Is Islam a religion of peace?

There are a lot of violent verses in the Qu'ran and Muhammad was very violent, I don't get how people call it a religion of peace.

So what do you guys think about Islam?

genesis01: Violent for the most part. Here is an excerpt about the history of Islam from Got Questions Ministries.

Islam has also been accused of violence, and in recent years many have tried to distinguish between Islamic extremism and the “religion of peace,” as Islam is sometimes called. There is no doubt that there are many peaceful followers of Islam, but it is also clear that the very foundation of Islam is rooted in violence. Muhammad (570-632), the founder and prophet of Islam, was raised in the city of Mecca and began preaching his revelations at the age of 40. When some tribes opposed him, he led his followers on a brutal campaign to defeat and convert them. Many revelations were given encouraging Muslims to kill those who did not believe (Surah 2:191; 4:74; 8:12), and that is the primary way Islam has spread throughout its history. When the United States was at war with the Barbary pirates, Secretary of State Timothy Pickering said, “Taught by revelation that war with the Christians will guarantee the salvation of their souls, and finding so great secular advantages in the observance of this religious duty, their inducements to desperate fighting are very powerful.” In contrast to Christian extremists who have clearly twisted Scripture to justify their violence, Muslim extremists can point to the clear teaching and practice of their founder to support their acts. It is the moderates in Islam who have to explain away verses condoning violence.

genesis01: There are some people who literally interpret the Qu'ran and are violent as a result. However throughout history, Islam has been no more violent than Christianity. Both Christianity and Islam are harmful religions. Unfortunately neither are going to go away and we will have to live with them.

Bolshevik-:
would you care for a debate on this topic?

Like Stalin said, I find it hypocritical when Christians call out Islamic scripture as barbaric and violent, without first looking at Christian scripture. Read Deuteronomy, the source of 90% of Christian anti-theism.

Jesus himself said to remove the plank of wood from your own eye, before you advise someone to remove the plank of wood from their eye. That applies to religion and to anarchism.

The Muslim world was roughly as violent (perhaps less violent at times) as the Christian world for most of its history. After WW2 that changed dramatically. Today the Muslim world is far more violent than those countries which are falsely called by some the Christian world (no major country today can be considered Christian).

I mean, the U.S. has literally spent over 13 years fighting against the massive and global Islamic terrorism problem and we've still got the ISIL ruling over large swaths of territory.

...and now I realize that this thread is about the Quran and not the behavior of Muslims after that. My bad.

Dassault Papillon: The Muslim world was roughly as violent (perhaps less violent at times) as the Christian world for most of its history. After WW2 that changed dramatically.
Violence and conflict has found itself wherever Muslim unity wasn't.

Overall the Muslim world was a lot more peaceful than the Christian world, and prospered under the early Caliphates, Sultanates, and eventually the Ottoman and Safavid empires.

The situation in the Middle East is comparable to that of German Reunification. All these micro countries in the Middle East want to formulate into a stronger Arab nation, but are being held back by various x factors.

At the same time, there is violence between Shiites and Sunnis, much in the same way there was violence between Germanic Protestants and Catholics. This ends the same way the German Reunification ended, and that is by war. The Austro-Prussian war was fought between the Catholic Germanic States and the Protestant German states, and I parrelel that to the proxy conflict between Sunni Arabia and Shiite Iran.

Unifying the muslim world under one nation-state is a popular sentiment in every Arab country, and even in Iran. The micro-nations still hold to many political and religious differences, which is preventing this common goal from being reached. That is why people resort to joining Al-Qaeda and Daesh, because they have lost faith in their governments to reestablish a Muslim state.

Islam is by no means peaceful. And the violence that occurred in the Old Testament is very different from the Islamic concept of jihad. The violence in the OT was God commanded for specific societies and were for a specific time. And those societies were extremely morally repugnant too. God never commands the same after the OT.

However, the Koran commands it's followers to promote military jihad in the expansion of Islam through military conquest. Never does it say in the Bible that Christians should use a "convert or die" tactic to spread the gospel.

And nobody can deny the fact that Islam was mainly spread by the sword, especially in it's early years. It's the same for Christianity - but the sword was pointed in the opposite direction. Christians are mainly persecuted throughout history.

Moreover, although I'm sure there are peaceful followers of Islam, it is a fact that the root of Islam is centered on violence. When Muhammad, the founder of Islam, began to preach his revelations, some tribes opposed him. In response, he led a cruel military campaign to crush the unbelievers and convert them or kill them. While Jesus Christ never commanded Christians to use a "convert or die" tactic, muslims can use their founder's words and use them to support their acts.

genesis01: @Debate what topic?

Krazy: And nobody can deny the fact that Islam was mainly spread by the sword, especially in it's early years. It's the same for Christianity - but the sword was pointed in the opposite direction. Christians are mainly persecuted throughout history.

That is ridiculous. Christians have always persecuted minorities in Europe. The Inquisition resulted in massacre's of Jews and Muslims by Christians. The same can be said about the Crusades. Also, Christians forced their religion upon the Americas and countries that were colonized in Asia by European powers.

genesis01: I'd debate the topic.

Bolshevik-: whether islam is a religion of peace or not?

genesis01: Well neither Islam or Christianity are religions of peace. The most peaceful religion is no religion at all.

Bolshevik-: The Inquisition wasn't by Christians, they were by Catholics. Evangelical protestants never seem to persecute anybody. It's always Catholics or some other branch of "Christianity". And their acts are not supported by the Bible.

And even if you're right, it doesn't matter. The Bible never encourages Christians to persecute anybody of any religion (or lack thereof). The Muslims, however, can use the Koran to support their acts when they launch military jihad in the proliferation of the Islam faith.

There's the difference.

Bolshevik-: Many world leaders (primary Communists) throughout history have killed millions of Christians on the behalf of Atheism. Atheism is just as violent.

Bolshevik-: As with the Inquisition, the same is with the Crusades. They were by Catholics; not Christians.