ISIS and Compulsion in Religion

Hat tip Answering Muslims


Recently, ISIS released a video showing dozens of Yazidi men "converting" to Islam. David Wood of Answering Muslims has produced his own video showing an excerpt of that "conversion". I use quotation marks here because there was a caveat to that "conversion". It was compelled. Either the men "convert" to Islam, or they would have been executed, probably by beheading.




But wait! Isn't there a verse in the Koran saying, "Let there be no compulsion in religion"? There is. I hear it all the time when I listen to apologists like Muzammil Siddiqi speak to non-Muslims.  It is in Sura 2 verse 256. Alas, that was apparently abrogated by later verses, such as in Sura 9 (the final sura). Then there are the recorded sayings of the Prophet, which stand in stark contrast to Sura 2 verse 256 as Wood explains.

Too bad that these are not simply dusty old words from fourteen hundred years ago that nobody pays any attention to. They are real, and they are being acted on virtually every day. They not only impact the daily lives of Muslims; they also impact the daily lives of non-Muslims who are unfortunately enough to live in Muslim countries. We need to ensure that they do not impact our lives in the West.