Is Islam A Violent Religion?

Associating Islam with violence is a false impression that the Western public has long cultivated about this religion. An example of this misconception is that Islam is a religion spread by the sword, meaning that Muslims went from one end of the world to the other, conquering nations and forcing the inhabitants to either convert or die. The truth is that Islam spread through the expansion of the Ottoman empire, not that people were forced to convert or die. A modern day example of the Islam=violence misconception is Saddam Hussein. Although Hussein is of the Islamic faith, not all of his actions necessarily represent Islamic beliefs.

Following September 11, 2001, there seemed to be a sense of fear towards Arabs and Muslims in America. Since then, the tension between the United States and the Middle East has escalated. Based on the attention terrorist attacks receive, stereotypes tend to arise toward Muslims. Terrorists can be any ethnicity or religion, but typically jihadist terrorists’ gain the most attention in the media and the press. In America, Arabs, Muslims, and Jihadists tend to all get grouped together, even though they are not synonymous terms (Amble, 2012, pp. 340, 342). Not every Arab is a Muslim and not every Muslim is a terrorist. In fact, only a small portion of Muslims partake in terrorist activities and the Islam religion actually prohibits deliberate murder of unarmed individuals in battle and suicide (Pratt, 2013). If many stereotypes of Muslims seem to be incorrect, then it is crucial that Christians become educated on what Muslims actually believe. Critiques of the Islam faith that the Christian makes cannot be rooted in the actions of a few radicals. Just as certain people do evil things in the name of Christianity, without truly knowing Christ, I believe terrorists do the same. By targeting the aspects of violence in Islam I believe the Christian can close doors to witnessing. Instead, I think there are two core criticisms between the Islam religion and Christianity that can be analyzed to persuade a Muslim, law and logic. These two categories would allow us to meet with Muslims at

Islam is not the only religion that use violence for instance, the Christian use violence to destroy Islam. In the article crusades the idea of violence was demonstrated when pope urban II send innumerable amount of solder to “Rise in a spirit of cruelty against the jewish people scattered through the cities and slaughtered ’the women, also, and with their swords pierced tender children of whatever gender and sex.” The soldier did not stop there they also “Destroy the houses, synagogue of the jews and divided among themselves a very, large, amount of money [that once belonged to the jews].” Christians were influenced by Pope Urban II to assassinate million of people. It is estimated that about 1.7 million of people died during the crusades.

Nowadays, citizens often hear about the troubles Islamist radicals bring to countries, especially in the U.S. and Europe. It is known that people have several opinions on this particular religion, but the real question to be asked is whether Islam is really a religion of violence or peace. There are many Islamist groups- Isis and al-Quaida for example- that are responsible for acts of terrorism. For instance, the bombing of the twin towers in 2001 in New York, the London terrorist bombings that killed 52 innocent lives, the many bombings and attacks in Paris, etc. Personally, I think Islam is neither a religion of peace nor violence. Islam is not revolving around the idea of violence, but they don’t necessarily act in a tranquil manner. Moreover, Islam is not just a religion to its followers, it is more an ideology whereas its followers live for their religion; I think this is why some go to such extreme measures.

In the recent past terrorism, especially in politically and economically unstable regions, brings a continuously growing threat for people from every color, religion or ethnic background. And also in rather safe areas, such as Europe or the U.S., people fear the threat of terrorism. For such inhumane violence a scapegoat is often easily found in Islam, the religion these groups affirm to fight for. Such belief can readily lead to condemnation of not only an actually peace loving religion, but also innocent minorities suffering under the perverted practices of liars. This discrimination cannot be tolerated, because Al-Qaeda, the most commonly known terror organization of the world, and their leader Osama Bin Laden, were founded on a political basis and find no countenance in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The organization Al-Qaeda, following terroristic ideas and claiming to operate as surrogate for Islamic values, simplifies and intentionally misinterprets and shortens verses of the Quran, actually having no close connection to Islamic ideas, only claiming to do so in order to use it as a weapon to attack the United States and to convince potential followers to join the ' 'holy ' ' war fighting of Al Qaeda.

The Buddha discusses violence in a manner that warns of the build faith that follows the path of violence. Sticking with the common theme if controlling one's mind, the Buddha States that violence only begets more violence. Furthermore, the violence will be met with karma retribution in one of the 10 states discuss in section 138 - 140.

I am not an expert; thus I can only opine how I look at the ISIS with the knowledge I have. Contrary to what Graeme Wood defines ISIS as a religious group, I think it more illustrates a terrorist group. The followers of ISIS are devoted to their scriptures and give reasons for their actions, which easily elevates their standard higher than other terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda. Nonetheless, the path they are walking in order to reach their goal is immoral.

Everyday on the news people are hearing things about ISIS and how they use religion to start wars and offend religious beliefs. Many people today are fighting for religious beliefs, wars, and other things, but that is nothing compared to how ISIS is betraying people. Throughout centuries religious beliefs have been used to persecute others, divide territories based on religion, and how they teach religion, but that shouldn’t stop anyone for having their own religious beliefs. Early teachings were tolerant of one another until the Crusades during the Middle Ages wanted to gain land and wealth for selfish reasons. Today, ISIS uses those who stray away from the original teaching of Muhammad, to fuel their reasons for war. Many groups use

ISIS has gone through a evolution of names which tell a story of botht the origind of the orginization and its aspirations.One of the first names that the group was acknowledged as and still to this day is widely known as is ISIS. This stands for “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria”. However the term ISIL has also been used which means “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant”. These two names hold the same meaning they are different only because there is no direct translation for the word “al-sham” which the group originally used in their name. These two names both represent the origins of the group which began as a Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda which then advanced into Syria. “It has since been disavowed by al-Qaeda,

The debate on whether or not the Islamic religion actually produces terrorists and condones violence continues on and will continue on for as long as the religion exists. Both sides do have valid arguments. Some say that Islamic Extremists like ISIS are only interpreting the Quran in their own sick and twisted way, but when one actually looks into the holy book and studies it to its extent, they see that it calls Muslims to war with nonbelievers more than it does to make peace with them.The Quran also states to chop off the hands of thieves, and stone adulteresses. However, many modern day Muslims express their freedom to interpret the Quran their own way. So what’s the problem with it then? The problem

To understand the connection between Islam and violence, one must understand certain facets of the Muslim worldview. One of the most important is the fact that, according to the historic Muslim understanding, there is no separation between religion and government—what in Christianity would be called the separation of church and state.

There are those in the world that maintain that Islam is a religion born of violence, but many scholars, including Timothy Rowe and William T. Cavanaugh, maintain that Islam was not a religion born of violence instead a religion that was born into a violent culture. This thesis by both scholars allows for the interpretation of Islam that looks not only at the actions of today, but also at the historical foundations of Islam from its birth in 610 CE, when Mohammad received his first revelation in a cave on Mount Hira, near the city of Mecca, in what is now Saudi Arabia to the present day misunderstandings of the religion. While many maintain that the religion of Islam was born of

There are those in the world that maintain that Islam is a religion born of violence, but many scholars, including Timothy Rowe and William T. Cavanaugh, maintain that Islam was not a religion born of violence but a religion that was born into a violent culture (Rowe 2015, Cavanaugh 2013). This thesis by both scholars allows for an interpretation of Islam that looks not only at the actions of today, but also at the historical foundations of Islam from its birth in 610 CE, when Mohammad received his first revelation in a cave on Mount Hira, near the city of Mecca, in what is now Saudi Arabia (Omar 2003). There is evidence to support this view in many of the Holy Scriptures and texts of

After the attack of 9/11 many American citizens sought out an answer to why one would hijack a plane and run it into the Twin Towers, killing millions. According to the Huffpost, Islam became the main reason for the attack and furthermore labeled religion as the inspiration for many terroristic attacks (Gibson, 1). According to many Muslims, however, the attacks are anti-Islamic because the Quran states not to harm civilians who are not involved with war and to avoid it at all possible times (PBS, 3). The conflict between Muslims and Americans is growing and many issues in the Middle East has become the focus for religious terrorism.

Following the attacks on the Pentagon and Word Trade Center on September 11th, 2001, many Muslim Clerics praised the attacks and many denounced them as the work of extremists. So although there may be violent Muslims, Islam itself promotes a very peaceful practice and a loving and forgiving God.