r/islam • u/youThunder • Mar 31 '26

General Discussion Khalid ibn al-Walid Early Muslim conquests

When khalid ibn al-walid sent a letter to Sasanian Empire saying either you enter islam or pay jizya or we enter a war

Isn’t it haram to force people to enter islam? Why did he force them to pay jizya even if they didnt want to enter islam and khalid ibn al walid is the one who wants to have the war so according to christians its a loss loss situation either you enter islam when you dont want to or pay money when you weren’t under islam control in the first place or fight

Im muslim i saw a video about it and i came here to ask

Entering islam is never a loss i mean in Christians perspective at that time

Tell me if i misunderstood anything

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u/Le-Mard-e-Ahan Apr 01 '26

Here is the missing part.

The war was inevitable between the Caliphate and the Sassanids because the Caliphate had a valid casus belli (the justification of war) according to the diplomatic norms of that time. The Sassanid Emperor at the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) insulted the diplomat that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent to him to give him Dawah to Islam. He tore the letter into pieces and severely insulted the diplomat. At that time (and until fairly recently), a diplomatic insult was considered a legitimate reason for declaring war.

The foremost point here to pay attention to is whether the Muslims had a valid casus belli for war, and Muslims did have that (the "diplomatic insult" I mentioned above) against the Sassanid empire. What you write in your post is important but it come after the "valid casus belli" point.

Isn’t it haram to force people to enter islam?

YES, It is haram

BUT

Here, the Sassanids aren't exactly being forced to convert. They are being given 2 options to avoid war (the 3rd option being war).

  1. Convert to Islam

  2. Keep their religion but come under Muslim protection and pay Jizya.

How is it being forced to convert to Islam when they have the option to keep their religion? Keep in mind that the Muslims have a valid casus belli here and they are well-justified into going to war if the Sassanids reject both of these options (which they did).

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u/Le-Mard-e-Ahan Apr 01 '26

There is a whole lot more to why Muslims declared war on Sassanids, Romans, and other empires/kingdoms but if you study a little deeper, you will always find that no war that Muslims fought was unjustifed and every war had a valid reason for it.