Why do Muslims call Islam the Religion of Peace?

Question

Why do Muslims go on and on about being a peaceful religion when their own history books document the wars and killing that they started themselves? Why do they believe their prophet preached peace and tolerance when he slaughtered an entire tribe of Jews, just for being Jewish?
I want intelligent answers from Muslims or people who know what they're talking about. I don't want random Bible verses from Chrissy-fundies or hate from the Muslims, though both are quite entertaining sometimes.

Answer 1

Yes.You are not looking for intelligent answer. The falsehood you posted is called hate propaganda. The truth is Jews lived in peace during the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and plenty of them accepted Islam. The history you quoted that Jews were slaughters is a lie. Muslims fight defensive wars with the Pagans during that period not the Jews. Pagans were the worst enemies of this religion because it was very difficult for them to reject the deities they were worshiping as their gods. Jews did not find the message strange because they too believe in One God.

Answer 2

I am a Muslim and I will acknowledge that Islam preaches peace and kindness. I have read Quran and Hadith so I can verify that, yes, Islam is peace. However, the Quran does contain verses about war and battle, but people take these verses out of context or ignore the surrounding verses. For instance, there is a verse that states that Muslims should stand up against your enemy IF the enemy transgressed limits FIRST and we, as a Muslim, should NOT transgress limits. We should deal with the situation peacefully and not deal with them in a manner that they have not dealth with it.


http://www.islamonline.net/english/Contemporary/2004/09/Article04.shtml

I rather not cut and paste the article, if you really want to learn, you'll look yourself. Hope this clarified some of your misconceptions.

Answer 3

when prophet Muhammad (PBUH) didn't kill any jewish for no reason. When they lived in the islamic country in Mideena, they lived together in peace and they used to trade together, the only reason any of them was killed by muslims is that jewish began killing them first, so i think it is fair for muslims to fight back it is fair for any one to fight back. Do u know that muslims when they had to fight they've never killed any person who is not fighting them, not a woman nor a child not even a plant was removed from its place for no reason, they were not suppose to kill or destroy for no reason, moreover any person in his own house was safe, they've never went into houses and killed civilians for no reason such as israel and the states do these days. When prophet Muhammad (PBUH) entered Mecca for publishing islam there, they didn't kill anyone and those in Mecca where the people that killed muslims and tortured them badly, what prophet Muhammad did is that he set them all free and didn't hurt any one of them although he had the chance to get his revenge from them but he didn't. If you look at verses of Qura'an you will see that every verse that speakes about war has a verse before it that tells you how merciful a person should be, so even if you had to kill you should be merciful and you don't kill unless you are defending yourself.
PS all these things about jewish are lies they came up with them to show that muslims hurt them and it's all untrue.

Answer 4

I divide Islam into 2 sections. Ones who are doing, and ones in waiting.

You can figure the rest out. The muslims that were involved in 9/11 lived in the USA for a long time. Hidden. Waiting.

Answer 5

muslims call islam the religion of peace because it it
but its the media that makes it seem the opposite
and Prophet Muhammed pbuh never evr slaughtered Jews
that was just mentioned in the bible to make islam seem bad
and Muhammed pbuh did spread around peace b/c islam is a peaceful religion

Answer 6

If they said otherwise, would you join?
..... and why would they have to say such if it was of peace, do they have something to hide? Or is it part of their whole advertising campaign, you know like all the media coverage they get for blowing up things. No wonder they claim to be the fastest growing religion in the world. Great advertising guys and free too.

Answer 7

Because it is. There are people in history that kill and take over in the name a certain religion. Christianity also has its history of war and dead.

Answer 8

Well, killing everyone who doesn't agree with you *is* about the only way to achieve total peace. Not to say that philosophy is limited to muslims in any way.

Answer 9

ok this is a common misconception......the muslims attack physically while christians attack mentally.. my friends could'nt sleep for a month when they saw this religion and spirituality section full of HATE!!

This is a letter sent to a non-muslim country by Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) and this letter clearly states that he was a PEACEFUL PERSON!!

Translation::

This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.
Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
No compulsion is to be on them.
Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries.
No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses.
Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight.
The Muslims are to fight for them.
If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray.
Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.
No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).



and in the whole book of holy QURAN we have considered Christians and JEWS as PEOPLE OF BOOK and our brothers/friends/allies the most people consider non-beleivers as Christians or Jews... but the actual meaning of NON-BELIEVERS is the people who do not beleive in God/ALLAH!

Answer 10

A British reporter was asked why their paper called Muslims 'peaceful.' He said, "Because if we didn't, they'd kill us."