8/12/2019 Is Islam a Religion of Peace or Violence

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i think the main question regarding islam and whether it's a religion of peace or violence is this: if it is a religion of peace, why do so many people and countries around the world use it in the name of violence, and why is sharia law the dominant form of gov't we see in muslim countries, which represses women and non-muslim people? Moderate muslims would say that that's not truly islam, buta misinterpretation of the quran, but then the question becomes, if that's the case, what's in the quran that causes so many muslims to interpret it that way?There's probably just as much variation in the interpretation of the bible by the many christian denominations, but none of those interpretations involve repression of women and non-christians. So it seems to me there's 2 possible explanations here: 1)the quran in its original form really did advise muslims to practice islam the way the supporters of sharia law live and that's the most accurate interpretation of it or 2)it was written with such lack of clarity that nobodycan really know what the original intent and meaning was, and if that's the case, what does that say about mohammed? There might be a third option, which is that moderate muslims can simply ignore the verses of the quran that are violentor wrong and follow the ones that are good because maybe the bad ones were meantjust for the muslims of that time and need to be put in context. But the problem with that is that's assuming the imams and muslim scholars and teachers around the world will all adopt that approach to reading the quran, and so far that hasn't been the case at all. So that goes back to the problem i described above,which is if there are so many problematic verses in the quran, how can islam bea religion of peace when so many of its followers are learning about it in a way that is anything but peaceful to women and non-muslims? To answer that ques

tion you have to answer this one: what is islam? Is it just the words of the quran? Is it the cultural practices and traditions that have been handed down and followed by muslims for centuries? Is it the beliefs and practices of the moderate muslims, which make up the majority of its believers? My answer is thatit can be either one depending on how its believers interpret the quran, and that's the key. If more moderate muslims stand up and spread the message that sharia law is not the proper way to practice islam and that muslims must respect and tolerate women and christians just as much as muslim men, then islam can become a religion of peace. But so far those voices are silent, or at least not getting the attention they deserve, if they exist at all or in any significant number. However, if those voices don't gain influence and there aren't enough moderate muslims to have the courage to speak out against the radical scholars and jihadists who want to be the face of Islam, then it will remain a religion of viole

nce, as it is today. Islam does need a reformation to bring it into the modernworld, as Catholicism did with the 2nd vatican council. There needs to be a gathering of its leaders and scholars to come up with some reforms and to seriouslystudy the quran and how its teachings can fit into the modern day world. Islamis the only major religion that hasn't adapted to modernity, and that's the cause of the tension and violence between muslims and non-muslims around the world. As long as Islam is stuck in the past, it will fight the cultures and religions that live in teh present. Islam has to choose whether or not it wants to be left behind by the rest of the world, because it can't co-exist with the rest ofthe world peacefully as long as it professes beliefs which are antithetical to modern day civilized society. If it chooses not to adapt, it will always be at war with the rest of the world. Moderate muslims already live peacefully with non-muslims, but until Islam has an intellectual rebirth, they won't be able to ch

ange the culture of Islam and persuade the next generation of muslims living inislamist-ruled countries to practice their version of Islam and not the fundamentalist sharia law version.