Question

When Islam first began, were Muslims intolerant of other religious ideas?

Answer 1

Yes. They have always been intolerant. They were once called the Barbary Pirates. Thomas Jefferson warned us about them. They were once a minority and were not so open about their barbaric beliefs and practices. But now that they have such huge numbers they have become more brazen and obnoxious.

Answer 2

thanks

Answer 3

yes

Answer 4

k thanks

Answer 5

That's a terrible generalization to make. Muslims on the whole aren't violent or barbaric, only certain members are. Barbary pirates did not represent every Muslim in the world just as terrorists don't represent every Arab. The Qu'ran actually respects the other key faces of faiths such as Christianity and Judaism and there is ample evidence that other faiths lived within early Muslim societies such as the Abbasid Caliphate with a reasonable degree of respect.

It's true that Islam spread rapidly because of wars during its early years, but Christianity's hands aren't lily white, either. Constantine's conversion to Christianity was a slick political move on his part to appeal to a growing constituency that would give him more power over the empire he was building. Later, there were also the Crusades. Christian missionaries and Spanish conquistadors also prosecuted their faith through forced conversion of Native Americans in the New World destroying their cultures and ideals which they saw as ignorant and heretical, demolishing entire civilizations overnight.

But not all Christians are like that and condemning an entire group for the actions of others can be as dangerously misleading as racism.

Answer 6

@Captain_Page_Turner Let us set history aside and talk about today. Who is it that stones women in the name of their religion? What religion is it that condones and promotes men claiming 10 year old girls as wives? What religion is it that tries to take over governments and establish their religious beliefs as law? What religion is it whose adherents never denounce the terrorism of its radical members? What religion is it that denies women the right to education, to drive a car, to be seen in public without a male escort?
Why don't you just keep defending that behavior?