Recordings › A Response to Yasir Qadhi: "Islam was spread by the sword" | Mufti Abu Layth · 16 Dec 2019 › Segment 1 of 3
Was Islam spread by the sword?
muftis salam as-salamu alaykum assalamu alaikum assalamualaikum salaam salaams salam alaykum wa alaykum as-salam greetingWas Islam spread by the sword? Yasir Qadhi's talk on empire and conversion
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This segment0:01 to 3:11 · 3 min 10 sGeneral teaching
The answer in brief
machinesummary, machine-writtenMufti Abu Layth says it is simply not true that Islam was spread by the sword, though there was surely compulsion in some places, and that it was wrong.
In more detail
Mufti Abu Layth takes up a question about compulsion prompted by a recent talk by Yasir Qadhi, which he says has delighted many ex-Muslims and some Islamophobes. He says that, from the part he listened to, Qadhi seems to say that Islam was spread by force and by empire, that people by and large embraced Islam because their kings did, and that while not everyone was forced, most people probably were; he thinks Qadhi may be trying to do a good thing by provoking critical thought in his audience, and says he considers him a friend. He describes a YouTube video by a critic, whose name the transcript does not render, who plays the clip and thanks Qadhi for saying Islam was not peace and love but spread by the sword. He then says this is simply not true, while adding that he is sure there was compulsion in certain places, which would have been wrong, as in any human society, and notes that Qadhi mocks the 'Sunday school' story that places such as Malaysia embraced Islam through traders.
Question as read aloud · questioner not identifiedA question about compulsion: Yasir Qadhi has said in a recent talk that Islam was spread by force and that people embraced Islam because their kings did; is that the case?
- The question was reconstructed from Mufti Abu Layth's restatement; the questioner's own words are not in the recording
Position stated
Mufti Abu Layth says the claim that Islam was spread by the sword is simply not true, though he is sure there was compulsion in certain places.
“the truth is that that's that that is no way the case it isn't simply not true now I'm not saying that there was never compulsion I'm sure there was compulsion in certain places it would have been wrong”
Category: historical claim
Kind: general teachingTranscript
machine0:01 to 3:11 · click a time to seek · dotted terms open the glossary
right yes and I'll be let's take a look at this question somebody asked about compulsion right Yasir Qadhi sure sure yes sir Adi Sahib dammit Mercato hialeah so she has a card he has done a talk recently that has been much to the delight of many ex-muslims and some Islamophobes where he seems to be kind of if I listen to not the entire thing but I listened to those that part ways discussing this about Islam where
he seems to be stating that Islam that Islam was spread by force and he seems to be saying yes and it was and what like you know he's I think he might be trying to do a good thing he I think what he's trying to do is provoke critical thought in his audience but this is what the lecture goes out like so the lecture was more like oh you know that there was all right right so the
lecture was about I mean it gets to this point where says how do you think Islam was spread it says by Empire thank you and you know people embraced Islam because their kings embraced Islam by and large this is how he says it and so I watched a video vid clips about this clip about this we a video on YouTube where he's posing and he's going through this whole kind of speech and he's encouraging is very grateful to share here Sephardi for having made these statements that Islam it wasn't really lovey-dovey wasn't peace and love and
all that hippie stuff it was really about just spread by the sword in essence he said I'm not saying mediate said look I'm not I mean I like video it's you know I consider him a friend but I'm in the just say video it's a I'm not saying everybody was forced but I would assume or he'd assume that most people probably were now and this seems to echo what she has her god he is saying in his speech because he's playing the clip that seems to be what yes of how do you sing so what do we
think about this now the truth is that that's that that is no way the case it isn't simply not true now I'm not saying that there was never compulsion I'm sure there was compulsion in certain places it would have been wrong but I'm sure there was I mean just like in any other human society you're going to get good politics bad politics you're going to get things but that was never the case and I think it's not you know the questions that are being asked like yes of Carly says oh the stories they tell you in Sunday school by traders they
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Cite this segment
Stable id, transcript version and tier are part of the citation. Every change to a transcript is logged.Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment 2019-12-16-S01, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/_dsmpiar0bm/s/1/ (accessed 1 November 2026)
- APA 7
Mufti Abu Layth. (2019, December 16). Was Islam spread by the sword? [Video, segment 2019-12-16-S01, auto-transcribed, may contain errors]. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://muftiabulayth.org/r/_dsmpiar0bm/s/1/
- Chicago author-date
Mufti Abu Layth. 2019. "Was Islam spread by the sword?" Video, segment 2019-12-16-S01, auto-transcribed, may contain errors. Mufti Abu Layth Archive. Recorded December 16, 2019. Accessed November 1, 2026. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/_dsmpiar0bm/s/1/
- BibTeX
@misc{abulayth-2019-12-16-S01, author = {Mufti Abu Layth}, title = {{Was Islam spread by the sword?}}, year = {2019}, month = {12}, date = {2019-12-16}, howpublished = {\url{https://muftiabulayth.org/r/_dsmpiar0bm/s/1/}}, url = {https://muftiabulayth.org/r/_dsmpiar0bm/s/1/}, organization = {Mufti Abu Layth Archive}, urldate = {2026-11-01}, note = {Segment 2019-12-16-S01, auto-transcribed, may contain errors} }
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