Why Do Some See Islam as Violent?

Is Islam violent? It is an extremely controversial community these days, for a couple of extreme actions of small minority of Muslims. How could Islam be seen as violent, if ‘Islam’ means peace? From there you would think that is the end of the story… Here are some reasons why Islam and Muslims could be seen as violent, and why they might not be what they seem.

At one time or another, all beliefs have been seen as unpleasant. For all of the verses in the Quran that have been used to rationalize violence, one can discover just as many pathways in the Torah or Bible that justify violence as well.

The difference is that people in the United States, generally speaking, do not wish to use belief to rationalize violence against other religions any more. They recognize that their ‘holy wars’ are no longer prescribed by their God. On the other hand, many Arabs, Northern Africans and Eastern natives still interpret the Quran’s verses as a call to violence. Christian’s major inquisitions seem to have happened in previous time periods, and the Muslims inquisitions seem to occur closer to this day and age. However, some Muslims see the Crusades continued in military and political involvement of the West in the Middle East.

Some Muslims have their own way of dealing with their texts about warfare in the Quran, and they use the phrase ‘jihad’ in its literal translation (i.e. a sacred war). However, it is important to recognize that not all Muslims interpret the text that way. There are a lot of moderate translations of these that offer the explanation that holy war can only be applied to the time of Muhammad the prophet.

The point is that the West has been a sufferer of Islamic jihads just as much as Muslims were affected individuals of Crusades – take the Ottoman Business for example. So one cannot say that one religion is more violent than the other- the violence has just occurred at different times and in different ways. Christianity has been able to go through the Protestant Reformation, the Reverse Reformation, thousands of revolts and radical changes, the Enlightenment and a multitude of battles to unshackle itself from the kind of attitude that looks for spiritual justified reason for harshness and barbarity. Much of the Islamic globe has yet to go through such a process. When they do, I have no question they will still be Muslims; they just won’t use their beliefs as a justified reason to killing people.

 

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