“Islam was spread entirely by the sword.”
Short answer
Muhammad ﷺ preached peacefully under persecution for 13 years before any military conflict. Historically, the world's largest Muslim populations — including Indonesia — grew mainly through trade and gradual conversion, not conquest.
If Islam’s spread were explained purely by military conquest, Muslim populations should track conquered territory closely. They don’t: Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, was never conquered by early Muslim armies at all — Islam arrived there mainly through trade networks and missionary activity over centuries.
Military conflict is a real part of early Islamic history, and this site doesn’t hide it. But it’s one part of a more complex picture that also includes 13 years of peaceful preaching under persecution in Mecca, and the demographic reality of how most of the Muslim world actually became Muslim.
Full discussion: Did Muhammad ﷺ Spread Islam by the Sword?
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