Islam: A violent religion?

[The Rich Port]

The current "jihad" is more of a personal vendetta than a religious vendetta, endorsed only by the Taliban, Al-Quada, and all those other extremist/fundamentalist chumps.

There's millions of other Muslims who are about as violent as any other religious person.

[GSSR]

Poll comrade POLL

[Nightkill the Emperor]

Has to be dropped off here.

[Guervoy Imperiya]

No more violent than any other religion.

[Dododecapod]

Of course it's violent. All religions are violent.

[Fadh]

not a violent religion..but more to violent people. Don't blame the religion but blame the people who has no longer follow the actual islam practice. that it is.

and is all same for any religion, we hear people kill other innocent people everywhere. it doesn't matter a few or billion victim. kill other innocent people by any mean is totally unacceptable, and it become more ugly when they hide it behind legal reason when all of us know is all BIG LIE.

i just want to say don't blame mohamad and truth islam, but i can accept if u say islam now is violent even though i'm not fully agree with it. each person interpreted thing differently base on what they know around them.

sigh..i just think maybe there is someone control what we all know now..may be what we know is limited by someone or group. if u done anything bad will u willingly tell the world u do that. or if u do, it must have a false good reason behind it.

if peace what we seek,we should try be kind to other people even someone from other religion, country or skin colour

[Dododecapod]

not a violent religion..but more to violent people. Don't blame the religion but blame the people who has no longer follow the actual islam practice. that it is.

and is all same for any religion, we hear people kill other innocent people everywhere. it doesn't matter a few or billion victim. kill other innocent people by any mean is totally unacceptable, and it become more ugly when they hide it behind legal reason when all of us know is all BIG LIE.

i just want to say don't blame mohamad and truth islam, but i can accept if u say islam now is violent even though i'm not fully agree with it. each person interpreted thing differently base on what they know around them.

sigh..i just think maybe there is someone control what we all know now..may be what we know is limited by someone or group. if u done anything bad will u willingly tell the world u do that. or if u do, it must have a false good reason behind it.

if peace what we seek,we should try be kind to other people even someone from other religion, country or skin colour

Well said. The probelm is that Islam (and not just Islam, but all religions) promotes an intolerant us vs. them attitude to the world. Even pacifist religions, such as Jainism and some forms of Buddhism, promote this intolerance and feelings of superiority, which wind up promoting violence.

[Los Cabreddes]

Islam also tends to discourage forgiving past grievences, allowing yourself to be dishonored, and allowing oppression and oppressors under any condition.

All of this is true except for the first sentences. Forgiveness is an important concept in Islam. The Quran even says "God will show no mercy to those who show no mercy to others."

Hmmm....

[Los Cabreddes]

Well said. The probelm is that Islam (and not just Islam, but all religions) promotes an intolerant us vs. them attitude to the world. Even pacifist religions, such as Jainism and some forms of Buddhism, promote this intolerance and feelings of superiority, which wind up promoting violence.

The organized sides of them do anyways.

[Gelgisith]

The Koran [Which I read some of in an English translation] is filled with passages about nonviolence towards both Muslims and non-Muslims. It does justify war in some cases, but condemns the killing of innocents. While Koran talks about the Muhammad's jihad against his enemies in Mecca, Muhammad told told his follows that the most important jihad was the one fought inside for his soul. The fact that Muslims have killed in rage and said that they were doing it for God doesn't make Islam an entirely bad religion does it? People have long used religion as a justification for violent acts. Is Islam violent?

Of course, it's just as violent as any other monotheistic religion. Which doesn't take the polytheistic or atheistic religions off the hook, of course, as they are generally only slightly less violent.

[Fadh]

not a violent religion..but more to violent people. Don't blame the religion but blame the people who has no longer follow the actual islam practice. that it is.

and is all same for any religion, we hear people kill other innocent people everywhere. it doesn't matter a few or billion victim. kill other innocent people by any mean is totally unacceptable, and it become more ugly when they hide it behind legal reason when all of us know is all BIG LIE.

i just want to say don't blame mohamad and truth islam, but i can accept if u say islam now is violent even though i'm not fully agree with it. each person interpreted thing differently base on what they know around them.

sigh..i just think maybe there is someone control what we all know now..may be what we know is limited by someone or group. if u done anything bad will u willingly tell the world u do that. or if u do, it must have a false good reason behind it.

if peace what we seek,we should try be kind to other people even someone from other religion, country or skin colour

Well said. The probelm is that Islam (and not just Islam, but all religions) promotes an intolerant us vs. them attitude to the world. Even pacifist religions, such as Jainism and some forms of Buddhism, promote this intolerance and feelings of superiority, which wind up promoting violence.

sory..i'm not agree with your word "The probelm is that Islam (and not just Islam, but all religions)"

like i said..is not the about the religion. but about people. when u had an accident did u blame the road or car when that thing clearly serve us for a better life. but do ask yourself what u do to prevent bad thing from happen. i do believe all truth religion only bring peace and harmony. it is we that change what have been stated in religion to fulfill our self desire to make wrong thing to become right.

and please don't talk bout thing u don't know..don't simply say any religion teach someone to become rude when you don't know where that sentence come from or even exist.

ahhh..hate the feeling to hate others.it just only bring disturb to life.peace all..chills

[Sorratsin]

not a violent religion..but more to violent people. Don't blame the religion but blame the people who has no longer follow the actual islam practice. that it is.

and is all same for any religion, we hear people kill other innocent people everywhere. it doesn't matter a few or billion victim. kill other innocent people by any mean is totally unacceptable, and it become more ugly when they hide it behind legal reason when all of us know is all BIG LIE.

i just want to say don't blame mohamad and truth islam, but i can accept if u say islam now is violent even though i'm not fully agree with it. each person interpreted thing differently base on what they know around them.

sigh..i just think maybe there is someone control what we all know now..may be what we know is limited by someone or group. if u done anything bad will u willingly tell the world u do that. or if u do, it must have a false good reason behind it.

if peace what we seek,we should try be kind to other people even someone from other religion, country or skin colour

Well said. The probelm is that Islam (and not just Islam, but all religions) promotes an intolerant us vs. them attitude to the world. Even pacifist religions, such as Jainism and some forms of Buddhism, promote this intolerance and feelings of superiority, which wind up promoting violence.

I would take it further than that. The us vs. them thing is a problem with all of humanity, not just religions.

[EnragedMaldivians]

Well said. The probelm is that Islam (and not just Islam, but all religions) promotes an intolerant us vs. them attitude to the world. Even pacifist religions, such as Jainism and some forms of Buddhism, promote this intolerance and feelings of superiority, which wind up promoting violence.

I would take it further than that. The us vs. them thing is a problem with all of humanity, not just religions.

Yes. And some religions institutionalize it as a matter of mainstream theology and others don't.

This "all religions (which apparently means Christianity, Judaism and Islam), are equally bad" nonesense is a vague platitude used on the part of those who want to appear enligheted without contributing anything substantial to a debate.

Do all philosophies, and ideologies followed according to their mainstream principles encourage exactly the same behaviour? Why are religions held to a different standard?

[Senestrum]

Islam is no more (or less) violent than most of the other major religious.

[EnragedMaldivians]

Islam is no more (or less) violent than most of the other major religious.

I wrote: This "all religions (which apparently means Christianity, Judaism and Islam), are equally bad" nonesense is a vague platitude used on the part of those who want to appear enligheted without contributing anything substantial to a debate.

Nothing personal.

Though I notice you said "most", at least. So perhaps my criticism doesn't apply to you.

[DaWoad]

I would take it further than that. The us vs. them thing is a problem with all of humanity, not just religions.

Yes. And some religions institutionalize it as a matter of mainstream theology and others don't.

This "all religions (which apparently means Christianity, Judaism and Islam), are equally bad" nonesense is a vague platitude used on the part of those who want to appear enligheted without contributing anything substantial to a debate.

Do all philosophies, and ideologies followed according to their mainstream principles encourage exactly the same behaviour? Why are religions held to a different standard?

They're not, it's simply that essentially all monotheistic religious (and definitely all abrahamic religions) act equally badly any time they get put into positions of real power with no secular institutions to keep them in check. Or, to put it another way, they've all got their hands so bloody that, at this point, attempting to determine which is worse is similar to trying to determine whether death by drowning or death by aspiration is worse.

[Michael VII]

No Islam in its purity is very peaceful, and very popular now it is currently the worlds largest growing religion! I am not Islamic but I have many Muslim buddies who are great! Many quite intolerant of other social ideologies like gay rights and abortion, but those are principle parts of their religion. Only the extremists are violent, who are unfortunately, almost always Muslims.

[Hresejnen]

Let's talk about this Us Vs Them trope a bit. Let's look at today. Where do we see the greatest feelings of superiority in birth, ideology, ability, etc today? You see it a bit in hard Christians, who figure they're the only enlightened. You see it in radical Islamists, whose presence is greatly exaggerated by the media, as anyone who lives in a community with a high population of Muslims will tell you (such as myself, in Calgary). You get a ton of atheists, as well, at least on the internets and in pompous books and treatises, talking about how anyone who follows a religion must be an insecure moron. Oh, and the biggest one: the USA, who has for years seen themselves as something of the world's shepherd, spreading its culture around, and never ceasing in its sometimes even frightening patriotism.

The Us Vs Them trope is not at all limited to religion. I would say that religion has both the potential to be a divider, and to be something of a combiner. To stay a bit on topic, the Islamic world was on splendid terms with the Christian world during its golden age. During the British occupation of India, Muslims and Hindus got along smashingly, as even in their two very different religions, certain aspects were shared, and this united them in various uprisings against the English. Religion is really no different from culture, nationality, linguistic heritage, or what have you: it's a means of defining a person, and can just as easily define them in a progressive, social manner as a destructive and antisocial one. Atheism included. People are not inherently good or evil, and neither is religion: it's just people.

[EnragedMaldivians]

No Islam in its purity is very peaceful, and very popular now it is currently the worlds largest growing religion! I am not Islamic but I have many Muslim buddies who are great! Many quite intolerant of other social ideologies like gay rights and abortion, but those are principle parts of their religion. Only the extremists are violent, who are unfortunately, almost always Muslims.

You mean fastest. And it's probably due to birth rate rather than conversion.

Secondly, specifically that point about your friends intolerance towards gay rights and abortion, is why I think it should be criticised as a repressive religion, rather than a violent one. While at the same time avoiding et-tu fallacies comparing it to Christianity.

They're not, it's simply that essentially all monotheistic religious (and definitely all abrahamic religions) act equally badly any time they get put into positions of real power with no secular institutions to keep them in check. Or, to put it another way, they've all got their hands so bloody that, at this point, attempting to determine which is worse is similar to trying to determine whether death by drowning or death by aspiration is worse.

Except that the OP asked about Islam specifically; if you favour an approach that puts it in an evaluative context, and compare it to other faiths to see where it fits along the violence spectrum, there are more faiths to compare it to than Judaism and Christianity.
If you favour an approach that judges what a violent religion/ideology is by your own value criteria, then comparing it to Judaism/Christianity is either irrelevant or an et-tu fallacy.

[Michael VII]

That's right, I meant fastest...but to each his own, you are not and cannot be obliged to agree with gay rights or abortion and their religion teaches against homosexuality, so they are allowed to disagree with those things, but if passed by law, must be tolerant. (Not really must, but otherwise they are being dicks)

[EnragedMaldivians]

That's right, I meant fastest...but to each his own, you are not and cannot be obliged to agree with gay rights or abortion and their religion teaches against homosexuality, so they are allowed to disagree with those things, but if passed by law, must be tolerant. (Not really must, but otherwise they are being dicks)

I was not intolerant towards them back when I was Muslim; at least not in the sense that I would have wanted to interfere in their private life, or punish them.

They don’t have to agree with it as a matter personal ethics, but that doesn’t mean I can’t criticise the religion for fostering that kind of mind set. Especially if they want repressive legislation to suit their preferences. And especially if said legislation entails lashing or the death sentence.

[Scientific socks]

All religions have their violence. However all religions but one to me have a half decent role model for our modern times.

Mohammed owned a slave
He married and had sex with a girl that by todays standards would be classed as a minor (rape)
He killed hit opponents


Now if we put Jesus in contrast
Never owned a slave
Never married or had sex
Never killed or even hit. He did smash up a temple but never against a human


I believe all relgions were created out of fear, believed by some and misused by others for personal means. But if you just look at the idea of the main character being a role model Mohammed fails. Great for the people then. Not so much now

[The Collective Will (Ancient)]

For any philosophy, if violence is condoned for any reason, that means that the argument for the philosophy is weak because the philosophy cannot stand up to argument but must instead smite those who argue against it to justify itself.
If a philosophy cannot properly counter an argument, what does that say about the philosophy?

[The Collective Will (Ancient)]

No Islam in its purity is very peaceful, and very popular now it is currently the worlds largest growing religion! I am not Islamic but I have many Muslim buddies who are great! Many quite intolerant of other social ideologies like gay rights and abortion, but those are principle parts of their religion. Only the extremists are violent, who are unfortunately, almost always Muslims.

Religious intolerance because its part of their religion isn't a justification for it. You shouldn't be intolerant of anything unless you look at all the facts, not because you were indoctrinated with it. That too can be immoral.

[Republicke]

For any philosophy, if violence is condoned for any reason, that means that the argument for the philosophy is weak because the philosophy cannot stand up to argument but must instead smite those who argue against it to justify itself.
If a philosophy cannot properly counter an argument, what does that say about the philosophy?

*Punches you in the face* "It says 'reductio ad nosebleed', muthatrucka."

All religions have their violence. However all religions but one to me have a half decent role model for our modern times.

Mohammed owned a slave
He married and had sex with a girl that by todays standards would be classed as a minor (rape)
He killed hit opponents


Now if we put Jesus in contrast
Never owned a slave
Never married or had sex
Never killed or even hit. He did smash up a temple but never against a human


I believe all relgions were created out of fear, believed by some and misused by others for personal means. But if you just look at the idea of the main character being a role model Mohammed fails. Great for the people then. Not so much now

Except that, IMHO, this is to apply Christian standards and expectations to Islam. Jesus fulfills a very different role to Muhammad. Ie: Jesus is the son of God, and is a constituent part of the triumvir which comprises divinity. Whereas, Muhammad is the messenger of God.

Islam is not Mohammedanism in the way that Christianity is an adherence to Jesus Christ. There is a doctrine of sinlessness for Jesus, Muhammad's came later, and in many ways was a revision and isn't, strictly speaking, all that accurate, especially if you look at some of the words used to describe Muhammad in the Quran.

Basically, Muhammad doesn't have to be better than Jesus, or even comparable, he just has to have a more accurately transmitted revelation. That's what's important. It might help if you viewed revelation like math, Jesus could be as kind as one can be, but he could suck at algebra. Muhammad could be as bad as one can be, but provided that he's a Newton, then his words are more pertinent, in that they flow most rightly from God. And this is what's relevant to followers, in that one wants to be following the most correct set of doctrines, and one wants to emulate the most just man. But these are two separate issues.

Having said this, I don't think the criticisms of Muhammad are so terrible.

i) Islam improves the status and treatment of slaves. Or at-least it is claimed it did. Muhammad personally freed many slaves, and recommended doing so.

ii) Onset of puberty as the age of consent is not something that I agree with personally, but it was the practice of the time. Furthermore, I think one could claim that, being a Prophet of the Lord, or something, that he might receive special dispensation, or being the wife of a prophet, perhaps she was uniquely ready for such acts.

iii) Yes, Muhammad did commit acts of violence. I suppose it's possible to argue that they were necessary. Remember that Muhammad was in a radically different position to Jesus.