Is there no compulsion in religion?

Abstract

No compulsion is there in religion. Rectitude has become clear from error. So whoever disbelieves in idols and believes in God, has laid hold of the most firm handle, unbreaking; God is All-hearing, All-knowing. (Qurʾān 2:256) Muslim attitudes to adherents of other faiths is usually the context for discussing religious tolerance in Islam. The prominence given to this aspect of the issue is understandable: in most periods of medieval Islamic history, Muslims wielded political power and were in the position to accord (or deny) tolerance to others. In the early period of Islam, few Muslims lived under non-Muslim rule and could be treated tolerantly – or intolerantly – by rulers belonging to other religious communities. It is, however, significant to point out that the earliest manner in which religious intolerance manifested itself in Islamic history was the religious persecution endured by Muslims in Mecca before the hijra . In a certain sense, the twelve years between 610 and 622 in Islam can be compared to the first three centuries of Christian history. Though the suffering of these early Muslims for their faith lasted only for a short period of time and gained only limited importance in the Islamic ethos, an analysis of the question of religious tolerance in Islam cannot be complete without some reference to this nascent period of Islamic history. In the next chapter of the present study, we shall survey and analyze cases in which early Meccan Muslims were compelled to renege on their newly acquired faith.