I am a proud Muslim but for the first time I find most responses by my fellow Muslim brothers to be nauseating. All it takes is one look at the medieval Muslim court chronicles and all this apologist narrative of "benevolent Muslim conquerors" falls flat on its face. Medieval Muslim historians took pride in narrating instances of forced conversions and temple destruction.
As for the sex slavery bit, this is true. Islamic jurisprudence books boastfully talk of it as a means of "dishonouring" the enemy women (in this case "infidel" women). But sex slavery was a weapon used by all sides (Muslim and non-Muslim) against their enemies. The Mughal Empire and Ahmad Shah Abdali's army captured thousands of Hindu and Sikh women and turned them into concubines. Likewise, many Rajput kings and the Sikh Empire also enslaved Muslim women.
The Sikh Empire in particular enslaved many Muslim girls and women in Punjab and Kashmir. Sikh soldiers literally used our Muslim girls as sex slaves/concubines. This happened again to our women during Partition, in Jammu and East Punjab and its princely states. Tens of thousands of our girls were taken as concubines by Sikhs, and many of them refused to return from their captors. I have heard stories of this from my grandmother, who migrated from Amritsar during Partition as a girl.
I find it unbelievable that we are saying ridiculous things such as "Muslim soldiers used to take in dead non-Muslim soldier's widow to provide for them and their children." The exact same justification can be given by those non-Muslims who took our women and children. Please have some respect for your own women.
Islam never outlawed it. But Islam does instruct us to abide by our treaties as long as other sides don't break them. Literally the only reason Muslims have for not enslaving today is because Muslim countries have treaties today which say that prisoners of war won't be enslaved.
I think Muslims should quit being apologist and just be proud of whatever we believe.