What makes a religion peaceful?

Is Islam a “religion of peace?” How should we address this issue with wisdom, truth, and grace?

Now, please note, we cannot adequately understand and deal with this controversial issue without people being offended. But being offended does not make you or me right. We must look at the truth in the most objective way we can with grace and humility. There is a difference between a person who claims to be a Muslim and the teachings of Islam (and there are many varieties of this teaching Sunni, Shi’a, Ibadi, Ahmadiyya, and Sufism, to name a few!). One can give a critique of one without necessarily insulting the other. Sadly it is a question of maturity where a person is not able to understand a critique of the ideology that they follow and that of insulting them as a person or people.

So we must understand that a great many people cannot tell the difference between these two. With that said, we can either remain silent or speak up and trust God.

Just like in Christianity there are many different interpretations of what Jesus said and meant, the same is true in Islam of Muhammad. So what can we do to understand it. The best thing is to look at the primary texts yourself.

The psychological reason people cannot question this ideology or any one that is powerfully connected to its society, language and culture, is what psychologists call group think. Group think is the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility–and in tight communities the person who goes against what a group thinks is ostracized, abandoned, rejected, and in some cases killed.

So it is dangerous to ask questions of an ideology that can and is interpreted by some of its followers to crush decenting points of view about it.

So with that said, we can ask this question of Islam and peace in a multitude of ways. To test this, we need to examine the teaching of Islam in the Qur’an and the hadith, and the life of its founder, its prophet, Muhammad.

In this podcast, I consider these questions. It is a lecture I gave on this issue in 2015 in Romania. Your feedback is appreciated.

In his article Tim Dieppe, wrote,

“If a religious group had a long history of peaceful relations with other neighboring groups and religions, this might be grounds to claim it as a peaceful religion. Sadly, the history of Islam is not one of peaceful relations with others. However, it is also the case that so-called ‘Christian’ nations have been far from peaceful themselves, and not just in self-defense. So this marker may not necessarily be a reliable guide.

What about if most of the followers of a religion are peaceful and law-abiding? Would this make it a religion of peace? Perhaps. But what if a significant minority claim inspiration from the teaching of their religion to commit acts of war and terrorism? What if this minority has a strong claim to be following the example of the founder of their religion? What if this minority can also point to multiple religious authorities and examples through history as setting a precedent for their religious understanding?

It is indeed the case that the majority of Muslims are peaceful, law-abiding people. But it is also the case that the majority of Muslims are unfamiliar with the teaching of the Qur’an and the life of Muhammad. They are not usually encouraged to read the Qur’an in a language they can understand. Many Muslims self-identify as such because of culture, birth or relationships. Therefore if we critique the teaching of their religion, we are not thereby criticizing the behavior or beliefs of every adherent of Islam.” The rest of this great article is here…

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