Islam And Violence: What Does The Faith Actually Teach?

Islam is often painted as a religion of hatred and violence, with politicians at the highest levels of government using fear to mobilise their base. But is this true?

Islam is not a person and therefore cannot hate. It is a religion grounded in reality, with the Quran and teachings of the Prophet providing guidelines and restrictions on the use of force.

The Quran states: Allah does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion and did not drive you out of your homes. Verily, Allah loves those who deal with equity. This verse clarifies that the basis for fighting is not religion, but defence against those who attack Muslims for their faith.

The Quran also highlights the special place of Christians and Jews, referring to them as People of the Book. It even prohibits Muslims from insulting the gods or idols that are worshipped by other religions.

The Quran allows Muslims to eat the food of Jews and Christians and permits inter-religious marriages. It notes that if people do not stand up to religious intolerance, it will lead to the destruction of all places of worship.

Islam has many regulations to minimise the destruction of war, including strict rules against targeting civilians and non-combatants, and rules against pillaging lands and cutting down trees.

However, there are passages in the Quran that can be interpreted as promoting violence. For example: Allah hath granted a grade higher to those who strive and fight with their goods and persons than to those who sit (at home). And: Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

Mainstream Islamic jurisprudence maintains that these so-called sword verses have abrogated, cancelled, and replaced verses in the Quran that call for tolerance, compassion, and peace.

The Quran and Hadith as sources of Sharia law

The Quran and Hadith are the primary sources of Sharia law. Sharia is the ideal form of divine guidance that Muslims follow to live a righteous life. Sharia means "the correct path" in Arabic. It refers to the divine counsel that Muslims follow to live moral lives and grow closer to God. The Quran is considered the direct word of God, while Hadith refers to the thousands of sayings and practices attributed to the Prophet Muhammad.

Sharia is not the same as Islamic law. Muslims believe that Sharia refers to the perfect, immutable values understood only by God, while Islamic laws are based on interpretations of Sharia. Interpreting Sharia requires deep knowledge of the Quran and Sunnah (the Prophet's sayings and practices), fluency in Arabic, and expertise in legal theory.

Sharia is a source of debate among both Muslims and non-Muslims, particularly regarding its teachings on criminal justice, democracy, and social equality. Some critics argue that Sharia is a rigid legal system that cannot evolve to reflect modern, Western values. However, supporters of Sharia argue that it can evolve with Islamic societies to address their needs.

The Hanafi, Hanbali, Ja'fari, Maliki, and Shafi'i schools are the major schools of Islamic law, each differing in their methods of interpreting Islamic law. While some Muslim-majority countries have sharia-based laws, others apply a dual legal system, allowing Muslims to choose to bring certain matters, such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and guardianship, to Islamic courts.

Islamic views on violence against non-believers

The Islamic view on violence against non-believers is a highly contested topic, with some arguing that Islam is a religion of peace, while others claim that it promotes violence.

The Quran and Violence

Islam's sacred texts, the Quran and the Sunnah, are the primary sources of Sharia law, which is the basic Islamic religious law. The Quran contains verses that could be interpreted as promoting violence against non-believers. For example, Q9:29 instructs Muslims to:

> Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

However, other scholars argue that such verses are taken out of context and that the Quran justifies wars only for self-defence and to protect Islamic communities. The Quran equates a single murder with the killing of all humankind and saving a single life with rescuing all of humanity. It also states that Allah loves those who deal with equity and justice.

The Prophet Muhammad and Violence

The Islamic view on violence is also shaped by the teachings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. During his time in Mecca, Muhammad preached peace and tolerance, and he had non-Muslim neighbours and family members with whom he had strong bonds. However, after migrating to Medina, he began to wage wars and is said to have undertaken 19 military expeditions, personally fighting in eight of them.

Jihad

Jihad is an Islamic term referring to the religious duty of Muslims to maintain their religion. It is often translated as "Holy War", although this is controversial. While some scholars argue that jihad includes a physical struggle against the enemies of Islam, others claim it refers primarily to an inner spiritual struggle. According to classical Sharia law, jihad is a war that should be waged against non-Muslims.

Islamic Jurisprudence and Violence

Mainstream Islamic jurisprudence maintains that certain "sword verses" in the Quran, which promote violence, have "abrogated, cancelled, and replaced" the verses that call for peace and tolerance. However, there are strict rules governing armed jihad, which is considered a last resort. For example, Islam forbids the targeting of civilians and non-combatants, pillaging lands, and mutilation.

Islamic Societies and Violence

Historically, Islamic societies have been characterised by religious tolerance, with religious minorities known as dhimmis, or the "protected class". Religious minorities lived in security and practised their religions without harassment in Muslim-majority countries. Forced conversions are forbidden in Islam, and historians have discredited the notion that Islam spread primarily through violence and forced conversions.

Islamic Views on Terrorism

Islamic scholars and communities have strongly condemned acts of terrorism committed by self-identified Muslims, such as car bombings, suicide bombings, and mass shootings. These acts are considered unjustified and contrary to Islamic teachings.

Islamic views on violence against women

The relationship between Islam and violence against women is disputed, with different interpretations of Sharia, the moral code and religious law of Islam. While some scholars claim that Shari'a law encourages "domestic violence" against women, others argue that wife-beating is not consistent with modern perspectives of the Quran.

In Arab and Islamic countries, domestic violence is not yet considered a major concern, despite its increasing frequency and serious consequences. Surveys in Egypt, Palestine, Israel, and Tunisia show that at least one in three women is beaten by her husband. This indifference towards domestic violence stems from the attitude that it is a private matter and a justifiable response to a wife's misbehaviour. However, selective excerpts from the Quran are used to prove that men who beat their wives are following God's commandments. These religious justifications, coupled with the importance of preserving family honour, often lead to a conspiracy of silence among abusers, victims, police, and healthcare professionals.

However, a fair reading of the Quran shows that wife abuse, like genital mutilation and "honour killings", is a result of culture rather than religion. In fact, Prophet Muhammad is recorded to have condemned violence against women, saying: "How loathsome it is that one of you should hit his wife as a slave is hit, and then sleep with her at the end of the day."

In Islamic societies, privacy and family values are prioritised, making the topic of domestic abuse delicate. In many societies, stigma can prevent women from seeking protection, as domestic violence is seen as a family rather than a criminal issue.

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, a study found that inevitable adjustment was the main strategy employed by women to deal with domestic violence. Women first tried to retaliate but eventually admitted that they could not escape this reality and believed that they had to work hard to keep their marriage. Factors that influenced this decision included traditional teachings about women's expected role in the family, the opinion of others, lack of financial and social support, having children, and fear of the stigma of divorce.

To reduce violence against women, it is necessary to strengthen the network of services and social support for women and girls, empower women through education and economic independence, correct negative social beliefs and attitudes that value violent masculinity and the inferiority and submission of women, and work with religious leaders to spread awareness of religious statements that criticise violence against women.

Islamic views on violence against the LGBTQ+ community

Islamic teachings on LGBTQ+ issues are interpreted from the Quran, Sunnah, and Hadith, which are studied and interpreted by both scholars and the faithful. The Quran and Hadith are clear about the moral ruin of the people of Lot, and the Hadith includes many passages calling for harsh punishments of homosexual activity, specifically anal penetration between men. However, these condemnations do not address romantic feelings or other kinds of sexual acts between men, and the burden of proof for administering the associated punishments is high.

In pre-modern Islamic societies, there was colloquial and de facto official acceptance of at least some homosexual behaviour. Historical records suggest that laws against homosexuality were invoked infrequently and mainly in cases of rape or other "exceptionally blatant infringement on public morals" as defined by Islamic law. This allowed themes of homoeroticism and pederasty to be cultivated in Islamic literary genres. However, in the 19th century, Muslim public attitudes towards homosexuality underwent a marked change, largely due to the global spread of Islamic fundamentalist movements and the influence of restrictive norms that were prevalent in the Christian world at the time.

Today, there is a spectrum of views among Islamic individuals and institutions, from welcoming and inclusive to a level of rejection that can be marked by a range of actions, including social sequestration and physical violence. All nations that currently have capital punishment as a potential penalty for homosexual activity are Muslim-majority countries and base those laws on interpretations of Islamic teachings, with the exception of Uganda. In some Muslim-majority countries, current anti-LGBTQ+ laws were enacted by United Kingdom or Soviet organs and retained following independence.

In the West, there is a growing movement to create inclusive communities for LGBTQ+ Muslims and their allies, including scholarly work that interprets sacred texts through a lens shaped by Muhammad’s own celebration of the diversity of Creation. Transgender men and women are recognised and accepted in many Islamic cultures, and gender reassignment surgery was declared acceptable under Islamic law by scholars at Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the world’s oldest Islamic university, as early as 1988. However, transgender Muslims often suffer rejection and violence in their communities.

Islamic homophobia has been described as empowered by leftist silence, with the left generally seeing itself as a bastion of support for LGBTQ+ rights. Attempts to address Islamic homophobia are often met with accusations of racism and Islamophobia, and the left has been criticised for its silence on the issue, particularly in comparison to its vocal condemnation of Christian homophobia.

Islamic views on apostasy

The punishment for apostasy in Islam is disputed among Islamic scholars. While liberal Islam rejects the physical punishment of apostasy, Islamic supremacism calls for the death penalty for those who refuse to repent. The death penalty for apostasy is in conflict with international human rights norms, which provide for freedom of religion.

Until the late 19th century, the majority of Sunni and Shia jurists held the view that for adult men, apostasy from Islam was a crime as well as a sin, punishable by the death penalty. However, there were a number of options for leniency, such as a waiting period to allow time for repentance. In the late 19th century, the use of legal criminal penalties for apostasy fell into disuse, although civil penalties were still applied.

As of 2021, there were ten Muslim-majority countries where apostasy from Islam was punishable by death, but legal executions are rare. Most punishment is extra-judicial or vigilante, and most executions are perpetrated by jihadist and "takfiri" insurgents. Another thirteen countries have penal or civil penalties for apostates, such as imprisonment, the annulment of their marriages, the loss of their rights of inheritance and the loss of custody of their children.

In the contemporary Muslim world, public support for capital punishment varies from 78% in Afghanistan to less than 1% in Kazakhstan. Among Islamic jurists, the majority continue to regard apostasy as a crime that should be punishable by death. Those who disagree argue that its punishment should be less than death, occur in the afterlife, or apply only in cases of public disobedience and disorder.

The Quran does not prescribe criminal sanctions for apostasy, and there are Quranic verses that provide evidence to support freedom of religion. However, the sanctioning of the death penalty for apostates is derived from a Sunna of the Prophet, whereby the Prophet commanded: "Whoever changes his religion, kill him."

There is no clear, unequivocal Sharia principle sanctioning the imposition of criminal liability upon apostates. The Quranic injunctions are no more than comments on behaviour. Even critics acknowledge the absence of any criminal law sanctions for apostates.

In the contemporary era, a growing body of Islamic jurists have relied on Quranic verses that advocate absolute freedom of religion. These jurists argue for the recognition of a guaranteed right to freedom of religion or belief, including atheism or the rejection of Islam.

In conclusion, Islamic views on apostasy are varied and disputed. While some Islamic scholars continue to regard apostasy as a crime punishable by death, others argue for freedom of religion and belief, including the right to reject Islam.

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