That "Hindus are cowards" is a theme which has been repeated ad nauseam.  Mahatma Gandhi wrote: "Hindus are cowards and Muslims are bullies." A large number of Hindus themselves accept this epithet.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  History does not bear out the conclusion.

A brief review of Islamic expansion is necessary. 

Islam may be dated to 610 AD, when Mohammad began having conversations with Archangel Gabriel.  Mohammad=s message one true God named Allah attracted a number of followers.  But the leaders of Mecca rejected his new teaching.  Conflict ensued.  In 622, Mohammad was forced to flee to Medina, some 240 miles to the North. Mohammad became the leader of Medina and within a few years felt emboldened to raid Meccan caravans.  Mecca signed a treaty of friendship and allowed Muslims to enter the city for pilgrimage.  This treaty, however, was abrogated two years later.  Muhammad captured Mecca in a bold move.  He was now an unchallenged leader.  By the time Mohammad died in 632 AD at age 62, he had become the supreme figure in all of Arabia.

Muslim conquests did not stop with the death of Mohammad.  Within two years, the holy warriors attacked and conquered the two very powerful empires of the period: Byzantium and Persia.  It seemed that, armed with faith in Allah, nothing could stop the soldiers of Islam.  In 712, Arabs captured a slice of Sindh on the frontiers of India.  In 715 they took Spain after decimating North Africa. 

In less than 100 years after Mohammad=s death, the Islamic rule stretched from the frontiers of India all the way to Spain.  Victories resumed after a hiatus of three centuries.  Believers captured Anatolia (Turkey) in 1071, the throne of Delhi in 1201, and Constantinople in 1453.  The Ottomans, once established in Constantinople, took over the countries of Eastern Europe including the Balkans.  Only in 1683 did the clock turn when the Turks failed in their siege of Vienna and retreated.

Islam's rapid rise from insignificance to vast international empire had a touch of the miraculous. How could the Muslims have attained all this if God was not on their side? The fabulous military victories demonstrated to the faithful God's pleasure with their ways and displeasure with the ways of the infidel.

Last update : 03-01-2010 15:34

Keywords : Coward Hindus or Failed Islam, M Lal Goel

Average user rating

   (0 vote)