Is Islam a Violent Religion?

To examine this topic we must look at the events that have occurred and our current state of turmoil. Islam is the largest and fastest growing religion of our time. Muslims believe that God says that if you take 1 step towards me I will take 10 steps towards you. So it’s just that 1 step that every body, Muslim and non-Muslim must endeavour to take. However, there are fundamental Muslims in our society. Groups such as the Hizb Ut Tarir and Al Qaeda that attract Muslims and non-Muslims to their domain. Preach a distorted message of Islam and because of their short time of acceptance of Islam and their limited knowledge, they become radicals. This is a very small section of our Muslim community but they attract the most attention. There are many Muslims in this world that only preach peace. Lets examine the roots of the Islamic world.

Islam has spread using two methods. The first is through conquest, to deny this would be disingenuous to the facts. However, according to the tradition of Islam if a person is forced to be a Muslim then he or she can revert to their previous religion. When Muslim armies invaded lands they did not enter cites and commit mass genocide. In fact they did not try to convert people to Islam, just there mere presence and their pious example was enough to attract them to the fold of Islam. When hazrat Umar (RA) conquered Jerusalem, he did not carry out any vengeful acts against the Jews or the Christians. Even though Muslims were massacred in the town previously. In fact he cleaned the temple mount at masjid aqsa that was being used as a rubbish tip. This is the site of the golden dome and is known as the third holiest place by Muslims and is seen as the temple of Solomon by the Jews. During the Muslim ottoman rule Christians were persecuting the Jews of Spain. At that time the Christians blamed the Jews for the death of Christ. The ottomans actually invited them to there empire and built synagogues for them. The reason why I mention this is that it shows that if Muslims sought violence and retribution, then they could have carried out such acts but they did not. The reason for this is that they believe that there actions are for the good of Islam and for the pleasure of Allah (swt). They do not carry out actions that originate from the desires of the inner self. It is only when we can control the desires of the inner self that we can endeavour to work for the will of Allah (swt).

When the holy prophet (pbuh) re-entered into the holy city of makkah, he was with a large group of his companions. One of the younger companions said “this will be a time for great retribution as they have persecuted us for long enough”. The Holy prophet (pbuh) and his companions had to leave the holy city of Makkah due to the persecution they faced from the non-Muslims. When our holy prophet (pbuh) heard this he is said, “no, this will be a time for great mercy”. I know it is difficult for Muslims to show restrain when there families are been killed, raped and persecuted all over the world. However, we must show mercy to all no matter how they have behaved towards you. The problem is that we as western people look at these people in Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan and Iraq without an understanding of their lives. We look at them and judge them from our experiences in our lives. To understand people from another nation you must understand their experiences in total. Muslims stand and fight in these worn torn countries but we do not no the real reason behind there anger and hatred towards the west. If all you have known in your life is death, destruction and poverty, there will come a time when you lose your rational thought processes. This cannot be condoned in Islam but it is an area, which needs to be considered.

In fact the prophet (pbuh) met two men in the holy city of Makkah that actually killed his uncles and one of them cut out the liver of he’s uncle and chewed it as a sign of disrespect. The prophet (pbuh) forgave them and they are now considered as the companions of the prophet (pbuh).

A famous Muslim soldier, Sallah-Ud_Deen Ayubi was in battle with Richard the lion heart. Richard the Lion was taken ill and Sallah-Ud Deen Ayubi left his army and went to treat him at considerable risk to himself. He could have taken advantage of this opportunity and launched a major attack. But he did not, this is because he was fighting for the will of Allah (swt) and not his inner desires of fame and glory. His state changed from that of a soldier to a human being that cares for another human being. In Islam muslims have the right to demand justice, the shariah law is clear about this. They cannot however let anger consume them and act against any person from that particular tribe, city or people that have harmed them. If you consider for a moment the laws pertaining to Jihad. You cannot use fire to hurt your enemy; well there goes all modern warfare. Bombs, grenades and nuclear weapons cannot be used. Do not poison the wells of your enemies. Well there go biological weapons. And perhaps the most poignant of them is do not cut the fruit trees of your enemies. This has been translated by many scholars to suggest that you cannot hurt your enemies’ children. The fruit represents the children as much care and love must be given to the tree for the fruit to grow. Indiscriminate killing is therefore not allowed. Now consider the events that have occurred in our lifetimes. At present Muslims are being driven from there homes in Palestine. Bulldozers are being used to crush houses even with women and children present in them. The Croatian army and the Montenegro armies systematically “ethnically cleansed” hundreds and thousands of Muslims from Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro. The term ethnic cleansing sounds so much better than mass murder. English is a very cleaver language, the media can use “co-lateral damage” and it some how sounds more palatable then mass genocide.

The second way that Islam spread was through trade and commerce. Indonesia has the largest population of Muslims in the world, 130 million. Indonesia was never conquered, Islam spread through Indonesia, Africa, India through pious Muslim traders that spread the word of Islam. The ancient Christian cites all became Muslim cities through trade and commerce.

Lets examine the history of western violence in comparison to Muslim violence. I believe that the majority of the unrest in the world today is due to Domestic abuse. Domestic abuse can consist of either physical or verbal abuse. I feel that verbal abuse is actually far greater then physical abuse. Arab poets say that the sword can cut the flesh but the words can cut the heart. Primarily this occurs to Women and Children. Western literary authors have also subscribed to this. If you think of Shakespeare’s King Leah it is at the core a man’s struggle with his childhood oppression. There is an interesting remark in King Leah, he say’s “I’m more sinned against then sinning”. This is a common view taken by those that subject others to abuse, it’s not my fault it is her fault or the child’s fault. It is also the view that is taken by America and the United Kingdom, “we didn’t start this it was them”. Other writers such as Charles Dickens in David Copperfield also note this. He says that you should be very careful of what you say to a child, as a slight miss-justice is a great miss-justice in a child’s world. The same way a rocking horse is like a great stallion to a child. This emphasizes that in the world of the child, everything is magnified and you should be careful what you say or do to a child as it can affect them for many years to come. It is an interesting fact that some of the most brutal men in history have been domestically abused. Men such as Napoleon, Starling, Hitler and even Saddam Hussein have been physically and verbally abused as children. Although I do not think this is an excuse to carry out hideous crimes against human beings but it is an intrersting contributing factor.

Mass genocide has never occurred in the Muslim world, unlike the western world. Conservative estimates suggest that starling is responsible for over 3 million deaths other estimates include 9-10 million deaths. Hitler massacred at least 4-8 million Jews. I have heard some ignorant Muslims that actually praise Hitler for his reign of terror. Read the life of the prophet (pbuh) and his companions; was he ever cruel or sadistic towards the Jews? Our prophet (pbuh) stood once to read the funeral prayer of a Jew and a companion spoke and said “ya rasool Allah this man is a Jew” and the prophet replied “ yes but is he not a human being”. This illustrates that you must shows humanity and compassion towards all regardless of their religion or creed.

Look at the American civil war, hundred and thousands of people died. The Chinese communist party in the 1940’s killed close to 3 million people in china. The Mexican revolution was responsible for hundreds and thousands of deaths. We have not had such mass killings in the Muslim world.

Islam actually forbids the killing of women and children even at times of war. Islam forbids the killing of animals or human beings for sport and greed. Have we forgot the scalping of red Indians, women and children of the Americas for their scalps and their land. The killing of aborigine men, women and children of Australia for their land. All done by Christians since anyone who was not a Christian was heathen to them. Whereas Islam teaches tolerance in our religion and strictly prohibits the killing of women and children for the sake of land. Even the killing of animals for the sake of hunting is not allowed. We believe everything that has been created by Allah (swt) will stand up on the day of judgement and tell of our aggression towards them. If we pollute the earth, we will surely be held accountable. Speaking to a friend recently, he said that he did not believe in fearing god, as god is such a compassionate entity. In away I agree with him but you must consider this, if you lived your life with out respect for your parents, the law and your elders, what kind of person what you be today? The reason why we respect such authoritarian figures is the fear of punishment. If we have no fear of god then we can drink alcohol, commit adultery, murder and steal. Even if nobody has seen us but we are always under the constant gaze of our maker. Allah (swt) mercy is above his wrath but he is the only entity that is allowed the attribute of wrath. Humans cannot exhibit this attribute as we do not have a complete understanding of the events and are not omnipresent.

People now talk of Islam as a violent religion but people forget about all the deaths that have occurred by western hands, not to mention the British colonial rule. It is an interesting fact that the western people make heroes out of terrorists. William Wallace was seen as a terrorist while he was alive but now he is portrayed as a hero with films like Brave Heart. Geronemo was an American Indian that fought against the American army. He was seen as an evil destructive force but 100 years later he is seen as a hero and Hollywood have honoured him with films in which he is the leading man. Men like Hannibal who fought in the penacladic war are now lionised; this man was a terrorist in Rome. Panchovia was responsible for the Mexican revolution; he now has statues and bridges named after him. This man killed thousands of American traders. I wonder what opinion they will have of Ussama Bin Laden in a few hundred years! It all seems strange to me, there are so many terrorist groups in this world today. There are fundamental Christian terrorists, Communist terrorist and Jewish Terrorists. However, for some reason if you mention then word terrorist to a western person the first image that comes into their mind is a Muslim man with a beard. Why is this the case? This is due to the media’s mass manipulation of the world. Everybody has become conformists, what ever they hear and see in the media they assume that this is the Holy Grail and it cannot be wrong. If the events of the past few months have taught us anything it is that the media can be manipulated. America and the United Kingdom went to war against Iraq under the pretence that there were weapons of mass destruction that could be launched by the Iraqi’s within 45 minutes. They have not even found the weapons forget about the sophisticated guidance systems that would be required to produce an attack on the Americans. I sometimes feel as though I’m living in Alice the Wonderland, the queens tells her soldiers to “chop the mans head off”. Alice replies “but there has been no trial” and the queen responds by saying “we carry out the punishment first and then have the trial”.
The Americans give these weapons to Iraq, which just happens to be there number 1 export. Then they say well Iraq has got all these weapons and they have used them against Iran. Well who provided the weapons in the first place! Just like you don’t let a child drive a car the same way you do not give dangerous weapons to those that have no moral or social responsibility.

I don’t see the Americans dropping bombs on Ireland to destroy Irish terrorism, is the IRA and the Ulster Freedom Fighters not a legitimate target. The war on terrorism or the “crusade” as George Bush has stated is in reality a war on Muslims. Historically the first terrorist was a Christian. If you read the bible, Samson came into the temple of the Jews. Tied him self to a pillar using chains and pulled down the pillar and the temple killing many Jews.

This man was the first suicide bomber; at it’s in the bible! Personally I have never agreed with suicide bombing. It is totally apathetical to the spirit of Islam and is not a chivalrous method of combat. Lets not forget one of the laws of Jihad, indiscriminate killing of women and children is not allowed.

The Muslim world have had wars between counties, there is no denying that. However, it is only the modern Muslim rulers that have recently stepped over the line. Saddam Hussein killing of his own people and the Taliban rule of the people of Afghanistan cannot be condoned. The Taliban attempted to re-establish the shariah law. The shariah law needs to be established using a sense of understanding and compassion. The scenes of the soldiers killing the women in the football field shocked many non-Muslims and Muslims alike. The shariah law states that if a woman is guilty of committing adultery, you need to have three physical witnesses to the act of penetration. This was never upheld by the taliban. Non-Muslims look at Saudi Arabia and the public executions and look at other Muslim cities and come to the conclusion that Islam is violent religion. Examine the history of both of our worlds. There has been a greater level of stability and public order in the Muslim world in comparison to the western worlds. Democracy and women’s rights have recently been established in the western world, this has been a reality of the Muslim world since the dawn of Islam. I personally feel that the decline of true Muslim countries originates from western countries establishing their own agenda’s in Muslim lands. I do not feel that there is even one Muslim country in the world today that is upholding the Islamic Law of Shariah and is living by the example of our prophet (pbuh). Islam is a way of life, it is not an aspect of life or an accessory such as a handbag is to a woman. It is a complete holistic tradition. You cannot adopt one aspect of this tradition and neglect other aspects; this would negate the purpose of your existence. This reminds me of a conversation a sheikh had with a student. The sheikh said to the student “do not drink alcohol, as it has an adulterous effect on the human intellect”. The student turned around and said “I haven’t heard this, I have actually heard that it says in the Holy Quran do not pray”. The sheikh said “yes but you must complete the sentence, it says do not pray if your are heedless in your prayers”. In this way we cannot take what aspects of Islam suit us and leave behind the aspects that do not.

Muslims believe that we have not been placed on this earth to accumulate material wealth. Our goal is a spiritual journey, which will bring us closer to our maker. Once a very rich man asked the famous Sikh, guru Nanak (who we actually believe to be a Muslim saint) to give him something of value. Guru Nanak gave him a needle and asked him to return the needle on the day of judgement. The man said how could I give this to you, as I will have nothing, Guru Nanak said exactly! You cannot take any material wealth with you to the hear after you only have your goods deeds to rely on.

Indiscriminate violence against others is not acceptable in Islam. Islam is a religion of peace but we are allowed to fight just wars and defend our lands. If a total stranger came into your home and said, “I am claming this house, killed your children and said that it was in the name of the UN” you would fight him legally, verbally and physically. So why must Muslims accept such treatment?