Is Islam a peaceful religion ?

‘Is Islam a peaceful religion?’, this clearly tells the prejudice of the writer and when DesiPundit also uses the same words as the headline, it hurts. Yes when foreigners fulminate, it doesn’t affect me but when an Indians says such things then it really hurts.

Anyway, I have just this to say that if in a phase of 20-25 years you have seen acts of terrorism in the name of Islam, questioning the religion’s very basic nature is absolutely myopic and childish.

We all know about Inquisition that went on for at 4-5 centuries. And if you don’t know, just find about it, it was at the behest of Church and atrocities on religions minorities had acquired a new dimension. Was Christianity a bad religion then? There are hundreds of examples from all religions.

Surely minorities are not as badly treated as people believe about Muslim countries, rather they are treated better. See Turkey, Egypt, Malaysia and numerous other countries. I don’t believe that even Pakistan have a very bad record of treating minorities. It is their fellow Muslims like Balochis and Bangladeshis who have really suffered and not minorities though propaganda machinery is always at work.

I would have expected our Hindu brothers to stand up for their Muslim friends and support them. Unfortunately this global propaganda has blinded many. They forget America’s excesses and the fact that Bin Laden is America’s creation. Which self-respecting person of a country so brutally ravaged for no reason, would not stand up to fight in such circumstances?

Indian Muslims remained aloof from this terrorism. But still our fellow friends on blogs who suffer from Islamophobia keep writing irresponsible things. This is distressing. I feel we (Muslims) should just stop justifying ourselves.

It’s really a smart try on the writer’s part to bring Gandhian philosophy to justify your Islamophobic thoughts but belive me even Gandhi would have been ashamed of it.

INDSCRIBE: Thanks for taking time to read my post and comment on it. I would absolutely agree with you that during the middle centuries, during the time of the inquisitions, during the time of witch trials and even during the time when missionaries were trying to save us pagans from the fires of hell in India, Christianity was not a peaceful religion.

Hinduism was a violent religion during the days leading upto the demolition of Babri Masjid, though there was a huge self-correction in the society subsequently which resulted in the defeat of BJP government in four states after that.

Judaism was a violent religion on the day Christ was hanged on the cross.

This is precisely the reason why I say that it is futile to ask if Islam is a peaceful religion, and it is more relevant to ask if Islam is a peaceful religion today.

You might try to justify that minorities are treated well in Muslim majority countries but that is simply not the case. Can you construct temples and churches in Saudi Arabia? In Kuwait?

In Chicago amongst other places in the US, there are three huge, beautiful Hindu temples, in UK there are countless temples, in India there are huge churches and mosques. Can you point out such things in the Middle East? Remember the destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan?

You certainly cannot claim that Muslim majority nations have strived to build fair, egalitarian societies for all religions!

Why should an Indian blogger be blind towards the truth and reality? If anything, Indians have suffered much much more at the hands of various forms of Islamic terrorism and extremism through the centuries and they should be the first one to recognize the signs of violence in Islam.

My thoughts are certainly not Islamophobic and Gandhiji would have been proud to see his principle being applied to a practical situation.

Is Islam a peaceful religion? For starters, there is now one Islam, but many Islams, many versions of it. The practice of Islam differs from country to country, sect to sect.

The proof of pudding is in its eating. Probably Koran talks about peace but then which religious book or a primary school student handbook does not!

I agree with you that Muslims behavior today, especially in countries ruled by Muslims, would define the peaceful or violent nature of Islam. Can I as a Hindu take Bhagvad Gita in Saudi Arabia? Can a Hindu open a temple in Pakistan or insulting Hindu or Christian faith objects an equally big crime as that of Islamic ones. Or do Muslims think that only cause worth supporting is Muslim, just or not. If that is true then why should others support any Muslim cause?

A brief perusal of the Muslim history suggests that Islam has reacted to every provocation, minor or major, with Violence and killing. There is no Muslim Gandi or Martin Luther King or Gautam Buddha. Muslims have produced and respected only killers and murderers, from Babur to Osama.

Indscribe,
‘Is Islam a peaceful religion?’, this clearly tells the prejudice of the writer and when DesiPundit also uses the same words as the headline, it hurts.

This ‘prejudice’ about the nature of Islam is an unfortunate reality today. I think Vikas presented his thoughts on the issue in a straight-forward manner, and has left plenty of room for further discussion.

I personally share Shivaji’s opinion that religion is an outdated concept.

Is Islam a peaceful religion?
Of course it is, it only asks you to beat your wife to ‘control’ her. Peaceful beatings!

DODO,

It does not. Its a cultural thing and wife beating persists in other cutures too inculding those in Indian subcontinent.

But you will find some Mullahs pointing that the Muslim prophet said in some context. His actual words were “if you really want to beat your wife, beat with a swak (toothpic)”- sad Mullahs don’t understand irony of it.

Sadly you will find such lame things done in the name of Islam, wich in no point should be justified by any sane man and let people like you relish mocking it.

At one point of time every religion will have no real importance in the civilized world.

Rezwan, I don’t relish mocking such things. I feel sick about them. A foolish thing doesn’t become sensible just because everyone does it. It hurts me to see people do utterly stupid things, and then defend themselves by hiding behind a non-existent invisible being.

I don’t have anything against Islam in particular, I don’t believe in any religion as all of them are full of shit. Religions and gods were invented by nomadic people who didn’t have much sanity. Is the world the same as it was thousands of years ago? It isn’t, and people who don’t realise that and stick to the ancient bullshit can never have any peace in their lives.
If there really is a god, then he is the biggest asshole in the entire universe for letting so much evil happen in his name.

Dodo and Rezwan – Your comments prove my point – that it is futile to go look into scriptures to find out the true nature of a religion because scriptures don’t change, people do. It is only relevant to figure out what people of that faith make of that scripture. Scriptures are probably like recipes, with the same recipe, different people end up making totally different tasting dishes.

As for the post by Confused which ha s been mentioned in the updates by Ash – I think some of the comments on his blog hit the nail right on its head.

Harsha Bose’s comments are not worthy of any reply.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is not the country I look up to, a monarchy in place due to US-UK ‘the flagbearers of freedom’. The Saudi government’s record of treating its own people is no great. States of Gulf have to change and must give all rights to their minorities.

Vikas: I wholeheartedly agree with you when you say “it is futile to go look into scriptures to find out the true nature of a religion because scriptures don’t change, people do”. So your argument that the Muslims have today screwed it up by practising it wrong, holds water. In that case I suggest a slight change of the topic that you have chosen. “Are muslims peaceful followers” is better. Then again if I am a Muslim -and I can speak only for myself- and I follow my faith absolutely peacefully, then to that fraction that I represent muslims they have to be peaceful followers? a negliible, fractional percentage I admit. But then again there are scores like me, who have nothing to do with autocratic Muslim governments (a significant number of whom I admit are guilty of your accusations), who are also followers and who condemn and revolt against violence. now these followers together make a larger percentage.So logical deduction is that a section of people who follow Islam do not do so peacefully. Now that makes perfect sense. I totally agree that this section does not follow it peacefully. My objection is not to what you say but the way you take all and sundry under the wing of generalization in the name of getting to the larger picture.
It gets a tad difficult when one cries oneself hoarse about the cruelty that terrorism is, only to be constantly counted as one with those who perpetrate it.

Hi,

My Hindus and Muslim Brothers i equally believe in Hinduism and Islam as both peaceful religion do not mix religion with people.

People are always evil and violent but both religions are peaceful. As for Islam It’s the message of peace we should remember that Prophet Muhammad said that the every religion has a great virtue and the virtue of Islam is modesty and i also believe in all the Sufi poets and i have all the Sufism poetry and teachings.

I support my Hindu and I stand up for my Muslim brothers.

Bye.

All these days I have been trying to dig in the ground realities regarding violation of human rights in Saudi Arabia. But then I wonder how do I justify my point when the Saudis and most of the Arab states don’t follow the Islamic guidelines. Fine I will try to argue rationally without being prejudiced or biased.
Here is my response When frivolous opinions buzzed