Why is Islam portrayed as a violent religion?

Pars Today – Violence is one of the labels that is often used unjustly in relation to Islam. Portraying Islam as a violent religion which goes against peaceful coexistence of human beings is a cowardly, dishonest and unfair undertaking which has been promoted and advertised by the enemies of Islam in recent years.

But why should a religion of compassion and mercy be portrayed as a "religion of the sword and violence"? A religion whose holy Book, the Quran, starts every Surah or (chapter) with the words: "In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful".

We shall now have a brief look at four reasons for this travesty (false and distorted representation of Islam).

(1) Political and colonial bias

Sadly, the source of much of the unfounded accusations and false remarks about Islam, which has also been injected into world public opinion, is political hostility and bias.

Unlike other major religions, Islam presents a clear blueprint for political administration of a country, based upon monotheism, piety, justice and the people. Islam presented such a model more than a thousand years ago. Corrupt Western politicians and the political Mafiosi always try to raise doubts about Islam, and portray Islam as a violent religion, thus ensnaring nations in the trap of Islamophobia. They don’t want political Islam administering any country, since this scuppers their schemes.

(2) Incorrect understanding of Western orientalists

This means that some Western orientalists and West Asian experts wrongly equated the actions and attitudes of some Muslim caliphs and leaders with that of Islam. These "experts" failed to understand that some caliphs and kings had seized power through bloodshed and the use of the sword. It is totally wrong to equate the deeds and actions of an individual to a divine religion.

Western Orientalists should have consulted the Holy Quran and Islamic principles, rather than basing their theories on the actions of kings and caliphs of the Islamic World, many of whom had grabbed power unjustly through ruse, deception, and the use of the sword.

(3) Coming into prominence of false, extremist and fake so-called Islamic movements

We can mention Daesh and al-Qaeda terrorist groups, which came to represent "violent and ruthless and oppressive Islam". The Daesh and al-Qaeda's version of Islam was totally false and fake. It wasn't Islam at all.

In fact, Western intelligence agencies founded and nurtured Daesh and al-Qaeda terrorist groups, and with Western help and training, these groups conquered parts of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan and for a while, managed to set up a sort of government in those territories.

However, Muslims throughout the world declared their disgust and revulsion at what Daesh and al-Qaeda had done, arguing their behavior was much closer to colonialist West than to Islam and Muslims.

Perhaps the best argument that the behavior of Daesh and al-Qaeda was anti-Islamic in nature, comes from Ayah 32 of the fifth Surah of the holy Quran, where the Almighty equates the murder of an innocent person with the mass murder of the Earth's population.

In Ayah 32 of Surah 5 of the holy Quran the Lord says: "He who slays a soul unless it be in punishment for murder or for spreading mischief on earth shall be as if he had slain all mankind; and he who saves a life shall be as if he had given life to all mankind".

(4) Misrepresenting and misinterpreting Jihad as terrorism

Generally, all living creatures fight whatever threatens their lives.

Muslims, too, have a right to self-defense. If Western colonialists and imperialists attack Muslims, and plunder their resources, shouldn't Muslims stand up and defend themselves?  Shouldn't Muslims reply to this aggression? Jihad is the Muslim response to Western colonialists and imperialists.

If one studies carefully Prophet Mohammad's wars, then it becomes apparent that these wars were defensive in nature, and were compatible with the principles of peace and peaceful co-existence.

A Journey through the ayahs of the holy Quran, and contemplation of these ayahs, and comparing and contrasting these with the Western civilization, will surely reveal the "light of the truth from behind the clouds of darkness".

MD/ME