Islam A Religion Of Peace (part 1)

From Dinopak | By Hasan

Part I

One reason for this is that literally a few years after the establishment of an Islamic state in Madina (and later in Makkah), anti-Islamic powers began a propaganda that Islam is not the religion of consumerism they wanted. Instead, they preached Islam is for extremism and violence and it wants to compel others into belief by means of the 'sword'. This, while iconic and widespread, is incorrect. Muslims, since the beginning have suffered persecution but they remained tolerant. Early accounts both in Makkah and then post-migration (hijrah) in Medina hold the horrific stories of aggression upon Muslims. The proof against those opponents who allege that Islam was spread by the sword is that although the disbelievers of Makkah raised all sorts of objections, yet history stands witness to the fact that the people of Makkah themselves never complained that the Muslims had used the sword against the disbelievers to compel them to change their faith.

Secondly, what has given Islam a bad name is an ugly and awful image of extremism presented, whether knowingly or unwittingly, by some Muslim groups and organisations, and these groups unfortunately had personal vested interests. To find out the true teachings of Islam, we would have to study the Holy Qur’an and see what it says and not base it on the actions of some Muslims who have forgotten the teachings of the Holy Qur’an.

The Holy Qur’an commands us what to do in order to establish peace. God Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an :

Whosoever killed a person – unless it be for killing a person or for creating disorder in the land – it shall be as if he had killed all mankind. (Qur'an, 5:33)

Explaining these verses a scholar said,

He who abandons kindness abandons religion. The Holy Qur’an teaches that whosoever kills a person without justifiable cause will be as if he has killed the whole world. In the same way, I say that if someone is not kind unto his brother, it is like he has been unkind to the whole world.

Now on this verse, this scholar has drawn the interesting conclusion that people who see Islam as an extremist religion have a gross a misunderstanding from external sources. At the core, Islam is saying that even if you treat your fellow human being unkindly, you are a cause of destroying the peace and harmony of the world. Forget hurting anyone, you should always be kind in your dealings with every person in the world and spread the peaceful message of Islam.


To be continued inshaAllah.