LogFAQs > #968351895

Norman_Smiley posted...

Islam was predominantly spread by conquest. So why did Muslims believe? Fear of being killed if they didnt convert, super high taxes as well for non-converters.

They didnt convert Jews or Christians by the sword, and the jizya was assessed in lieu of military service. Hell, it took centuries for Zoroastrianism to fade away! IIRC, the logic was that Muslims need not worry about dying, whereas the Koran kind of seems waffly on what happens to dhimmi. So only Muslims were supposed to be employed in Islamic armies.

In fact, the Jews opened the gates of Jerusalem to the Arabs, mostly because they hated the Romans, and the Muslims did typically treat Jews better than the Christians did.

Also Hindus probably became dhimmi primarily because Muslim sultans realized they could get rich off of taxing them. The jizya likely discouraged state efforts to convert people, but it did motivate non-Muslims to convert on their own to get out of paying it.