I often talk to nonmuslims and most of the time what they ask is " why islam asks muslims to kill kuffars wherever see them" " why is islam so brutal"
so i found this answer …wanted to share it with you guys…so it may help you whenever you need the answer to this question…
A few selected verses from the Qur’an are often misquoted to perpetuate the myth that Islam promotes violence, and exhorts its followers to kill those outside the pale of Islam.
**1. Verse from Surah Taubah **
The following verse from Surah Taubah is very often quoted by critics of Islam, to show that Islam promotes violence, bloodshed and brutality:
“Kill the mushriqeen (pagans, polytheists, kuffar) where ever you find them.”
[Al-Qur’an 9:5] 2. Context of verse is during battlefield
Critics of Islam actually quote this verse out of context. In order to understand the context, we need to read from verse 1 of this surah. It says that there was a peace treaty between the Muslims and the Mushriqs (pagans) of Makkah. This treaty was violated by the Mushriqs of Makkah. A period of four months was given to the Mushriqs of Makkah to make amends. Otherwise war would be declared against them. Verse 5 of Surah Taubah says:
“But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is oft-forgiving, Most merciful.” [Al-Qur’an 9:5] This verse is quoted during a battle. 3. Example of war between America and Vietnam
We know that America was once at war with Vietnam. Suppose the President of America or the General of the American Army told the American soldiers during the war: “Wherever you find the Vietnamese, kill them”. Today if I say that the American President said, “Wherever you find Vietnamese, kill them” without giving the context, I will make him sound like a butcher. But if I quote him in context, that he said it during a war, it will sound very logical, as he was trying to boost the morale of the American soldiers during the war. 4. Verse 9:5 quoted to boost morale of Muslims during battle
Similarly in Surah Taubah chapter 9 verse 5 the Qur’an says, “Kill the Mushriqs where ever you find them”, during a battle to boost the morale of the Muslim soldiers. What the Qur’an is telling Muslim soldiers is, don’t be afraid during battle; wherever you find the enemies kill them.
**5. Shourie jumps from verse 5 to verse 7 **
Arun Shourie is one of the staunchest critics of Islam in India. He quotes the same verse, Surah Taubah chapter 9 verse 5 in his book ‘The World of Fatwahs’, on page 572. After quoting verse 5 he jumps to verse 7 of Surah Taubah. Any sensible person will realise that he has skipped verse 6. 6. Surah Taubah chapter 9 verse 6 gives the answer
Surah Taubah chapter 9 verse 6 gives the answer to the allegation that Islam promotes violence, brutality and bloodshed. It says: “If one amongst the pagans ask thee for asylum,grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of Allah; and then escort him to where he can be secure that is because they are men without knowledge.” [Al-Qur’an 9:6] The Qur’an not only says that a Mushriq seeking asylum during the battle should be granted refuge, but also that he should be escorted to a secure place. In the present international scenario, even a kind, peace-loving army General, during a battle, may let the enemy soldiers go free, if they want peace. But which army General will ever tell his soldiers, that if the enemy soldiers want peace during a battle, don’t just et them go free, but also escort them to a place of security? This is exactly what Allah (swt) says in the Glorious Qur’an to promote peace in the world.
Barbie, thats pretty nice to share this info for the ppl to read. Infact the first verse that you had shared was posted as a BANNER in OPRA's Show and she had invited a Muslim scholar in that show. It's very important for everyone of us to look at the 'CONTEXT' , not only Quran but also History it self. Cos we have to promote our understanding of the contextual framework. History is not static at a given point in time, but rather dynamic, and it evolves in response to the socio-political, economic, cultural dimensions of a given time
awwww thanks Basit... i didnt know that it was posted in oprah show ...oh i missed it.......i hope that muslims scholar had given the right answer......
Thank you Barbie. That was informative..I'm so sure of Islam that i would have denied these interpretations anyway, but now i know how to discuss it in a logical fashion.
I feel that these kind of threads are much better than threads that attempt to ridicule others or others beliefs (No matter what people believe in).
Having said that, there will be others on the forum to whom no matter what logic/ argument one gives, they will still try to find faults just for the sake of it .
There are professional hired by Islam haters who are working full time on ridiculing Islam and Islamic values among people of the west, millions of dollars poured into this work.
On the other hand, there are few INDIVIDUAL muslims defending Islam. There needs to be an organised effort on part of Muslims to represent their faith.
Depends on what the compromise is. If it is regarding commonalities to be discussed then fine, but if it is to compromise on something which leads to something haraam , then not.
Having said that, islam encourages dialogue & communication. If that was not allowed then we could never educate ourselves or better ourselves ( true Jihaad!!). Islam also encourages these discussions to take place in a humane way not like animals..It encourages one not to ridicule the others beliefs.
Just remeber Sulah Hudaibiah in which despite opposition from few the Prophet (PBUH) made treaty with non-muslims. Even agreed to remove the part of sentence which stated he is the messanger of Allah just because other side objected to it.
This is just one example of great compromise in Islam?
Thanks Barbie for posting this, we all need to educate our selves
The biggest and most detailed example is the “Sulah-e-hudaybia” (No-war Pact between Muslims and kuffars at hudaybia) Apart from that, prophet Mohammad (pbuh) made several coalition treaties with Jewish tribes around Madina. If you read the details, it would be difficult for you , not to praise the political expertise and statesmanship of Prophet Mohammad(pbuh).
Also if anyone has read early Islamic history, or even watched the movie ‘The Message’ (it is very accurately portrayed in the movie), he/she can very easily understand all the wars were forced upon muslims. They were faught in self defence. And Muslims were brutally killed by kuffar of Makkah in early (10) years. And when muslim migrated to Madina, kuffars waged many wars and seizure, in order to wipe out muslims from the face of the earth.
It is very easy to say that Islam is a religion of peace and bury your head in the sand. Look around yourself and why do we find jehadi terrorists running amok throughout the world. I came here to change my perception of what a common muslim is and look what I found ---AK47 need I say more. Here you might say that he is just an exception and not an example. But then arent most of the posters justifying him and his antics !!!
Dont judge the car by its driver.....if some muslim is doing something bad tou it doesnt mean ke islam asks them to do whatever they do.......if you see someone's driving a car badly...who do you blame.....car or a driver....same is the case with religion and followers...O right....you can find bad people everywhere........
so it means all religions are wrong....right......we can find lot of bad hindus , chrisitans and jews blah blah......dotn judge before you know everything about islam....O right
The problem with you non-muslims is that u isolate terrorrist attacks from their root causes and secondly u forget that u people are committing equally heinous crimes.
It pisses me off when Baslan school event is repeated over and over again and no one mentions of chechan teenage girls that were raped and shot dead by russian war heros. While u do not even take the pain to condemn such acts.
//The problem with you non-muslims is that u isolate terrorrist attacks from their root causes and secondly u forget that u people are committing equally heinous crimes.//
It is very easy to talk about root causes whenever there is an atrocity committed by the terrorists. When things were going wrong ifor the muslims n Bosnia, it was the US which intervened to get them justice.
Where was the largest demonstrations held against the US invasion of Iraq. I dont even know if there was a token demonstration in the so called Islamic countries.
The kind of language that you use shows your upbringing. I dont want to comment on that.
It also shows how tolerant you are to a person who does not share your opinion.
The kind of accusations you put up and they way u do it determines what response you get from people. If you start blaming religion of other people, do not expect a gift in return.
And talking of demonstrations, there were many in Muslim countries but you don't get to see those on CNN