In your opinion, is lam a religion of peace?

Question

I hear a lot of people saying that is lam is not a religion of peace because it orders that murder and torture of non-mus lims. I also hear people pointing out that Mu hammad ordered mus lims to be terrorists in the ko ran. While all this may be true, is that enough to categorize is lam as a violent or war-like religion?
I repeat, IN YOUR OPINION, is lam a religion of peace?

Answer 1

A more accurate translation of 'Islam' is 'submission', not so much 'peace.'

The Arabic term 'islam' means "submission" and itself comes from the term 'aslama, which means "to surrender, resign oneself."

Answer 2

To be honest, Islam , Christianity and Judaism are not religion of peace from the outside. they are all war like religion... But the peacefulness of this religion depends on how the follower practise and interprate the scripture. The problem is today muslims choose to interprate everything in the Quran and hadith literally.

Islam looks violent because it was born in the harshland of barbaric tribes in Arabia. Since arab tribes loved to go war against each other by the SWORD, in order for Islam to win over these Arab tribes, the SWORD too should be wielded to put them down. But came to think back, hei without Islam, I think you won't have what we so-called the European renaissance because it is Islam the enlightened the Arabs to learn knowledges from the Greeks in order to understand the wisdom of the universal god.

I think if the arabs didn't knew Islam , I bet that we all will be living back in the stone ages and I bet that today we won't even been debating stuff on yahoo answers because it is because of the muslim scholars interest in preserving and propagate the knowledge of the Greeks,Romans and Egyptians, it provides learning for the Europeans which later on lead ignition of the Renaissance and if its not because of the renaissance and the scientific revolution, we won't have this internet stuff today.


Islam doesn't necessarily mean peace eventhough it's root word comes from the word SALAM whcih actually means "peace", but when it means peace, it means peacefulness that is obtained through the submission to god. It is more of personal peace compared to interaction with other people which is not of the Islamic faith.

Answer 3

IMO, Islam is usually a religion that promotes peacefulness amongst its followers.

One of my friends who visited an Islamic country said the Muslims were the kindest, most hospitable and friendly people.

Love of God naturally brings people to feel love in their hearts for humans also. Islam teaches people to love God.

Like in all religions, fanaticism to "the word" can cause strife and discord, but obeying the "spirit of the law" brings peace.

Answer 4

I have always said the islam is a religion of hate and war.


Edit: Hear what happened to the woman who was raped in Saudi Arabia? She was sentenced to prison and a lashing. Tell me again, anyone, how islam is a religion of peace.

Answer 5

No, absolutely NOT.

(begin quote)
The Myth:

Muhammad was a peaceful man who taught his followers to be the same. Muslims lived peacefully for centuries, only fighting in self-defense when it was necessary. True Muslims would never act aggressively.

The Truth:

Muhammad organized 65 military campaigns in the last ten years of his life and personally led 27 of them. The more power that he attained, the smaller the excuse needed to go to battle, until finally he began attacking tribes merely because they were not part of his growing empire.

After Muhammad’s death, his most faithful followers and even his own family turned on each other almost immediately. There were four Caliphs (leaders) in the first twenty-five years. Three of the four were murdered. The third Caliph was murdered by the son of the first. The fourth Caliph was murdered by the fifth, who left a 100-year dynasty that was ended in a gruesome, widespread bloodbath by descendents of Muhammad’s uncle.

Muhammad’s own daughter, Fatima, and his son-in-law, Ali, who both survived the pagan hardship during the Meccan years safe and sound, did not survive Islam after the death of Muhammad. Fatima died of stress from persecution within three months, and Ali was later assassinated. Their son (Muhammad’s grandson) was killed in battle with the faction that became today’s Sunnis. His people became Shias. The relatives and personal friends of Muhammad were mixed into both warring groups, which then fractured further into hostile sub-divisions as Islam grew.

Muhammad left his men with instructions to take the battle against the Christians, Persians and Jews. For the next four centuries, Muslim armies steamrolled over unsuspecting neighbors, plundering them of loot and slaves, and forcing the survivors to either convert or pay tribute at the point of a sword.

Companions of Muhammad lived to see Islam declare war on every major religion in the world in just the first few decades following his death - pressing the Jihad against Hindus, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and Buddhists.

By the time of the Crusades (when the Europeans began fighting back), Muslims had conquered two-thirds of the Christian world by the sword, from Spain to Syria, and across North Africa. The Arab slave-trading routes would stay open for another 1300 years, until pressure from Christian-based countries forced Islamic nations to declare the practice illegal (in theory).

Today, there is not another religion in the world that consistently produces terrorism in the name of religion as does Islam. The most dangerous Muslims are nearly always those who interpret the Qur’an most transparently. They are the fundamentalists or purists of the faith, and believe in Muhammad’s mandate to spread Islamic rule by the sword, putting to death those who will not submit.

The holy texts of Islam are saturated with verses of violence and hatred toward those outside the faith. In sharp contrast to the Bible, which generally moves from relatively violent passages to far more peaceful ones, the Qur’an travels the exact opposite path. The handful of earlier verses that speak of tolerance are overwhelmed by an avalanche of later ones that carry a much different message. While Old Testament verses of blood and guts are generally bound by historical context within the text itself, Qur'anic imperatives to violence usually appear open-ended.

By any objective measure, the "Religion of Peace" has been the harshest, bloodiest religion the world has ever known.
(end quote)

Answer 6

YES.
Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance. But some so called followers don't follow it correctly. They are the ones that are not peaceful.

Answer 7

The only peace a true Quran-loving Muslim believes in is peace among Muslims. If you're not a Muslim, you're not worthy of the air you breathe as far as they're concerned.

And they are encouraged to lie about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMc3XMB6ZZg

Answer 8

Absolutely not! It is a religion of hatred. Esp. among the fundies. Just read the Qaran...page after page of hate. Of course the OT isn't much better. Makes one wonder about the people who wrote either of them.

Answer 9

the muslim religion DOES demand conversion or death.
its in the kuran, from a very good religious historian friend of mine, muhamad was originally a carpet salesman, he fell in love with his sons wife and killed him, then took her as his own wife....... seems to me if the profit was a murdering child molester, then entire religion might just have a few problems.

Answer 10

u shudda asked this before 9/11, after 9/11 people have been spoon fed by the media....