“Why Violence Outlined In the Koran Is So Worrisome“
The Quran supports absolute freedom of religion, mandates that the Quran is the only acceptable Hadith and that the Quran is the only source of religious law.
Unfortunately the majority of the Muslims worldwide look at the Quran through the prism of Hadith books. Mr. Raymond Ibrahim together with most western and eastern scholars does the same. Below are the verses referred to by Mr. Ibrahim who shamelessly quotes partial verses or verses without the context of other verses to draw out the interpretation he seeks. Verses 60:8-9 have the commonsense commandment that one should not befriend anyone who fights you because of your religion.
[60:8-9] GOD does not enjoin you from befriending those who do not fight you because of religion, and do not evict you from your homes. You may befriend them and be equitable towards them. GOD loves the equitable. GOD enjoins you only from befriending those who fight you because of religion, evict you from your homes, and band together with others to banish you. You shall not befriend them. Those who befriend them are the transgressors.
[8:8-13] For He has decreed that the truth shall prevail, and the falsehood shall vanish, in spite of the evildoers. Thus, when you implored your Lord to come to the rescue, He responded to you: “I am supporting you with one thousand angels in succession.” GOD gave you this good news to strengthen your hearts. Victory comes only from GOD. GOD is Almighty, Most Wise. He caused peaceful slumber to overtake you and pacify you, and He sent down water from the sky to clean you therewith. He protected you from the devil’s curse, reassured your hearts and strengthened your foothold. Recall that your Lord inspired the angels: “I am with you; so support those who believed. I will throw terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved. You may strike them above the necks, and you may strike even every finger.” This is what they have justly incurred by fighting GOD and His messenger. For those who fight against GOD and His messenger, GOD‘s retribution is severe.
[9:29] You shall fight back against those who do not believe in GOD, nor in the Last Day, nor do they prohibit what GOD and His messenger have prohibited, nor do they abide by the religion of truth – among those who received the scripture – until they pay the due tax, willingly or unwillingly.
Some translators suggest war reparations, and thus a one-time payment as the appropriate translation.
[9:4-7] If the idol worshipers sign a peace treaty with you, and do not violate it, nor band together with others against you, you shall fulfill your treaty with them until the expiration date. GOD loves the righteous. Once the Sacred Months are past, (and they refuse to make peace) you may kill the idol worshipers when you encounter them, punish them, and resist every move they make. If they repent and observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), you shall let them go. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful. If one of the idol worshipers sought safe passage with you, you shall grant him safe passage, so that he can hear the word of GOD, then send him back to his place of security. That is because they are people who do not know. How can the idol worshipers demand any pledge from GOD and from His messenger? Exempted are those who have signed a peace treaty with you at the Sacred Masjid. If they honor and uphold such a treaty, you shall uphold it as well. GOD loves the righteous.
[2:215-218] They ask you about giving: say, “The charity you give shall go to the parents, the relatives, the orphans, the poor, and the traveling alien.” Any good you do, GOD is fully aware thereof. Fighting may be imposed on you, even though you dislike it. But you may dislike something which is good for you, and you may like something which is bad for you. GOD knows while you do not know. They ask you about the Sacred Months and fighting therein: say, “Fighting therein is a sacrilege. However, repelling from the path of GOD and disbelieving in Him and in the sanctity of the Sacred Masjid, and evicting its people, are greater sacrileges in the sight of GOD. Oppression is worse than murder.” They will always fight you to revert you from your religion, if they can. Those among you who revert from their religion, and die as disbelievers, have nullified their works in this life and the Hereafter. These are the dwellers of Hell, wherein they abide forever. Those who believe, and those who emigrate and strive in the cause of GOD, have deserved GOD’s mercy. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
[9:30] The Jews said, “Ezra is the son of GOD,” while the Christians said, “Jesus is the son of GOD!” These are blasphemies uttered by their mouths. They thus match the blasphemies of those who have disbelieved in the past. GOD condemns them. They have surely deviated.
[5:72-78] Pagans indeed are those who say that GOD is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah himself said, “O Children of Israel, you shall worship GOD; my Lord and your Lord.” Anyone who sets up any idol beside GOD, GOD has forbidden Paradise for him, and his destiny is Hell. The wicked have no helpers. Pagans indeed are those who say that GOD is a third of a trinity. There is no god except the one god. Unless they refrain from saying this, those who disbelieve among them will incur a painful retribution. Would they not repent to GOD, and ask His forgiveness? GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful. The Messiah, son of Mary, is no more than a messenger like the messengers before him, and his mother was a saint. Both of them used to eat the food. Note how we explain the revelations for them, and note how they still deviate! Say, “Would you worship beside GOD powerless idols who can neither harm you, nor benefit you? GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.” Say, “O people of the scripture, do not transgress the limits of your religion beyond the truth, and do not follow the opinions of people who have gone astray, and have misled multitudes of people; they are far astray from the right path.” Condemned are those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel, by the tongue of David and Jesus, the son of Mary. This is because they disobeyed and transgressed.
Does Mr. Raymond Ibrahim suggest banning the writing of many theologians who have concluded that today’s Christianity is not the same Christianity taught by Jesus? Two books on this subject are “The Myth of God Incarnate” (The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1977) and The “Mythmaker” (Harper & Row, New York, 1986). Certainly those books and numerous others defame the Christian religion and its central tenets—not to mention create hostility towards its practitioners.
[8:38-40] Tell those who disbelieved: if they stop, all their past will be forgiven. But if they return, they will incur the same fate as their previous counterparts. You shall fight them to ward off oppression, and to practice your religion devoted to GOD alone. If they refrain from aggression, then GOD is fully Seer of everything they do. If they turn away, then you should know that GOD is your Lord and Master; the best Lord and Master, the best supporter.
The fact is that there are no violent verses in the Quran. The Quran does preach standing up for one’s rights and to defend vigorously including fight if aggressed upon.