Is Islam peaceful?

[CherubRam]

I need your opinion.

The religion of Islam cost the people of the world about a trillion dollars a year.

 

[MehGuy]

I need your opinion.

Admittedly I do not know much about Islam, so take that into a factor.. but if you want my current opinion it's this..

Not sure how a religion founded by a man who thought violence was the best method to spread his religion (although hey.. it is the number 2 religion in the world.. lol) is inherently peaceful.

Although I don't subscribe to the two common racist views you see among some conservatives and many social justice warriors. One being it's a scary religion practiced mainly by brown people, and the other.. it must be a wonderful peaceful religion because it's mainly practiced by brown people!

Muslims who settle in the west probably have more to fear from secularism than those in the west have to fear from Islam. So I don't lose much sleep over the issue, lol. They're just not going to come in at a rate where they'll ever have a chance over taking the west if there was a strong will to.

Even if the Islamic world never fully behaves in the distant future, the terrorists there will probably start worrying about the super intelligent robot AI they meet who have little interest or sympathy regarding their religion, lol.

 

[juvenissun]

I need your opinion.

I don't reply to a poster who thrown out a question and then gone away.
Are you still there?

 

[GrowingSmaller]

Islaml Is peaceful for the Mulsims (its hudda i.e. gentle benign guidance, but for the pious), and Muslims can live in peace and I am finding peace as a muslim, but violent jihad is allowed at times. I am totally not qualified to go into this tho. I have watched a scholar who says the problems of todays muslims stem from something like Protestantism, the idea one can just pick up a book on hadith etc and become an instant expert in the light of scripture and conscience. Rather you need expert legal training to come to conclusions especially about the harmful penalties and waging of war etc.

I am not a violent person, but slightly resent being stupid poor and sick, with the "better half" the world being indoctrinated by elitist university professors and greedy shareholders. The puritan Watson said the professors had lost their way and turned epicure. And the was way back - now its worse. The measure of enlightened man is the high scporing IQ test and the wage packet. I'm supposed to grovel I think or die asap before the good times begin. Subhuman bargain hunters like me, well, why should I acquiesce... if only its a spiritual resistance?

Thomas Watson said:

"We live in times wherein many are grown atheists. They have run through all opinions, and now of professors they are turned epicures; they have drunk in so much of the poison of error that they are quite intoxicated and fallen asleep, and begin to dream there is no such state of blessedness after this life; and this opinion is to them above the Bible."

Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes

 

[MissRowy]

If you look at a lot of the extreme fundamentalists of Islam - ISIS, Taliban, Boko Haram you will find they have cherrypicked much of the Qur'an to suit their extreme views and also to make Shari'a law much more strict to attack those who they believe should be kept quiet.

 

[football5680]

If you look at a lot of the extreme fundamentalists of Islam - ISIS, Taliban, Boko Haram you will find they have cherrypicked much of the Qur'an to suit their extreme views and also to make Shari'a law much more strict to attack those who they believe should be kept quiet.

What if the Muslims who are peaceful are the ones who cherry-picked the Quran? Most of the peaceful verses come from the time when Muhammad was preaching in Mecca to a small number of followers and they were completely outnumbered by the Pagans. When he moved to Medina, he was able to gain a large following and he could finally wage war. When two commands in the Quran contradict one another, the command that was revealed later in time is the one that still applies, while the other is abrogated. It just so happens that these later verses were revealed when Muhammad was in a position of power.

 

[MissRowy]

What if the Muslims who are peaceful are the ones who cherry-picked the Quran? Most of the peaceful verses come from the time when Muhammad was preaching in Mecca to a small number of followers and they were completely outnumbered by the Pagans. When he moved to Medina, he was able to gain a large following and he could finally wage war. When two commands in the Quran contradict one another, the command that was revealed later in time is the one that still applies, while the other is abrogated. It just so happens that these later verses were revealed when Muhammad was in a position of power.

Valid points there. But I don't dispute what you are saying because we all do it whether it be the Qur'an or the Bible. One sura that sticks out for me is Ali Imran which talks about how Allah gave the wife of Imran a daughter, Mary who was protected by Allah from Satan.

 

[Barney2.0]

Islam (and maybe Judaism if you consider the Old Law of Moses) is the only religion which actually teaches apostates who convert to any other religion should be put to death.
Bukhari[52:260] "...The Prophet said, 'If somebody (a Muslim) discards his religion, kill him
It's also the only religion which believes spreading forcefully and forcibly implementing Sharia law is ok and moral and is encouraged although not all Muslims believe this the real Muslims aka Isis and Salafis the real Muslims who follow Islam to the letter believe this as this is the real face of Mohammed and Islam. Christians had their violence but Islam actually teaches violence and encourages it that's the difference. For proof look at any Islamic country with sharia implemented and look how it's doing. Are Muslims good yes as a people there are good and bad Muslims is Islam good no because according to Islamic standards those so called bad Muslims who murder Christians are the real Muslims while the moderates according to Islamic standards are the bad Muslims.

 

[FireDragon76]

It really depends on the Muslim and what sect of Islam we are talking about. Muslims are even more divided and sectarian than Protestants.

 

[Barney2.0]

Real pure Muslims are Salafis which make up the Jihadist Muslims.

 

[PloverWing]

Real pure Muslims are Salafis which make up the Jihadist Muslims.

As I understand it, Muslims themselves disagree on who best represents the teachings of Islam, much in the way that a Catholic, a Presbyterian, and a Jehovah's Witness might disagree about who best represents the teachings of Jesus.

 

[cloudyday2]

Real pure Muslims are Salafis which make up the Jihadist Muslims.

It seems to me that if there is a "real" follower of any religion then the reality and receptiveness of the god being worshiped is what makes it real.

You are Eastern Orthodox and their claim to authenticity is very similar of the Salafis. Both groups claim that any change from the earliest practices and beliefs must be heresy. Maybe the earliest form was not ideal, or maybe the ideal form changes with time, or maybe there are many acceptable forms of religions (many paths to God).

 

[Barney2.0]

It seems to me that if there is a "real" follower of any religion then the reality and receptiveness of the god being worshiped is what makes it real.

You are Eastern Orthodox and their claim to authenticity is very similar of the Salafis. Both groups claim that any change from the earliest practices and beliefs must be heresy. Maybe the earliest form was not ideal, or maybe the ideal form changes with time, or maybe there are many acceptable forms of religions (many paths to God).

Salafis follow the Quran in a strict textual interpretation and follow the Quran Hadith and sunnah of Mohammed and his companions down to the very letters. Which is why they are so violent and intolerant these are the same type of Muslims as Saudi Arabia and Isis.