Was Islam Spread By Sword?

[reepicheep]

I've read lots of conflicting stuff, written by Muslims, about the topic of Jihad and whether Islam was "spread by the sword". I don't know which Muslims to believe.


One Muslim fatwa website which seems to be very respected by Muslims can be found at www.islam-qa.com. Here are a couple of fatwas from that site. This web site not only claims that Islam was spread by the sword, but also calls for Muslims to rise up in physical Jihad:


Question #34830: Ruling on physical jihad


Question #43087: Was Islam spread by the sword?


I'm curious: do any of you agree with these fatwas? Or perhaps a better question is: what do you think of the www.islam-qa.com website? Does it accurately portray Islamic beliefs?