Why do Muslims need keep on repeating that "Islam is a religion of peace"? why the constant repetition

Answer 1

Let me disabuse you of the fact that Islam is a religion of peace

The Quran contains dozens of verses that call Muslims to war with nonbelievers. Some are quite graphic, with commands to chop off heads and fingers, and kill the infidels wherever they may be hiding. Muslims who do not join the fight are called 'hypocrites' and warned that Allah will send them to Hell if they do not join the slaughter.

These verses are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not embedded within historical context (as are nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence). They are part of the eternal, unchanging word of Allah, and just as relevant or subjective as anything else in the Qur'an.

Unfortunately, there are few, if any, verses of tolerance and peace to abrogate or even balance out the many that call for nonbelievers to be fought and subdued until they either accept humiliation, convert to Islam, or are killed. This proclivity toward violence and Muhammad's own martial tradition have resulted in a trail of blood and bodies across world history.


The Qur'an:


Sura (2:191-193) - "And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution [of Muslims] is worse than slaughter [of non-believers]...and fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah." There is a good case to be made that the overall context of these verses is defensive war, however, there are two worrisome pieces to this passage. The first is that the killing of others is authorized in the event of "persecution." The second is that fighting may persist until "religion is for Allah."



Sura (2:244) - "Then fight in the cause of Allah, and know that Allah Heareth and knoweth all things."



Sura (2:216) - "Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not."



Sura (3:56) - "As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help."



Sura (3:151) - "Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority". This speaks directly of killing Christians, since they believe in the Trinity (ie. what Muhammad incorrectly believed to be 'joining companions to Allah').



Sura (4:74) - "Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward."



Sura (4:76) - "Those who believe fight in the cause of Allah…"



Sura (4:89) - "They but wish that ye should reject Faith, as they do, and thus be on the same footing (as they): But take not friends from their ranks until they flee in the way of Allah (From what is forbidden). But if they turn renegades, seize them and slay them wherever ye find them; and (in any case) take no friends or helpers from their ranks."



Sura (4:95) - "Not equal are those believers who sit (at home) and receive no hurt, and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah with their goods and their persons. Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). Unto all (in Faith) Hath Allah promised good: But those who strive and fight Hath He distinguished above those who sit (at home) by a special reward,-" This passage not only criticizes "peaceful" Muslims who do not join in the violence, but also demolishes the modern myth that "Jihad" doesn't mean holy war in the Qur'an, but rather a spiritual struggle. Not only is the Arabic word used in this passage, but it is clearly not referring to anything spiritual, since the physically disabled are given exemption. (The Hadith reveals the context of the passage to be in response to a blind man's protest that he is unable to engage in Jihad).



Sura (5:33) - "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement"



Sura (8:12) - "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them"



Sura (8:15) - "O ye who believe! When ye meet those who disbelieve in battle, turn not your backs to them. (16)Whoso on that day turneth his back to them, unless maneuvering for battle or intent to join a company, he truly hath incurred wrath from Allah, and his habitation will be hell, a hapless journey's end."



Sura (8:39) - "And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah"



Sura (8:57) - "If thou comest on them in the war, deal with them so as to strike fear in those who are behind them, that haply they may remember."



Sura (8:59-60) - "And let not those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip (Allah's Purpose). Lo! they cannot escape. Make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy."



Sura (9:5) - "So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them."



Sura (9:14) - "Fight them, Allah will punish them by your hands and bring them to disgrace..."



Sura (9:20) - "Those who believe, and have left their homes and striven with their wealth and their lives in Allah's way are of much greater worth in Allah's sight. These are they who are triumphant." The "striving" spoken of here is Jihad.



Sura (9:29) - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."


Sura (9:30) - "And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah; and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!"



Sura (9:38-39) - "O ye who believe! what is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter. Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place." This is a warning to those who refuse to fight, that they will be punished with Hell.



Sura (9:41) - "Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for you if ye but knew."


Sura (9:73) - "O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination."



Sura (9:88) - "But the Messenger, and those who believe with him, strive and fight with their wealth and their persons: for them are (all) good things: and it is they who will prosper."


Sura (9:111) - "Allah hath purchased of the believers their persons and their goods; for theirs (in return) is the garden (of Paradise): they fight in His cause, and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Qur'an: and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme."



Sura (9:123) - "O you who believe! fight those of the unbelievers who are near to you and let them find in you hardness."



Sura (21:44) - "We gave the good things of this life to these men and their fathers until the period grew long for them; See they not that We gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? Is it then they who will win?"



Sura (25:52) - "Therefore listen not to the Unbelievers, but strive against them with the utmost strenuousness, with the (Qur'an)." "Strive against" is Jihad, obviously not in the personal context. It's also significant to point out that this is a Meccan verse.



Sura (47:4) - "So when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then smite the necks until when you have overcome them, then make (them) prisoners,"



Sura (47:35) - "Be not weary and faint-hearted, crying for peace, when ye should be uppermost: for Allah is with you,"



Sura (48:17) - "There is no blame for the blind, nor is there blame for the lame, nor is there blame for the sick (that they go not forth to war). And whoso obeyeth Allah and His messenger, He will make him enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow; and whoso turneth back, him will He punish with a painful doom."



Sura (48:29) - "Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves"



Sura (61:4) - "Surely Allah loves those who fight in His way"



Sura (61:10-12) - "O ye who believe! Shall I lead you to a bargain that will save you from a grievous Penalty?- That ye believe in Allah and His Messenger, and that ye strive (your utmost) in the Cause of Allah, with your property and your persons: That will be best for you, if ye but knew! He will forgive you your sins, and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow, and to beautiful mansions in Gardens of Eternity." This verse was given in battle. It uses the Arabic word, Jihad.



Sura (66:9) - "O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end."



From the Hadith:



Bukhari (52:177) - Allah's Apostle said, "The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. "O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him."



Bukhari (52:256) - The Prophet... was asked whether it was permissible to attack the pagan warriors at night with the probability of exposing their women and children to danger. The Prophet replied, "They (i.e. women and children) are from them (i.e. pagans)." In this command, Muhammad establishes that it is permissible to kill non-combatants in the process of killing a perceived enemy. This provides justification for the many Islamic terror bombings.



Abu Dawud (14:2526) - The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Three things are the roots of faith: to refrain from (killing) a person who utters, "There is no god but Allah" and not to declare him unbeliever whatever sin he commits, and not to excommunicate him from Islam for his any action; and jihad will be performed continuously since the day Allah sent me as a prophet until the day the last member of my community will fight with the Dajjal (Antichrist)



Abu Dawud (14:2527) - The Prophet said: Striving in the path of Allah (jihad) is incumbent on you along with every ruler, whether he is pious or impious



Muslim (1:33) - the Messenger of Allah said: I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah



Bukhari (8:387) - Allah's Apostle said, "I have been ordered to fight the people till they say: 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah



Muslim (1:149) - "Abu Dharr reported: I said: Messenger of Allah, which of the deeds is the best? He (the Holy Prophet) replied: Belief in Allah and Jihad in His cause..."



Muslim (20:4645) - "...He (the Messenger of Allah) did that and said: There is another act which elevates the position of a man in Paradise to a grade one hundred (higher), and the elevation between one grade and the other is equal to the height of the heaven from the earth. He (Abu Sa'id) said: What is that act? He replied: Jihad in the way of Allah! Jihad in the way of Allah!"



Muslim (20:4696) - "the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: 'One who died but did not fight in the way of Allah nor did he express any desire (or determination) for Jihid died the death of a hypocrite.'"



Muslim (19:4321-4323) - Three separate hadith in which Muhammad shrugs over the news that innocent children were killed in a raid by his men against unbelievers. His response: "They are of them (meaning the enemy)."



Tabari 7:97 The morning after the murder of Ashraf, the Prophet declared, "Kill any Jew who falls under your power." Ashraf was a poet, killed by Muhammad's men because he insulted Islam. Here, Muhammad widens the scope of his orders to kill. An innocent Jewish businessman was then slain by his Muslim partner, merely for being non-Muslim.



Ibn Ishaq: 327 “Allah said, ‘A prophet must slaughter before collecting captives. A slaughtered enemy is driven from the land. Muhammad, you craved the desires of this world, its goods and the ransom captives would bring. But Allah desires killing them to manifest the religion.’”



Ibn Ishaq: 990 Lest anyone think that cutting off someone's head while screaming 'Allah Akbar!' is a modern custom, here is an account of that very practice under Muhammad, who seems to approve.




Additional Notes:


Other than the fact that Muslims haven't killed every non-Muslim under their domain, there is very little else that they can point to as proof that theirs is a peaceful, tolerant religion. Few verses in the Qur'an can be construed to fit the contemporary virtues of religious tolerance and universal brotherhood, and those that do are earlier "Meccan" verses that are obviously abrogated by later ones.



Far from being mere theological construct or history, the violent verses of the Qur'an have played a key role in the many massacres in Muslim history, including the brutal slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Hindus for five centuries beginning around 1000 AD with Mahmud of Ghazni's bloody conquest. Buddhism was very nearly wiped off the Indian subcontinent. Judaism met the same fate in the Middle East as did Christianity, there as well as across North Africa and parts of Europe, including Turkey. Zoroastrianism, the ancient religion of a proud Persian people is despised by Muslims and barely survives in modern Iran.



So ingrained is violence in the religion that Islam has never really stopped being at war, either with other religions or with itself.



Muhammad was a military leader, laying siege to towns, massacring the men, raping their women, enslaving their children, and taking what was once the property of others for his own. On several occasions he rejected offers of surrender from the besieged inhabitants and killed those whom he could take prisoner. He inspired his followers to battle even when they did not feel it was right to fight, threatening them with Hell if they did not, promising them slaves and booty if they did. Muhammad allowed his men to rape traumatized women captured in battle. Neither did he leave a clear line of succession, which resulted in internal war after his death and a jagged schism that has left Shias and Sunnis at each others' throats to this day.



It is important to emphasize that Muslim armies waged aggressive campaigns, and it was the companions of Muhammad who made the most dramatic military gains in the decades following his death. The principle set in motion early on was that the civilian population of a town was to be destroyed (ie. men executed, women and children taken as slaves) if they defended themselves. Although modern Muslim apologists often claim that Islam only attacked in self-defense, this is not only an oxymoron, but it is flatly contradicted by the accounts of Muslim historians and others going back to the time of Muhammad.



The strangest and most untrue thing that can be said about Islam is that it is a Religion of Peace. If every standard by which the West is judged and condemned (slavery, imperialism, intolerance, women's rights, warfare...) were applied equally to Islam, the verdict would be absolutely devastating. Islam never gives up what it conquers, be it religion, culture, language or life. Neither does it make apologies or any real effort at moral progress. It is the least open to dialogue and the most self-absorbed. It is convinced of its own perfection, yet never open to critical examination.



This is what makes the verses of violence so dangerous. While Muslim terrorists take them as literally as anything else in the Qur'an, and understand that Islam is incomplete without Jihad, others do little to contradict them. Indeed, what do they have? Speaking of peace and love may win over the ignorant, but when every twelfth verse of Islam's holiest book either speaks to Allah's hatred for non-Muslims or calls for their death, forced conversion, or subjugation, it's little wonder that sympathy for terrorism runs as deeply as it does in the broader community - even if most Muslims personally prefer not to interpret their religion in this way.



In fact, many Muslims are simply unaware of the Qur'an's near absence of verses that preach non-violence. This is because their understanding of Islam comes from what they are taught by others. In the West, it is typical for Muslims to come to believe that their religion must be like Christianity - preaching the New Testament virtues of peace, love, and tolerance - because Muslims are taught that Islam is supposed to be superior in every way. They are somewhat surprised and embarrassed to learn that the evidence of the Qur'an and the bloody history of Islam are very much in contradiction to this.



For their part, Western liberals would do well not to sacrifice judgment and distinction on the altar of political correctness, or look for reasons to bring other religion down to the level of Islam merely to avoid the existential truth that this it is both different and dangerous.


There are just too many Muslims who take the Qur'an literally... and too many others who couldn't care less.



If you ask, "why the violence"
The only thing more shocking than the ridiculous level of violence coming out of the Islamic world is the genuine indifference shown by most of those Muslims who are not directly involved. Though the number of terrorists is relatively small, they are sustained by the apathy of hundreds of millions, even in the heart of the Western world. One of the biggest questions asked in the aftermath of 9/11 was, “Where’s the outrage?” as Americans had trouble understanding why Muslims did not act as people of other religions would have in the wake of a horrific mass murder committed in the name of their faith.

The simple fact is that Islam is not like other religions. The roots of the faith, the history, and the teachings from basic texts compel both the violence and the broad indifference that sustains it. Despite the drive that Westerners have to believe that other people are just like them, and that other religions are just like theirs, it is anti-intellectual to ignore the stark evidence that demands otherwise.

Clever “fifth column” groups, such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), have learned that multiculturalists can be easily manipulated with tactical language that includes broad, but ultimately meaningless, “condemnations against terror” and periodic declarations that “innocents” are not legitimate targets for Jihadis.

Although fooling some into believing what they want to believe, astute observers recognize that these groups almost never define their key terms, such as “terror attacks” and “innocents,” and that a tiny minority of attacks are specifically denounced. CAIR, for example, only acknowledged eighteen acts of terror in the four years following 9/11 – less than 1/2 of 1% of the actual number of documented attacks.

So what explains the violence and the level of comfort that many Muslims have with those who kill in the name of Allah?

Given that Islam’s founder was a military leader who personally conducted terror attacks on caravans, led offensive battles against communities in order to steal and subjugate, who took slaves, broke truces, supervised the execution of captives, advocated the murder of Jews, and even advised his warriors on raping women captured in battle, the wonder is that there isn’t more violence than we see today.

Immediately following Muhammad's death, the "Religion of Peace" turned against itself in a bloody fratricide that continues to this day in the form of sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni. Muhammad's own companions and relatives fought each against other. Three of the first four caliphs were murdered, and many other early Muslims lost their lives including the nearest members of Muhammad's family.

Muhammad’s martial philosophy has been faithfully practiced by his followers, who obeyed his commands to wage Jihad (holy war) against unbelievers, and succeeded in spreading Islam by the sword throughout the Middle East, Central Asia, North Africa and well into Europe.

Unlike the Crusades, for example, which were founded on papal proclamation and not Christian scripture, there are literally dozens of verses in the Qur’an that exhort violence against people who do not follow the ways of Allah as dictated by Muhammad, and only a handful that could be construed as suggesting tolerance. There are literally hundreds more that speak of hate toward unbelievers

Unfortunately, the more violent verses were spoken later in Muhammad's life, which leads most Islamic scholars to believe that they abrogate the handful of earlier, more tolerant ones (as is the tradition with other parts of the Qur'an that are in contradiction). Muhammad and his followers did not have power over the people around them at the time that the more peaceful verses were spoken. As the balance of power shifted, so did the strategy of winning detractors over, from the use of deception to outright military force.

These militant verses, combined with Wahabbi teachings (a radical and violent strain of Islam), are being drummed into the heads of children in religious schools called madrasses well before they are able to develop an independent moral character. Radical mosques throughout the globe do their best to reinforce rigid personalities that are unable to see the world in anything other than dualistic terms, where there is only Dar al-Salaam (the believers) and Dar al-Harb, which literally means “the house of war” and refers to those outside the faith.

The goal of existence, according to the Qur’an, is a struggle for Islamic domination by any means – including deceit and terror, which were both practiced by Muhammad. The world must submit to Allah. There is no other point to life, and this explains the near absence of cultural and technological innovation on the part of Muslims in history, who merely borrowed from the hapless souls they conquered. Knowledge outside of religious teachings is not encouraged, except as it contributes to Islamic goals.

This two-dimensional thought process is responsible not only for the astonishing apathy toward the victims of Islamic violence on the part of those who are trained to view the world in such simplistic terms, but it also explains the dismal economies of Muslim countries. Though the religion comprises about a fifth of the world’s population, for example, the Arab countries combined have non-oil GDP numbers that are lower than the state of Louisiana.

The Middle East before the time of Muhammad was mostly made up of Jewish and Christian communities – in addition to some who practiced pagan and polytheistic religions. Within a century, these people were brought under the heel of rulers who had no interest in them beyond what could be squeezed from them in the form of the jizya (tax on unbelievers).

Slowly, the subjugated began to lose their cultural identity under the pressures of a brutal system that discriminated against them even to the point of stealing their children to make them into Fedayeen warriors in foreign campaigns. Entire populations were consumed.

Most felt they had no choice but to convert to Islam, sacrificing their religion, identity and culture to their masters. Once a person professes Islam, they can only recant on penalty of death. The system is also skillfully set up to ensure demographic triumph by allowing a Muslim man to marry women outside the faith, provided that the children are to be raised Muslim.

By feeding on conquered populations, Islam expanded with an unquenchable appetite, quickly threatening the very center of the Christian world, Constantinople. The siege of this city in 670 exposes the biggest fib that that contemporary Muslims like to tell about Islam's military expansion, namely that it was only as a result of self-defense.

In fact, there were no Byzantine armies threatening Muslims when the fifth caliph, Muawiya, struck at the capital of the eastern Christian world. The citizens of Constantinople were surprised by the naval attack, even though they were well-prepared to defend against it.

More importantly, following the humiliating defeat of the Muslims, there were no "Christian" armies marching into the vacuum to capture land, as might have been expected had there truly been an aggressive threat to Islam. The siege of Constantinople, like the many other campaigns of Muslim aggression was about Jihad and the spread of Islamic rule.

In the west, Islamic fighters invaded Europe and conquered Spain. Attempting to overrun the rest of Europe, they were finally stopped by Charles Martel at Tours. In the East, the empire quickly expanded into the heart of the Indian subcontinent, taking an awful toll on Hindu and Buddhist lives as well as the destruction of their beautiful temples.

All this a mere century after Muhammad’s death. Such was the violent legacy left by the Prophet.

Through horrific massacres and cultural cannibalism, Islam maintained a stranglehold on its occupied territory. The reactive Crusades that followed, as well as the Mongol invasions, were mere setbacks in the religion’s insatiable quest for imperial expansion.

Constantinople eventually fell in 1453, well after the Crusades. Three days of looting, raping and killing followed, as soldier and citizen alike were butchered. Entire families waited in their homes for death or slavery. Churches were ransacked and burned, and a significant part of Christian and Greek heritage in the form of relics and ancient text were completely destroyed.

Jihad and genocide threatened Europe for the next two centuries until the Muslims were finally stopped at the gates of Vienna in 1683 by a determined Christian army of Poles, Austrians, Lithuanians, Germans and others. If not for their victory, and that of France's Charles Martel on the slopes of the Pyrenees nearly a thousand years earlier, the lights of civilization would have been dimmed and the continent overrun before the great contributions to science and medicine could be made.

None of the technology that improves the quality of life for billions in the world would have been possible had the vision of Jihad succeeded. The medicine that we take for granted (that we ship to Islamic countries when they face natural disasters, for example) would not have been discovered, and the miracles of modern science would never have seen the light of day had the Prophet’s followers been able to take the rest of Christian Europe.

Since the religion discourages art, it can be assumed that there would have been no great Renaissance, as there has never been such in the Muslim world, and generations of scholars would have been limited to studies of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Islam’s mandate to consume and dominate religion and culture means that there is little if any emphasis placed on advancing knowledge or improving life for future generations. Submission to Allah is the only mandate and Jihad is the highest duty. Academic contributions that are often attributed to Muslims, such as the mathematical concept of zero, were actually borrowed and preserved from the civilizations and people they destroyed, much as a looter might keep the ill-gotten gain that he finds useful. The Islamic world has never made a single significant contribution beyond religion and death.

This doesn’t mean that the Muslim sitting next to you is a violent person, or should be treated as such merely by their profession of faith, but it does mean that peaceful Muslims can be said to be that way in spite of their religion. In fact, given the violent history and martial teachings of Islam, it is more of a challenge to explain why most of its members do not participate in warfare or terror than that many do.

There are at least three reasons why the violence is relatively limited.

The first is that Islam is succinctly designed to achieve total domination in areas where it is practiced. Utter hegemony in Muslim countries means a virtual absence of opposition, even in the arena of critical ideas, thus the opportunity for justified violence is reduced. Of course, this doesn’t completely prevent terror attacks against religious minorities in places like Pakistan and Indonesia, where minority communities are completely powerless.

The second reason Islamic violence is more subdued than might be expected is due to the massive amount of global resources devoted to containing it. This includes not only the billions (perhaps more than a trillion dollars) spent by governments and private corporations worldwide each year to protect people from Muslim terrorists, but also the security personnel from Algeria to India that often pay with their lives to keep the planet safer than it would be if religious fundamentalists operated with impunity.

Imagine the number of planes that would be falling out of the sky in the absence of security. Air travel would quickly come to a halt. In Israel, defense forces currently kill over 95% of the Fedayeen attackers at the nation’s borders, and an untold number of attacks are thwarted preemptively by intelligence efforts and retaliatory strikes against leadership. The rest of the West also depends on such measures along with leading-edge technology to stop Muslims from fulfilling their dreams of slaughter.

The third [and most hopeful] factor behind the limited violence in the modern age, however, seems to be the natural law placed in most human hearts that dictates compassion to be of higher moral value than killing. This competes with the Qur’anic command to wage war against unbelievers until they either convert to Islam, are killed, or are forced to submit to dhimmitude (third-class status under Islamic law).

Many Muslims realize the discrepancy between radical Islam and traditional morality, and they seek to bring their religion in line with the modern age – if only in their own hearts.

Reforming Islam is a monumental struggle that will take centuries. It is not a religion that invites introspection within itself or true dialogue with other faiths. Despite the millions of victims of Jihad over the centuries, there are no memorials to lost lives and lost cultures to be found anywhere in the Muslim world. This even includes the Armenian genocide of the 20th century, which claimed over a million innocents.

Whereas Western religion often inspires humility, Islam breeds personal superiority. Though rare exceptions certainly exist, the Islamic community is characterized by a general indifference to the lives and welfare of unbelievers. Anyone who doubts this should contrast the genuine outrage over periodic yet petty slights against Muslims (such as the recent Muhammad cartoons) to the reaction - or lack thereof - that these same people have when unspeakable acts of violence are committed in the name of Allah and Islam. Unless it occurs directly to them, there is nothing that approaches true rage over Islamic terror or honest sympathy for its victims.

And the terrorists themselves? In contradiction to other religions, the most devoted followers of Islam are likely to be the most unpredictable and sociopathic, not because they were born that way, but because it is at the heart of what they have been taught.

Muhammad's legacy was an ideology that commands its followers to fight those outside the faith until they either convert to Islam or accept complete subjugation to Islamic rule. There simply is no such thing as an innocent infidel exempt from the threat of death - except those who demean themselves to subordinate status and pay the jizya to Muslim masters. Armed with religious teachings, today's terrorists are merely continuing what was begun in the prophet's lifetime.

I challenge you to DISPROVE any of the information given here. . .

And don't get off track by saying I am Islamophobic. . .

Answer 2

Because Islam CAN be a religion of peace. It depends upon how the follower's particular sect interprets certain verses of the Koran. Many Muslims believe the violent parts of the Koran are no longer in effect, having been superceeded by the peaceful parts since we now live in a different time.

The only reason why these Muslims have to keep repeating this is because many non-Muslims didn't listen the first time they heard it.

Answer 3

Flippin eck Julia, if you hate Islam so much why the bloody hell do you keep on asking questions about it? Go get yourself to a local Mosque and find out yourself!

The term Salaam, which is a Muslim greeting means Peace. You can regurgitate all the historical facts you want, Clara, but fact is you weren't there, so how the hell would you know why they did what they did. All you can do is judge which makes you no better than a bearded fanatic. It's not for you to get involved in other peoples wars and problems so bugger off and examine yourself before judging others-all our ancestors had their own twisted histories and customs, lots in the name of religion. Just ask the whole of Europe, Asia, Africa...if you can't be arsed to see another side of the story then shut up.

Answer 4

Because people are constantly vilifying it, these are people in the media and mostly these freaking people that are running around being violent, ignorant and hateful and saying it is because of Islam, if it was because of the religion all Muslims would act like that but instead it is this small minority of people that tainting a faith and Muslims just want it to be known that those people don't represent Islam.

There are verse in the Quran that call for fighting but these verses are in regards to a time when other groups were openly seeking to wipe out the small group. It says as soon as a group stops aggression you have to stop as well. There are a lot of rules governing wartime. But terrorist have violated all of them.

Answer 5

1) Because a group of Muslims are portraying it as a religion of violence.

2) Because elements of the Western press are using this to reinforce that image.


I see Islam to be about as peaceful as Judaism or Christianity. Look at their histories and both have gone though bloody periods where the unbelievers should be killed and/or forcibly converted.

All three religions have holy texts that support peaceful persuasion and coexistence, and other texts that support killing the unbelievers.

As with almost all religious questions the believer can pick which texts he wants to follow to justify the position he would have taken anyway.

Answer 6

I guess we can all go home now...clara net has nailed the treatise to the wall of the muslim concience...what better way is there than the very words of the koran to establish how peaceful the religion of peace really is. Well done clara net.

Answer 7

It is a fatuous claim and the evidence from world events and the pathetic responses on here confirm this. Besides all major religions claim this as their tenet, so it is a vacuous one.
Well done Clara Nett! This testament should be nailed to every door of every mosque and madrassa.

Answer 8

Maybe they're trying to convince themselves, or they subscribe to the belief that anything said often enough becomes the truth even if it isn't, OR they're right & the rest of the world is wrong--naaaaah, can't be. Obviously some of them do believe it's a religion of peace, despite the glaring evidence to the contrary.

Answer 9

I don't suppose many people read Clara Nett's diatribe all the way through.
I'm only answering so I can save what she's said.
Well done!

Answer 10

They have to keep saying it so that the people who watch the women getting flogged in public don`t get the wrong idea.

Answer 11

If a lie is repeated often enough it is eventually believed. Goebbels knew that well enough.