Despite the fact that I’m not a muslim, I have read the Koran over and over. In fact, I’ve probably read the Koran more than most self-proclaimed muslims have. One of the eternal debates about Islam is: Is Islam a Religion of Peace or One of Violence and one that encourages violence against non-muslims? The answer: Islam is a religion of peace and the Koran does not encourage violence against non-muslims.
This answer may come a shock to some people in the light of so many terrorist organizations being formed in the name of Islam. My response is that these terrorist groups have strayed from the teachings of the Koran. Many have likened the Koran to a book that teaches how to kill and main – a sort of war manual – but we must examine the context under which these verses were given.
When Mohamed started to receive the revelation of the Koran, so to speak, he was living in a pagan community who were fixed on their pagan ideologies and who hated the idea of a monotheistic God. You can only begin to imagine the kind of opposition Mohamed might have faced with the elite rulers trying to kill him. Nevertheless, he secured his followers or “believers” who organized with him and formed a military. It is important to understand that it would not have been possible for Islam to be established at that time without a military conquest – and hence the Islamic conquest whereby muslims subdued a great part of the world and established the Islamic empire.
During these times, Mohamed gave his followers instructions on warefare telling them that God will be fighting amongst them and that “war is ordained by Allah, therefore fight in the way of Allah.”
But in times of peace, the Koran commands muslims to live peacefully with none muslims. “Say to the disbelievers, you will not worship what I worship, and I will not worship what you worship. Your way to you and my way to me.”
