“Whoever reflects on the Prophet’s ﷺ life will realize that he never forced anyone at all to accept his religion. He fought only those who fought him. As for anyone who concluded a truce with him, he would not fight that person so long as the treaty remained in force and had not been broken. Indeed, Allah commanded him to fulfil such covenants so long as the other party fulfilled theirs, as He, the Exalted, says: ‘So long as they remain true to you, remain true to them’ (Q 9:7).

When he first arrived in Medina he concluded a pact with the Jews and allowed them to remain upon their religion. When they later waged war against him, violated the treaty, and were the first to take up arms, he fought them: he pardoned some of them, expelled others, and killed others. Likewise, when he made a ten-year truce with Quraysh, he did not initiate hostilities until they began fighting him and broke the treaty. Only then did he advance against them in their own territory, whereas before that they had been the ones coming out to fight him—at Uhud, the Trench, and even at Badr they came intending to fight him. Had they withdrawn, he would not have fought them.

In short, the Prophet ﷺ never coerced anyone to enter his religion whatsoever; people entered it freely and by their own choice.

The examples of this are exceedingly numerous, and a careful reading of the book will reveal many times more than the few I have mentioned here.