m a Prophet by
the sword." If, however, they would carefully examine this question, they
would see that in this day and age the sword is not a suitable means for
promulgating the Faith, for it would only fill peoples' hearts with
revulsion and terror. According to the Divine Law of Muhammad, it is not
permissible to compel the People of the Book to acknowledge and accept the
Faith. While it is a sacred obligation devolving on every conscientious
believer in the unity of God to guide mankind to the truth, the Traditions
"I am a Prophet by the sword" and "I am commanded to threaten the lives of
the people until they say, 'There is none other God but God'" referred to
the idolaters of the Days of Ignorance, who in their blindness and
bestiality had sunk below the level of human beings. A faith born of sword
thrusts could hardly be relied upon, and would for any trifling cause
revert to error and unbelief. After the ascension of Muhammad, and His
passing to "the seat of truth, in the presence of the potent King,"(27)
the tribes around Medina apostatized from their Faith, turning back to the
idolatry of pagan times.

Remember when the holy breaths of the Spirit of God (Jesus) were shedding
their sweetness over Palestine and Galilee, over the shores of Jordan and
the regions around Jerusalem, and the wondrous melodies of the Gospel were
sounding in the ears of the spiritually illumined, all the peoples of Asia
and Europe, of Africa and America, of Oceania, which comprises the islands
and archipelagoes of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, were fire-worshipers
and pagans, ignorant of the Divine Voice that spoke out on the Day of the
Covenant.(28) Alone the Jews believed in the divinity and oneness of God.
Following the declaration of Jesus, the pure and reviving breath of His
mouth conferred eternal life on the inhabitants of those regions for a
period of three years, and through Divine Revelation the Law of Christ, at
that time the vital remedy for the ailing body of the world, was
established. In the days of Jesus only a few individuals turned their
faces toward God; in fact only the twelve disciples and a few women truly
became believers, and one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot apostatized
from his Faith, leaving eleven. After the ascension of Jesus to the Realm
of Glory, these few souls stood up with their spiritual qualities and with
deeds that were pure and holy, and they arose by the power of God and the
life-giving breaths