Is Islam a religion of peace or not?

Question

The root word of Islam is "al-silm" which means "submission" or "surrender." It is understood to mean "submission to Allah." In spite of whatever noble intention has caused many a Muslim to claim that Islam is derived primarily from peace, this is not true. Allah says in the Qur'an:

[2:136] Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed to us and that which was revealed to Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have surrendered. [Arabic "Muslimoon"]

A secondary root of Islam may be "Al-Salaam" (peace), however the text of the Qur'an makes it clear that Allah has clearly intended the focus of this way of life to be submission to Him. This entails submission to Him at all times, in times of peace, war, ease, or difficulty.

I copied and pasted this from the first website I saw when I googled 'Koran.'

Answer 1

You shouldn't know from such peace. A few examples:

Kifaya Husayn, a 16-year-old Jordanian girl, was lashed to a chair by her 32-year-old brother. He gave her a drink of water and told her to recite an Islamic prayer. Then he slashed her throat. Immediately afterward, he ran out into the street, waving the bloody knife and crying, 'I have killed my sister to cleanse my honor.' Kifaya's crime? She was raped by another brother, a 21-year-old man. Her judge and jury? Her own uncles, who convinced her eldest brother that Kifaya was too much of a disgrace to the family's honor to be allowed to live. The murderer was sentenced to fifteen years, but the sentence was subsequently reduced to seven and a half years, an extremely severe penalty by Jordanian standards.
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Two Palestinians, suspected among other things of selling land to Jews, were killed in the West Bank under suspicious circumstances. In 1997 PA Justice Minister Freih Abu Middein announced that the death penalty would be imposed on anyone convicted of ceding "one inch" of land to Israel. A Palestinian land ownership law that was passed by the Palestinian Council forbids Palestinians from brokering or facilitating the sale of Palestinian land to non-Palestinians and provides that such activities be considered "high treason." The PA has arrested and continues to hold several suspected land dealers for violating the Jordanian law in force in the West Bank that prohibits the sale of land to foreigners.

Mohammed Anqawi, age 50, was found shot to death near Ramallah. Anqawi was suspected of selling land to Jews and collaborating with Israel, and family members say that he had been summoned to Palestinian intelligence headquarters in Ramallah immediately prior to his death. The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group accused the PA of murdering Anqawi. The next day, Riboi Musfi Awad was found dead in an Israeli-controlled area near Ramallah. Awad, who was reputed to be a collaborator, had been shot in the head. Palestinians say that he had been summoned to Palestinian police offices to discuss allegations that he sold land to Jews. Palestinian authorities say that because the body was found in an Israeli-controlled area, they did not investigate the death.


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Answer 2

Any thing out of any book can be misinterperated pretty easily. According to my understanding, the quoted verses refer to allah being the tru god for all those religions. That Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, Moses and Jesus and Muhammed have the same god. Muslims believe in all the above prophets. They however donot believe Jesus to be the son of god.
Secondly Christanity went through the inquisitions but we dont refer to christanity as a violent religion and the spanish inquisitions were way more violent than any thing out of islam right now.
Lastly the terrorists do not represent islam or even orthodox islam. They are manipulators with political agendas (not unlike the religious right here in the US if not so violent) and use religion to incite people.

Answer 3

Like Christianity, Islam permits fighting in self-defence, in defence of religion, or on the part of those who have been expelled forcibly from their homes. It lays down strict rules of combat which include prohibitions against harming civilians and against destroying crops, trees and livestock. As Muslims see it, injustice would be triumphant in the world if good men were not prepared to risk their lives in a righteous cause. The Quran says:

'Fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits. God does not love transgressors.' ({2.190::qs2.190})

'If they seek peace, then seek you peace. And trust in God for He is the One that heareth and knoweth all things.' ({8.61::qs8.61})

War, therefore, is the last resort, and is subject to the rigorous conditions laid down by the sacred law. The term jihad literally means 'struggle', and Muslims believe that there are two kinds of jihad. The other jihad is the inner struggle which everyone wages against egotistic desires, for the sake of attaining inner peace.

Answer 4

I think that the answer is mostly in the news ..
Islam means surrender! Who does the surrendering? I think this is the non Muslim that has to surrender to the Muslim
The peace part entaily submission, who does the submitting in order that we have peace with the Muslims..

I think I see my civil rights going down the drain with all this submission and surrender..

Answer 5

I know of Muslims who are seekers of peace and tolerance and they worship Allah(SWT) ,the Merciful and Compassionate. Those Muslims I would call followers of authentic and mature Islam.
I also know of Muslims(Jihadists,etc) whose concept of the divine is much closer to that which I would have of a mighty ungodly, murderous,spiteful and hateful demon and this type of Islamism has as adherents people who number in the millions obviously. I could say the same for most religions and ideologies.
So I would say is lslam is a religion of peace or a religion that views the non Islamic and dissenting Islamic worlds as the Land of War and other peoples as worthy victims of their enslavement robbing and murder( and suicide/murders);it all depends on what type of Islam one practices. One is heavenly and one is hellish.
I think all religions think that they are proclaiming the proper way of submission to the divine or Ultimate. Inner submission through the Inner and Greater Jihad to God's Goodness is what is needed. This world desperately needs greater commitment to peaceful and respectful dialogueand service to people without regard to their religious,national,social,ethnic,cutural,racial,caste or class connections. This latter is real acted out submission to God.

Answer 6

Islam!a faith of peace!Is somebody attempting to 'pull the wool over my eyes'!each and all the hardship spots interior the international contain Muslims!beginning from Iraq,Iran,Afghanistan,Syria,Palistine and by this united states killing harmless adult males females and young ones interior the London tube bombings!it might seem that Islam is making an attempt to bomb us back to Mediaeval Britain!I relatively have by no ability heard a Muslim denounce Osama bin weighted down or Abu Hamza!What do they anticipate from Britain!

Answer 7

Islam is a religion of peace, muslims greet each other by saying "Alsalamu Alikom" which means peace be upon you. Also the Quran puts priority to peace over war, even if muslims entered a war, they were asked not to kill women, old men, children, animals and not to destroy plants.

Answer 8

Jesus, too, submitted his will to that of God the Father. All Christians will tell you that they have submitted to God's law.

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding of the term, "submit". This is the context in which I underatnd "submit" to mean in Islam and Christianity:

intransitive verb
1 a : to yield oneself to the authority or will of another : SURRENDER b : to PERMIT oneself to be subjected to something
2 : to defer to or consent to abide by the opinion or authority of another

I love that second definition! I, too, CONSENT to Jesus' hold on me...I DEFER to His will knowing that his way is far, far better than I could ever even begin to imagine. I Submit...in faith and in love.

Answer 9

it is a religion of peace ... to jus 'research' and hear wht ppl have to say does not prove anything. NO religion tht i ever heard of tells ppl to kill each other!! .. the verses are misundrstood,if you really want to undrstand it,ask sum1 to explain it to you , im sure if everyone undrstands what is said in the Qur'an , nobody will speak a word against it ... you should not always believe wht politics tells u.
And btw - christians and muslims were one religion before,so they should respect eachother.

Answer 10

All religions essantially show the path of peace, to help man attain peace.

But only those followers of religion attain peace who work hard to follow the path of peace, instead of those who work hard to follow the path of the religion of self only.

The religions of self in which we were born into, can show to us the path of peace; but only when we have desires of, and wishes for peace in the minds and hearts of self;

Instead we have desires of sensual pleasures only and wishes for gaining such pleasures only.; and abilities to surrender and submit our selves for earning them only; and that too; at any cost; weather that cost be peace or not.

We can truly know the religions of our selves only when we work hard enough to surrender and to submit our selves for earning peace only, instead of for sensual pleasures of the world only, and this we can do by first following and knowing the values and belief systems as prescribed in our respective religions.