Does Islam Promote Violence?
Recently, I have been trying to clarify the misconceptions seen In Islam. Here is a big one: Is violence in the nature of Islam? Does Islam promote violence? This debate is put on frequently and usually does not end up well. So before I go any further I want to remind people that this is a civilized debate not a chair toss.
All to often you have one person trying to cut and paste from the Quran to try to prove that Islam proves violence. One of the infamous verses used by criticizers to prove that Islam proves violence is: And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have Turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith.191:2 . Whenever I see people pasting this from the Quran Im always thinking, Ever tried reading the verses RIGHT after this one. Those verses clearly state:
But if they cease, Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.(192:2) And fight them on until there is no more Tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah. but if they cease, Let there be no hostility except to those who practise oppression. (193:2)The prohibited month for the prohibited month,- and so for all things prohibited,- there is the law of equality. If then any one transgresses the prohibition against you, Transgress ye likewise against him. But fear Allah, and know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.(194:2) And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to destruction; but do good; for Allah loveth those who do good.(195:2)
If I learned one thing from RF is Never EVER cut and paste from any subject without investigating the whole thing. I mean SHEEESH you would understand if the verses were scattered in the middle of the Quran but come on!
It wouldnt be fair for me to be like Oh geee looky here the Bible promotes violence, When god gives (a city) in your hands, kill all the men in it do not leave alive anything that breathes(Deuteronomy 20:10-17) Can I rightfully use this to say that Christianity promotes violence, NOO. In order to understand the verse I must go back to see what situation the bible speaks of.
Same can be said with the Quran. In Slay them wherever ye catch them The them refers to the pagans that massacred a tribe of the prophets companions when they were going to do pilgrimage in a year of peace under the treaty of Hudiybaya. Do they not deserve to be fought against for slaying innocents under a year of peace by the treaty of Hudiybaya?
I couldnt have picked a more appropriate time to start such a debate. As we know, recently, we had Pope Benedict XVI criticize Islam and our dear and beloved Prophet PBUH. Quote:
Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached Pope Benedict XVI.
That seems like an attack to me but whether he was just trying to point out that violence blends with religion too often, or even if he was just a little tipsy at the moment, the damage was done.
May I remind our fellow pope that before Muhammad PBUH the Arabs were a decadent and immoral people that even buried their own daughters. Where did the prophet command spreading his faith by sword? Sure the prophet fought battles (as an arrow collector); Again but is it fair for me to say Do not think I (Jesus) have come to send peace on earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword.(Matthew 10:34) without noting down when did Jesus actually stated this?
Sometimes people do get rather upset when people make fun of Islam, especially the prophet. I think its all for the best though. I had a respected teacher once comment on how strongly Israel reacted when Hamas kidnapped one soldier. Sure its not a reason for Israel to use this to justify a war against Lebanon but hey, that was the last time Hamas ever kidnapped anyone. After the reactions from Danish cartoons I dont think that there will be any Danish cartoons criticizing the prophet no more. Same can be said with the situation of the pope. That may be his last nasty remark about Islam from our fellow popes for a long time.
Its really hard to extinguish all this fire over Islam when you have popes *cough Benedict cough* and American media criticizing Islam only beaten by the gasoline added by the Mujahedeen trying to fight Puppet leaders and foreign powers out of their country. I was watching a 9/11 video another day and it was totally ridiculous. Its one thing to honor the Heros that died on 9/11 and another thing to show Muslims as untidy and inpatient people who have a desire to blowup things and pray in bathtubs. Some are more extreme than others, one of the worse ones I have seen is Executive Decision. In that movie they show Muslims with an AK in one hand and the Quran in the other saying It is commanded in the Quran to kill the innocent. All those movies seem like propaganda machines to me to try and help justify the war against Muslims. When you get 3000 people dead on 9/11 its a devastating day for the world. However, when Hiroshima and Nagasaki gets completely disintegrated and 950,000 people die people just seem to quickly turn their heads and forget about the whole thing. With all that propaganda in the world its easy to see why people may dislike Muslims.
Lesson here is not to let a one sided opinion dominate the way you think about something. Look at the facts from both sides. I go to both cnn.com and Aljazeera.net to see whats up. You get some pretty distorted opinions on both sides, but by looking at both you can tell what really happened.
Hope I did not offend anyone! Lets try to keep this debate clean and avoid throwing tantrums and chairs across the forums.
Peace and Blessings
-Peace4all
Recently, I have been trying to clarify the misconceptions seen In Islam. Here is a big one: Is violence in the nature of Islam? Does Islam promote violence? This debate is put on frequently and usually does not end up well. So before I go any further I want to remind people that this is a civilized debate not a chair toss.
All to often you have one person trying to cut and paste from the Quran to try to prove that Islam proves violence. One of the infamous verses used by criticizers to prove that Islam proves violence is: And slay them wherever ye catch them, and turn them out from where they have Turned you out; for tumult and oppression are worse than slaughter; but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (first) fight you there; but if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who suppress faith.191:2 . Whenever I see people pasting this from the Quran Im always thinking, Ever tried reading the verses RIGHT after this one. Those verses clearly state:
But if they cease, Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.(192:2) And fight them on until there is no more Tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah. but if they cease, Let there be no hostility except to those who practise oppression. (193:2)The prohibited month for the prohibited month,- and so for all things prohibited,- there is the law of equality. If then any one transgresses the prohibition against you, Transgress ye likewise against him. But fear Allah, and know that Allah is with those who restrain themselves.(194:2) And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to destruction; but do good; for Allah loveth those who do good.(195:2)
If I learned one thing from RF is Never EVER cut and paste from any subject without investigating the whole thing. I mean SHEEESH you would understand if the verses were scattered in the middle of the Quran but come on!
It wouldnt be fair for me to be like Oh geee looky here the Bible promotes violence, When god gives (a city) in your hands, kill all the men in it do not leave alive anything that breathes(Deuteronomy 20:10-17) Can I rightfully use this to say that Christianity promotes violence, NOO. In order to understand the verse I must go back to see what situation the bible speaks of.
Same can be said with the Quran. In Slay them wherever ye catch them The them refers to the pagans that massacred a tribe of the prophets companions when they were going to do pilgrimage in a year of peace under the treaty of Hudiybaya. Do they not deserve to be fought against for slaying innocents under a year of peace by the treaty of Hudiybaya?
I couldnt have picked a more appropriate time to start such a debate. As we know, recently, we had Pope Benedict XVI criticize Islam and our dear and beloved Prophet PBUH. Quote:
Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached Pope Benedict XVI.
That seems like an attack to me but whether he was just trying to point out that violence blends with religion too often, or even if he was just a little tipsy at the moment, the damage was done.
May I remind our fellow pope that before Muhammad PBUH the Arabs were a decadent and immoral people that even buried their own daughters. Where did the prophet command spreading his faith by sword? Sure the prophet fought battles (as an arrow collector); Again but is it fair for me to say Do not think I (Jesus) have come to send peace on earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword.(Matthew 10:34) without noting down when did Jesus actually stated this?
Sometimes people do get rather upset when people make fun of Islam, especially the prophet. I think its all for the best though. I had a respected teacher once comment on how strongly Israel reacted when Hamas kidnapped one soldier. Sure its not a reason for Israel to use this to justify a war against Lebanon but hey, that was the last time Hamas ever kidnapped anyone. After the reactions from Danish cartoons I dont think that there will be any Danish cartoons criticizing the prophet no more. Same can be said with the situation of the pope. That may be his last nasty remark about Islam from our fellow popes for a long time.
Its really hard to extinguish all this fire over Islam when you have popes *cough Benedict cough* and American media criticizing Islam only beaten by the gasoline added by the Mujahedeen trying to fight Puppet leaders and foreign powers out of their country. I was watching a 9/11 video another day and it was totally ridiculous. Its one thing to honor the Heros that died on 9/11 and another thing to show Muslims as untidy and inpatient people who have a desire to blowup things and pray in bathtubs. Some are more extreme than others, one of the worse ones I have seen is Executive Decision. In that movie they show Muslims with an AK in one hand and the Quran in the other saying It is commanded in the Quran to kill the innocent. All those movies seem like propaganda machines to me to try and help justify the war against Muslims. When you get 3000 people dead on 9/11 its a devastating day for the world. However, when Hiroshima and Nagasaki gets completely disintegrated and 950,000 people die people just seem to quickly turn their heads and forget about the whole thing. With all that propaganda in the world its easy to see why people may dislike Muslims.
Lesson here is not to let a one sided opinion dominate the way you think about something. Look at the facts from both sides. I go to both cnn.com and Aljazeera.net to see whats up. You get some pretty distorted opinions on both sides, but by looking at both you can tell what really happened.
Hope I did not offend anyone! Lets try to keep this debate clean and avoid throwing tantrums and chairs across the forums.
Peace and Blessings
-Peace4all