Islam gives freedom to follow one's religion

A lot of people try to paint an incorrect picture of Islam. They say Islam was spread through sword, that Islam forces people to become Muslim whether they like it or not.

Below are a few verses from the Qur'an.
1) "If it had been the will of your Lord that all the people of the world should be believers, all the people of the earth would have believed! Would you then compel mankind against their will to believe?" (10:99)

If it had been Allah's Plan or Will not to grant the limited free-will that He has granted to human beings, His omnipotence could have made all mankind alike: all would then have had faith, but that faith would have reflected no merit on them. In the actual world as it is, humans have been endowed with various faculties and capacities, so that they should strive and explore, and bring themselves into harmony with Allah's Will. Hence faith becomes a moral achievement, and to resist faith becomes a sin. As a complementary proposition, people of faith must not be impatient or angry if they have to contend against unfaith. And most important of all, they must guard against the temptation of forcing faith, i.e., imposing it on others by physical compulsion. Forced faith is no faith. They should strive.

2) "(O Prophet Muhammad) proclaim: 'This is the Truth from your Lord. Now let him who will, believe in it, and him who will, deny it.'" (18:29)
Our choice of free will involves a corresponding personal responsibility. We are offered the truth: again and again it is pressed on our attention. If we reject it, we must take all the terrible consequences that are prefigured in the fire of hell. Its flames and roof will completely enclose us like a tent. Ordinarily there is water to quench the heat of thirst: here the only drink will be like molten brass, thick, heavy, burning, sizzling. Before it reaches the mouth of the unfortunates, drops of it will scald their faces as it is poured out.

3) "If they turn away from thee (O Muhammad) they should know that We have not sent you to be their keeper. Your only duty is to convey My message." (42:48)
If the people do pay heed to the warning or reject it, Prophet Muhammad, pbuh, (or his followers) is not responsible for bringing about the penalty or for forcing people to come to the right path (Islam). He is not a guard set over them to free them from the need of exercising their limited free-will.

4) "Let there be no compulsion in religion." (2:256)
Compulsion is incompatible with religion because: (1) religion depends on faith and will, and these would be meaningless if induced by force; (2) Truth and error have been so clearly shown up by the mercy of Allah that there should be no doubt in the minds of any person of goodwill as to the fundamentals of faith; (3) Allah's protection is continous, and His plan is always to lead us from the depths of darkness into the clearest light.

Prophet Muhammad's love for non-Muslims

In the tenth year of his prophethood, Prophet Muhammad with his companion Zaid bin Harisa visited the city of Ta’if near Makkah to invite people to Islam. The people of Ta’if were very happy with their lives; they had a beautiful valley to live in, enjoyed good food and passed their time in ease and comfort. They also were not willing to listen to this newcomer who was telling them to give up their worshipping of idols and to listen and bow to this One God who they couldn’t even see.

The leaders of the Ta'if made it impossible for the two of them to preach Islam, and treated Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in the worst possible manner. They made street boys run after them and throw stones at them. These boys were merciless and they pelted them with stones so much that their shoes filled with blood. They took refuge in a garden and laid down to rest.

Allah, the Exalted, the Mighty, was so displeased with the people of Ta’if for their treatment of His honorable Prophet that He sent down angel Gabreil to tell Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that if the Prophet so wished, Allah would crush the whole valley of Ta’if along with its non-believers under the mountains surrounding them.

And what do you think our dear Prophet said? Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was such a compassionate and forgiving person that instead of asking for revenge on the people of Ta’if, he asked Allah, the most Compassionate, the most Merciful, to forgive them and made prayers that Allah may show the people of Ta’if the right path. This was the level of compassion and mercy that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had for his enemies, for the people who had caused him great pain and had completely rejected him and his message.

Free from the Sins of Adam and Eve

Talking of freedom of speech, Islam gives the greatest freedom. Contrary to Christianity, Islam says a child is born free of any sin. No one is guilty of the sin of anybody else including the sins of Adam and Eve.

So no one is guilty of the sin of Adam and Eve. Why should anyone be? It would be totally unfair for me to be the guilty of someone else's sin.

This freedom from the sin of Adam and Eve also makes moot the theory of Jesus coming down to clean everyone from the sins of Adam and Eve. This theory had a catch: one had to believe in Jesus as a son of God to get this "coupon" of freedom from the sins of Adam and Eve. Wait a minute. What about those people who died before Jesus' arrival? They never had a chance.

Everyone Read About Prophet Muhammad, pbuh

I am asking everyone, Muslim or non-Muslim, to study Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him on May 31, 2010.

Somone came up with an idea that everyone show draw Prophet Muhammad. For what? Just to challenge some authority. That's it. If it irritates Muslims it is more fun for this person. It achieves nothing. It is waste of time, intellect and money.

My aim is to impart knowledge to everyone. Let's learn who this Prophet Muhammad was. What did he preach? What did he want?

Basically, his mission was same as that of all other prophets like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Jesus, John, David, Solomon, etc. Their mission was to guide the humanity to Paradise. To protect them from hell.

People usually like to have a picture of things they love. So what's wrong in having a picture of a prophet?

Muslims do not like pictures or idols of any living creature. It leads to idol worship. That's how the people of Noah did. They made statues of some pious people and later started worshipping them.