What makes islam so violent

In the conquest of Mecca that some Muslims used to chant that today is the day of vengeance, but the Prophet said to them today is a day of mercy, then told the people of Mecca and the leaders of their war, you are all free and there is no worry for you. The Prophet of Islam during the wars never deprived the enemy of drinking water. In the Kheybar battle he was strongly opposed when he was offered the opportunity to close the waterway or poison the drinking water in the fortress, and forbade the spread of poison in the city of enemies and in general everywhere.

During the war, the Prophet said: Do not kill women, children and the elders and do not burn palm trees and crops. Imam Ali PBUH also commands his soldiers: Never start a war with the enemy unless they start, do not kill the fugitives, do not attack the wounded, don't go into their homes, don't attack women, and don't scold anyone.

Ibn al-Jouzi, : The teachings of Islam invite people to live a peaceful life based on theism, justice and purity. Therefore, peace in Islam is an eternal constitution. Even the nature of war in Islam is a defensive one, not an offensive one, because the principle of Islam is peace and coexistence, not conflict, violence and war.

In many verses of the Qur'an, God has allowed Muslims to fight only for defense. Therefore, war in Islam is a secondary principle, not a primary one. The third principle in creating a culture of peace and a non-violent society is to pay attention to the spiritual self-awareness inherent in our human nature that can move people away from violence.

Human nature has a tendency for peace and friendship. Enjoying compassion, and love for others is part of our human nature. Violence is not our nature. Basically, non-violent relationships can bring us closer to our nature and help us connect and return to what is truly a pleasing way of life, one that con tributes to one another's well-being and comfort.

Human nature tends to peace, and not violence; violence comes from how we learn, not from our human nature. The Islamic teachings attempt to invite people to global peace and a peaceful life on the basis of theism, justice and piety. So, in Islam peace is an immortal and primary law. Allah loveth not aggressors. This interpretation of peace which is based on Qur'anic teachings can develop a widespread peace around the world and terminate conflicts in many places.

In spite of these principles of peace in Islamic cultural heritage, we question the reason behind the violence in some Islamic societies; violence in various dimensions of direct or structural violence or cultural violence. To respond to this question, I would say that since there are many types of interpretation of Islamic doctrines from different points of view, and within different Islamic communities, hence, we are faced with the conflicting voices in some fields. However, we should not forget that there are conflicting voices within other religions as well.

It must be stressed at this point that the problem is not with religion per se. It is not the philosophy or the doctrines, it is not the practices or the rituals, which are the issue.

Rather, it is our interpretation of religion which constitutes the problem. It is the meaning we attach to certain doctrines and rituals which creates difficulties. Over the centuries, most adherents of most of the faiths have developed an exclusive view of their particular religious tradition.

God is seen as the God of their particular group. Truth and justice, love and compassion, are perceived as values which are exclusive to their religion. The unity that they seek is invariably the unity of their own kind. Their religion -they are passionately convinced- is superior to other religions. This Islamic theory of peace culture is misused in some Islamic societies because of poor knowledge of Islamic teachings or due to wrong education. And there are different interpretations of religion and its foundations among Muslims and there are also misunderstandings of Islamic teachings.

There is no question that the problem is not with the essence of Islam but with the problem of understanding and interpreting Islam. As a result, people are drawn into violence, war and strife because of some misunderstandings and misinterpretations of Islam's teachings. One of the main causes of misunderstandings and misinterpretations of the Islamic teachings, is Fundamentalism, and the avoidance of rationality.

The use of reason in understanding, and interpreting religion, has always been the subject of serious disputes among scholars throughout the history of religion. As a result of Fundamentalism, and the avoidance of rationality in the religious teachings, the individual has adopted a religious exclusivist approach and considers himself just and salvable, and that all other religions are void and misleading.

One prominent example is the idea of Salafist religious exclusivist. There is no doubt that education in any society can play a key role in human development and consequently in the growth and development of that society. Education in any society will play an important role in the cultivation of knowledgeable people and in the development of culture, social order and cohesion, the development of civic institutions and thus the development, progress and excellence of society.

The human factor is the most important factor in the development, growth and development of a society. Therefore, in our age of information explosion, education can be the most effective factor in solving political and social challenges.

It is so important that some social science experts have said that without cultural and social development, economic development would not be possible. Sadovnik, : 7. My definite suggestion for the realization of a society free of violence and a culture of peace is primarily to teach peace discourse in society. It has to become a public culture.

The discourse of peace must be incorporated as an approach to the educational system. As a matter of fact, some countries have incorporated the discourse of peace into their educational system literature. From kindergarten and elementary school to university level, where there should be a department of peace and conflict resolution. To avoid conflicts and violence in societies on the one hand, cultural and religious pluralism must be accepted, interactions and friendship must be pursued, and on the other hand to reject exclusivism.

Religious tolerance, which is based on the teachings of Islam must be followed. We must learn to embrace cultural and religious pluralism on the one hand, and pursue interactions, friendships and rejection of exclusivism on the other hand to tolerate dissent. In our time, there is an urgent need for good philosophical arguments for religious toleration in the encounter with religious diversity.

They might reinforce settled habits of toleration and justify teaching toleration to people in society. The Kantian response to religious diversity is the view that all religious claims are on a par with respect to truth, because all teach the same thing or make the same claim. The essential content of the former, of pure religious faith, is the understanding of all moral duties as given by God.

Kant held that this content -the claim that all moral duties are given by God- is present in all particular religions. This fundamental religious claim is discoverable and justifiable by reason alone, unaided by revelation, scripture and the like. The Kantian strategy has two essential parts: one is the reduction of all religious claims to a single fundamental claim, and second is the view that the claims of all actual religious communities bear approximately the same relation to this fundamental claim.

There is no public evidence that any one religion is unique or superior to others and thus has closer access to Ulti- mate Reality. John Hick, a contemporary advocator of a broadly Kantian strategy on religious diversity holds that there are indeed genuine differences and at least apparent incompatibilities among the claims of different religious communities. He divides these differences into three categories: incompatibilities with respect to historical matters, quasi-historical or trans-historical matters, and the ways of conceiving and experiencing religious beliefs.

Hick holds that these incompatibilities that different religions claim are not important in religious regards. Hick describes the Real in terms of the following functions:. Hick, : Muhammed Legenhausen has argued that in the Qur'an we have a pluralist position that tries to explain contradictions, better than Hick does:. Various means to resolve the contradictions are suggested in the Qur'an itself. See: , , It is also claimed that what was revealed to the different prophets was the same, so that contradictions among creeds must be due to content apart from what was revealed.

See: , , , Religious differences are generally explained in the Qur'an as having arisen from sin: from pride in the partial truth each of the different groups has possessed and form envy. See: , , , Legenhausen, : According to Qur'an, God ordained other religions by means of His prophets prior to His final revelation. However, the teaching of Judaism and Christianity were not incorrect.

They were different paths towards God in different circumstances. For this reason, all of the divine religions are called Islam in the general sense of complete submission to the com- mands of Allah. While Muhammdian Islam used for the final revelation which is a specific sense of Islam. This seems to articulate an exclusivist position but some theologians interpreted the verse as a form of Islamic pluralism and remarked that by Islam here meant the general sense of complete submission to the commands of Al- lah; so all of the divine religions are called Islam.

Since the tradition we are most familiar with is Islam, we shall draw our arguments from that tradition, though it must be emphasized that most of the other religions have an equally strong com- mitment to a unity transcending the boundaries of class, community and creed.

The fact that the primary purpose of Islam is to achieve the unity of humankind is clearly enunciated in the Qur'an itself. The Qur'an says that this was the truth that was revealed to Abraham and to Noah and to Moses and to Jesus. In fact, it makes it very clear that every community on earth has received this universal truth.

In the words of the Qur'an, there is not a nation but a warner has passed among them And what is this universal truth? It is belief in God and doing good. This is lucidly explained in a Qur'anic verse.

And they say none shall enter paradise unless he is a Jew or a Christian, these are their vain wishes. Say 'Bring your proof if you are truthful; yes! Whosoever submits himself to Allah and he is a doer of good, for him there shall be his reward with his Lord, on such shall be no fear nor shall they grieve.

The Jews say. Thus do those who know not [I. But Allah will Judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ. While the Qur'an is opposed to sectarianism, it accepts that there are different ways of reaching the universal truth. Had God willed He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He hath given you. According to the Qur'an, revelation is universal, so God sent a revelation to all human beings and the main message of all revelations was one thing and it was monotheism.

If God wills, He could make them one and the same nation. Tabatabei, : Therefore, the plurality and diversity were due to the will of God. Accordingly, the Qur'an has never criticized the prophetic messages; rather, it has criticized the misunderstandings of some followers.

There is no verse in the Qur'an that annulled previous religions. According to the Qur'an, those who believe in God, believe in the Hereafter and do good deeds will be saved. The Qur'an also confirms that Jews, Christians and Sabians will be rewarded. The prominent Traditionalist Seyyed Hossein Nasr is one of the Muslim scholars who proposes a pluralistic view to religious diversity.

He is a proponent of the idea known as Perennial Philosophy 3 in Latin philosophia perennis. Perennial Philosophy differentiates between inward and outward aspects of religions and believes in multiplicity of manifestations while considering the reality behind them as the same.

According to Perennial Philosophy, wisdom is essentially of divine origin, and knowledge is a sacred thing that God has given to man. These include the history of European colonialism in the area; US and European support for a number of ruthless Middle Eastern dictators; and the instability created by the American invasion of Iraq after the events of September 11, In the hands of demagogues, religious discourses — used selectively and manipulated to achieve a set of desired ends — are very powerful.

This article is the third in our series on understanding Islamic State. Download our special report collating the whole the series. Portsmouth Climate Festival — Portsmouth, Portsmouth.

Edition: Available editions United Kingdom. Become an author Sign up as a reader Sign in. Islamic State fighters on a tank take part in a military parade along the streets of northern Raqqa province. Hughes , University of Rochester. Author Aaron W. Hughes Philip S. But this has not amounted to meaningful ideological engagement. These so-called moderate representatives of Islam insist that violence has nothing to do with Islam and as a result the intolerant and violent aspects of the Quran and the Hadith are never acknowledged or rejected.

There is never any discussion about change within Islam to bring the morally outdated parts of the religion in line with modernity or genuine tolerance for those who believe differently. Despotic governments, civil war, anarchy, economic despair — all of these factors doubtless contribute to the spread of the Islamist movement. But it is only after the West and, more importantly, Muslims themselves recognize and defeat the religious ideology on which this movement rests that its spread will be arrested.

And if we are to defeat the ideology we cannot focus only on violent extremism. We need to confront the nonviolent preaching of sharia and martyrdom that precedes all acts of jihad.

We will not win against the Medina ideology by stopping the suicide bomber just before he detonates himself, wherever he may be; another will soon take his or her place.

We will not win by stamping out the Islamic State or al Qaeda or Boko Haram or al-Shabab; a new radical group will just pop up somewhere else. We will win only if we engage with the ideology of Islamist extremism, and counter the message of death, intolerance, and the pursuit of the afterlife with our own far preferable message of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

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