TOLERANCE, JUSTICE AND COMPASSION IN ISLAMIC MORALITY

Islam's rapid spread continued even after the Prophet's (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) death. Within a few decades, Islam spread to all of Mesopotamia and North Africa, and reached Spain in the west and India in the east.

Within 100 years, the Muslim empire spread over an immense area and firmly established itself. In this huge geographic area, many different religious denominations existed side by side. Most of them, however, were composed of Christians and Jews. The Muslims, as a general rule, were always very tolerant toward all religious groups in their lands, did not force people to embrace Islam, and respected every person's freedom of conscience, for the Qur'an says:

There is no compulsion where religion is concerned. (Surat al-Baqara, 256)

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