Many muslims say that Islam is not violent. Dr. Zakir Naik in his short work Islam and Terrorism gives "proof" that because 14 million coptic Christians exist and not all Spain was converted to Islam, that therefore Islam is not violent. To be sure, he gives other examples, which have the same force of logic. Of course by this reasoning, Hitler wasn't violent becuase he didn't kill all the Jews (he even kept some alive because it suited his purposes). But using his logic, Dr. Naik cannot argue that Christianity wants to annihilate Islam. Christians ruled Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, etc, and Muslims are still there. "Christians" rule England, the USA etc and Muslims are there; therefore Christianity wants peace with Islam.
Question: If Islam is peaceful, why are thousands (if not millions) of Christians being persecuted in Islamic countries, being tortured and killed? Where are Muslims being tortured and killed in Christian countries?
Dr Naik lies when he says that Islam means peace because it has the same root as salaam which does mean peace. That is like saying that love and loveless mean the same because they have the same root. Islam means 'submission', specifically to Allah and his messenger. The idea is that by submission, you are at peace with Allah.
There are numerous verses in the Qur'an that argue against violence. But almost all, if not all, have been abrogated by later revelations.
In warfare
In the context of war, many try to portray Islam as a peacenik, always wanting seeking treaties and peace. They use verses like Sura 8:61 - And if they incline to peace, then incline to it and trust in Allah; surely He is the Hearing, the Knowing. Al-Nisaburi argues that this was abrogated by later revelations of 9:5 and 9:29
Sura AT-TAWBA 9:5 - So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
Sura AT-TAWBA 9:29 - Fight those who do not believe in Allah, nor in the latter day, nor do they prohibit what Allah and His Messenger have prohibited, nor follow the religion of truth, out of those who have been given the Book, until they pay the tax in acknowledgment of superiority and they are in a state of subjection.
Freedom of Religion and thought
Many Muslims attempt to argue that Islam allows freedom of thought and religion. Many tout Sura 2:256 - "Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from
Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most
trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth
all things." But this too was abrogated by later verses mentioned above. In fact, this is clear when the 'Wars of Al-riddah' or 'Wars against Apostates' were started. After Muhammad's death, tens of thousands wanted to leave Islam. But because Muhammad had ordered the deaths of apostates (“If they turn back (from Islam), take (hold) of them and kill them wherever you find them, and take neither protectors or friends nor helpers from them.”- Sura Al-Nisaa 4:89) (“If somebody - a Muslim - discards his religion, kill him.” – Bukhari, Book 52. Hadith No. 260) Abu Bakr, one of the "Rightly-Guided Caliphs) ordered the Muslim armies to fight those who left Islam.
Sura At-Tabari 9:69 - "Killing unbelievers is a small matter to us" The words of Muhammad, prophet of Islam.
If Islam is so loving, what did India or Spain do to Islam to warrant the invasion by Islamic forces?
Are we to believe that all the Christians North Africa, Israel (Palestine), Spain, Balkans, Turkey etc were lovingly converted to Islam?
Non-violent conversions to Islam
We accept that Islam does spread by means other than the sword, intimidation and threats. Some people really do see Islam as being able to inspire devotion.
The Messenger of God said, "Whoever of the Jews falls into your hands, kill him." So Muhayyisah b. Mas‘ud fell upon Ibn Sunaynah, one of the Jewish merchants who was on close terms with them, and killed him. Huwayyisah b. Mas‘ud (his brother) at that time had not accepted Islam; he was older than Muhayyisah, and when (the latter) killed (the Jew), he began beating him and saying, "O enemy of God, have you killed him? By God, you have much fat in your belly from his wealth." Muhayyisah said, "I said to him, ‘By God, if he who commanded to kill him had commanded me to kill you, I would have cut off your head.’" And by God that was the beginning of Huwayyisah’s acceptance of Islam. He said, "If Muhammad had ordered you to kill me, you would have killed me?" and I replied, "Yes, by God, if he had ordered me to kill you I would have cut off your head." "By God," he said, "a faith which has brought you to this is indeed a marvel." Then Huwayyisah accepted Islam. (The History of al-Tabari: The Foundation of the Community, translated by M.V. McDonald and annotated by W. Montgomery Watt [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany 1987], Volume VII, pp. 97-98; bold emphasis ours)
It is true that Muslims brought Islam to Malaysia and Indonesia primarily through commerce, rather than via the sword. Notice too that Islam in these places is nowhere near as violent as Islam in the rest of the Islamic world. But this is not the same as saying Islam is a peaceful religion.
The fact is that even on Muhammad's death bed, he wasn't commanding harmony among Christians and Jews, but ordered that all Jews and Christians be expelled from the Arabian Peninsula. "The Prophet on his death-bed, gave three orders saying, 'Expel the pagans from the Arabian Peninsula....''"(Bukhari, Vol. 4, Hadith No. 288).
Why are there virtually no Christians in Saudi Arabia and why are Churches not permitted? Why are no Christians allowed in Mecca?
Questions for Muslims
Question 1:- If Muhammad's message was a continuation of the message of Jesus, why is it that Jesus never encouraged his disciples to fight? In fact, Jesus said that if his kingdom were of this world, his disciples would fight.
Question 2:- If Muhammad's message was a continuation of the message of Jesus, where does Muhammad exhibit the teachings of Jesus?
Question 3:- Is there any teaching in the New Testament that encouages Christians to overthrow unbelievers, their governments or even remotely encouraging conversion via threats of death? If Muhammad's message was a continuation of the message of the Torah and Injeel, why does Muhammad not follow their teachings?
Question 4:- The comingof Jesus, the Messiah, was prophesied hundreds of times in the Old Testament. If Muhammad was supposed to be an even greater prophet, why wasn't he foretold?
