presence in the Indian Subcontinent|page=72|publisher=Routledge}}</ref>  Sikandar Butshikan (reigned 1394-1417) demolished Hindu temples and forcefully converted Hindus in Kashmir.<ref>{{cite book|title=Kashmir: Valley and Its Culture|author=Shiri Ram Bakshi|publisher=Sarup & Sons|year=1997|page=70}}</ref>

Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty in Persia, decreed Twelver Shia Islam to be the official religion of state and ordered executions of a number of Sunni intellectuals who refused to accept Shiism.<ref>{{Cite book|authors=Savory, R.M., Gandjeï, T.| year=2012 | title=Ismāʿīl I|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition=2nd|publisher=Brill |editors=P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs|volume=4|page=186}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| author=H.R. Roemer| entry=The Safavid Period |title=The Cambridge History of Iran|volume=Volume 6|publisher=Cambridge University Press |ref=harv |year=1986 |editors=William Bayne Fisher, Peter Jackson, Lawrence Lockhart|page=218}}</ref> Non-Muslims faced frequent persecutions and at times forced conversions under the rule of his successors.<ref>Lewis, Bernard (1984). The Jews of Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-00807-8}}. p.52</ref> After the capture of the Hormuz Island, Abbas I required local Christians to convert to Islam, Abbas II granted his ministers authority to force Jews to become Muslims, and Sultan Husayn decreed forcible conversion of Zoroastrians.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Lapidus | first = Ira M. | authorlink=Ira M. Lapidus | title = A History of Islamic Societies | publisher = Cambridge University Press (Kindle edition) | year = 2014| isbn=978-0-521-51430-9 | pages=385–386}}</ref> In 1839, during the Qajar era the Jewish community in the city of Mashhad was attacked by a mob and subsequently forced to convert to Islam.<ref name="JadidAlIslam">{{cite web|first=Jaleh |last=Pirnazar |url=http://www.fis-iran.org/en/irannameh/volxix/mashhad-jewish-community |title=The "Jadid al-Islams" of Mashhad |work=Foundation for Iranian Studies |location=Bethesda, MD, USA |publisher=Foundation for Iranian Studies |accessdate=2012-11-13}}</ref> Bagrat V was an Eastern Orthodox Christian. Timur invaded Georgia and defeated and captured him. Bagrat agreed to convert to Islam.<ref>'': At the Crossroads of Empires : 14th - 15th Century Eastern Anatolia''. {{cite book | author=Andrew Peacock | title=Between Georgia and the Islamic World : The Atabegs of Samc'xe and the Turks | location=Istanbul | page=55}}</ref> Only after this, he was released. Timur plundered state of Jammu in 1399. He forced the Hindu ruler of Jammu to become a Muslim.<ref>Bawa Satinder Singh. The Jammu Fox. A Biography of Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir 1792-1857. Southern Illinois Press, Carbondale and Edwardsville, 1974.</ref><ref>Prof. Sukhdev Singh Charak. Life and Times of Maharaja Ranbir Singh (1830-1885). Jay Kay Book House, Jammu-Tawi, 1985.</ref><ref>Prof. Sukhdev Singh Charak. Maharaja Ranjitdev and the rise and fall of Jammu Kingdom, from 1700 A.D. to 1820 A.D. The Dogra-Pahari Itihas Kendra, Pathankot, 1971.</ref><ref>Sorabji Jehangir and F.S. Jehangir Taleyarkhan. Princes and Chiefs of India: A Collection of Biographies, with Portraits of the Indian Princes and Chiefs and Brief Historical Surveys of their Territories. Waterlow and Sons Limited, London, 1903.</ref><ref>Prof. M.L.Kapur (ed.). Maharaja Hari Singh (1895-1961). Har-Anand Publications, New Delhi, 1995.</ref><ref>Revised List of Ruling Princes, Chiefs and Leading Personages of the Jammu and Kashmir State and the Gilgit Agency. The Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1939.</ref><ref>Karan Singh. Autobiography 1931-1967. Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1994.</ref><ref>Mohinder Singh. Raja Ram Singh, the forgotten prince and his times (1861-1899). Gajral Printers, Sanyaj Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, 1990.</ref><ref>G.M.D. Sufi. Kashīr, Being a History of KashmirFrom the Earliest Times to Our Own. 2 Vols. Light & Life Publishers, New Delhi, 1974.</ref>

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