One claim I often hear is that the Muslim Empires, namely the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbassid and Ottoman Caliphates, spread in a very brutal, aggressive, and a more intolerant manner in comparison to their European or Asian counterparts. And is often used as a foundation upon which to argue about Islam has "Always been at war with the world." Whilst this claim IS NOT something that the majority of people believe, I have heard this emanate from a significant minority of individuals, and some rather influential people, such as Bill Warner in his (rather awful) comparison of the Crusades and Jihad.
I was wondering how much historical truth there is to this claim?
There’s almost certainly more that can be said on this topic but I think this claim (and specifically the claims of Bill Warren) is addressed quite well in these threads:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2v7alt/given_the_recent_uptick_in_jihad_versus_crusade/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/4u8c3o/how_accurate_is_this_image_about_the_crusades_and/ https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/560dsc/islamic_jihad_vs_the_crusades/
The short answer is “to the extent that this is an answerable or meaningful question, no, they did not spread in a more brutal manner than other empires.”