by Fieryo on Tue Jan 08, 2008 3:36 pm
Muhammad wasn't spreading the Islamic faith when he conquered territory, he was expanding an empire. Show me an empire expansion and I'll show you a body count. It took centuries for these conquered lands to become majority Muslim. And when these lands did fall under Islamic control, the inhabitants were largely left to their own devices, as long as they paid a tax to their new Muslim leaders.
Oh, and comparing modern day Islam to its earliest day incarnation to make a contemporary conclusion is just wrong and silly. Unless Christianity is still a cult (a subject open to debate).
...where I'm from, we believe all sorts of things that aren't true. We call it -- "history"