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Are non-Muslims allowed by Islam to preach their religions to Muslims?

Friday Khutba by Dr Zahid Aziz, for Lahore Ahmadiyya UK, 3 January 2025

“Indeed, We hurl the Truth against falsehood, so it knocks out its brains, and lo! it vanishes. And misery be on you for what you describe (about God)!” — ch. 21, Al-Anbiya, v. 18	بَلۡ نَقۡذِفُ بِالۡحَقِّ عَلَی الۡبَاطِلِ فَیَدۡمَغُہٗ فَاِذَا ہُوَ زَاہِقٌ ؕ وَ لَکُمُ الۡوَیۡلُ مِمَّا تَصِفُوۡنَ ﴿۱۸﴾
“Say: Have you seen your associate-gods which you call upon besides Allah? Show me what they have created of the earth! Or have they any share in the heavens? Or, have We given them a Book so that they follow a clear argument from it? No, the wrongdoers hold out promises to one another only to deceive.” — ch. 35, Al-Fatir, v. 40	قُلۡ اَرَءَیۡتُمۡ شُرَکَآءَکُمُ الَّذِیۡنَ تَدۡعُوۡنَ مِنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰہِ ؕ اَرُوۡنِیۡ مَاذَا خَلَقُوۡا مِنَ الۡاَرۡضِ اَمۡ لَہُمۡ شِرۡکٌ فِی السَّمٰوٰتِ ۚ اَمۡ اٰتَیۡنٰہُمۡ کِتٰبًا فَہُمۡ عَلٰی بَیِّنَتٍ مِّنۡہُ ۚ بَلۡ اِنۡ یَّعِدُ الظّٰلِمُوۡنَ بَعۡضُہُمۡ بَعۡضًا اِلَّا غُرُوۡرًا ﴿۴۰﴾

The first verse I recited says that the truth wins against falsehood by knocking out its brains. The Arabic here for knocking out brains is yadmaghu-hu, and this is related to the word damāgh, a commonly-used word even in Urdu for the brain. The truth succeeds against falsehood not by the supporters of truth hitting their opponents on the head to knock out their physical brains, but by giving arguments and evidence which destroy the arguments of the supporters of falsehood. The second verse I recited challenges those who take as gods things and beings other than the One God and says that they cannot put forward any argument from any scripture to support their wrong beliefs. These verses tell us that it is through presenting arguments that the truth succeeds, and against its arguments the opponents of truth possess no argument.

In another place the Quran mentions that those who worshipped other things as God’s partners and indulged in ignorant and baseless customs make the claim that “if Allah had pleased” they would not have done any of this. They meant that because Allah is letting them do these wrongs things, it means He approves of them doing such things. The Quran gives them this reply:

“Have you any knowledge so you would bring it forth to us? You only follow a conjecture and you only tell lies. Then Allah’s is the winning argument” (6:148–149).

They cannot provide any knowledge to support their assertion, so Allah wins the argument. How are these verses connected with my topic: Are non-Muslims allowed by Islam to preach their religions to Muslims? The brief answer is that preaching religion is done by arguments and Islam is asking those who oppose its beliefs to present their arguments. Banning others from presenting their arguments is clearly the opposite of asking them to put forward their arguments. Unfortunately, among the Muslim religious leaders of later centuries after the Holy Prophet Muhammad’s time the idea took hold that, in an Islamic state ruled by Islamic law, although of course non-Muslims are allowed to practise their religions but they are forbidden to preach their religions to Muslims.

A hundred years ago, in 1924, a well-known Muslim newspaper in India called Zamindar, wrote after an incident that had then occurred in Afghanistan as follows:

“In any country where an Islamic state is established, the followers of any other religion do not have the right to preach to Muslims to join their religion, as this would put in danger the stability of the Islamic state.”

Maulana Muhammad Ali rejected this statement and wrote:

“If the Ulama issue the ruling that according to the law of Islam a non-Muslim living under an Islamic state cannot preach his religion, it would mean that Muslims can only be kept within Islam by force, and their religion is so weak that they are at risk of abandoning their faith, so that only an Islamic state can safeguard them from the preachings of other religions. These are the very ideas for which Islam is already getting a bad name in the world, and today these are being repeated in a newspaper of the standing of Zamindar. … Before issuing such rulings, one should realise that the principle which operates in this world is that the way in which you treat others, that is exactly how you will be treated. If an Islamic state does not allow the preaching of other religions, then in a non-Islamic state the preaching of Islam will be subject to the same restriction. The Holy Quran came into the world to establish freedom of religion. Now that all nations are wanting to establish freedom of religion, Muslims would be going back to the dark times from which the Quran took them out.”

The Maulana added:

“In Turkey, where the Islamic khilafat existed for a long time, the preaching of other religions was not stopped. In Egypt there is no restriction on the preaching of non-Islamic religions. Is this old and antiquated weapon required to be used in Afghanistan, because of which the opponents of Islam are already making accusations against Islam? I believe that if the newspaper Zamindar admits the clear mistake that it has made, and retracts it, it would not only be doing good to itself but also removing the blot and stain from the face of Islam which such writings place on it, and it would endear Islam to non-Muslims more.” (Paigham Sulah, 17/9/1924)

It is clear that you can only defeat someone in an argument if their arguments can be compared with yours and shown to be weak. As an example, if you are the fastest athlete and you organise a running competition, but ban everyone else from taking part, then even if you would have won against others anyway, this type of competition which is without any opposition cannot prove your claim.

There is a verse of the Quran about the battle of Badr, the first battle which Muslims fought and won against overwhelming odds. It is said in that verse that Allah brought about that encounter between the two sides:

“in order that Allah might bring about a matter which had to be done; that he who perished by clear argument might perish, and he who lived by clear argument might live” (8:42).

The Muslim victory, although apparently in a battle, was in fact a victory of its clear arguments. The opponents of the Muslims had already lost the argument, so their devotion to their cause was weakened. Their cause perished. The Muslims were convinced in their hearts of the truth of Islam by means of its arguments, and that conviction brought them victory. Their cause went on living.

The Quran gives Muslims instructions on conducting arguments with people of other religions. In one place it says:

“Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the best manner” (16:125).

Arguing does not consist of one side presenting its views to the other, and the other merely listening silently. The other side contradicts you and presents its own standpoint. Muslims are instructed, on their part, to argue in the “best manner”. That means to both present the best arguments and evidences and to do so in the best behaved, polite manner, showing consideration for the feelings of the other side. In another place the Quran says to Muslims:

“And do not argue with the People of the Book except by what is best, except with such of them as act unjustly” (29:46).

Muslims must be at their best behaviour in conducting any argument with followers of previous religions. It mentions here the situation of the other side acting “unjustly”. This refers to being stubborn, not accepting something while knowing it to be true, and using unfair and deceptive tactics to win in a debate. If they act unjustly, Muslims may need to respond more sternly or withdraw from the argument. Whatever the case, these verses show that Islam recognises the right of followers of other faiths to put forward their beliefs as a counter to the beliefs of the Muslims, because that is what an argument is.

The Quran also repeatedly asks those who hold wrong beliefs to bring proof in support of their beliefs. It says to them: “Bring your proof if you are truthful” (2:111, 27:64). It also says: “Do you have any knowledge so you would bring it forth to us?” (6:148) and “bring your Book, if you are truthful” (37:157). Thus Islamic law cannot ban other religions from presenting their beliefs to Muslims when the Quran is requiring them to put forward proof, knowledge and their own books in support of their religions.

The Quran also challenged those who deny that it is a revelation from God to produce or create a writing to match the Islamic scripture. It issued this challenges four times. The last time it issued this challenge, it said:

“And if you are in doubt as to that which We have revealed to Our servant, then produce a chapter like it and call on your helpers besides Allah if you are truthful” (2:23).

What is meant by producing a writing like the Quran? The Quran has many features that are unequalled in the history of literature. There is the beauty of its language, the great truths it revealed to the world, and the purifying and transforming effect it had on individuals and nations. In this challenge the Quran is also asking its deniers that they can seek the help of whoever they want to, in answering the challenge. Clearly, Islam cannot then prohibit non-Muslims from presenting to Muslims any writing which they consider as better than the Quran. How else can they respond to the Quran’s challenge? They may wish to present their own scriptures in reply.

There is also a famous incident from the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, that a large delegation of Christians, headed by their chief priests, came to see him from a place called Najran in the south of Arabia near Yemen. They debated their beliefs with him, mainly that Jesus was the son of God. They presented their standpoint and the Holy Prophet refuted it. He asked them to accept Islam. They conferred among themselves and decided not to accept Islam, but asked him to appoint a governor over them who would act as a judge to decide the worldly and property disputes that arose among them. The Holy Prophet accepted their request. All these discussions took place in the presence of many Muslims. The Holy Prophet never prohibited these Christians from presenting their beliefs and arguments in support of those beliefs.

One of the great contributions of the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement was to entirely reject this error that had found its way into the thinking of Muslim religious leaders that under Islamic rule non-Muslims are not allowed to preach their religions to Muslims.

So may Allah enable us to correct such wrong ideas about Islam, which cast Islam in a bad light in the world — ameen.

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