The general secular perception of Islam, and therefore of the Qur’an, is that somehow the Qur’an advocates violence. In this article, we will examine if that is indeed true.

Before we start the discussion, we should know the difference between the Bible and the Qur’an. Otherwise it is impossible to provide the correct interpretation of the Qur’anic passages. The Bible provides its own contexts in the form of narratives, or detailed stories except in Psalms, Proverbs, and several poetic insertions. On the other hand, the entire Qur’an is written like Proverbs or Psalms, providing succinct instructions in a poetic form. This is good for recitation which is very important in Islam. However, the problem with such a style is that it does not provide the contexts we need to make a proper interpretation on the Qur’an. For this reason, it is imperative to have the background information respectively on each verse of the Qur’an for proper interpretation, quite unlike the Bible. Another challenge that the Qur’an provides is that the entire book is arranged following the contents of the verses in the book instead of any chronological order. For example, Q. 2:275-281 was written right before Muhammad died (AD 632), but Q 2:284-286 was written before Muhammad had the Hijrah from Mecca to Medina and could be dated between AD 610 and 622. Therefore, even the adjoining verses may have entirely different contexts because the time they were written could be entirely different.

The reason I am spending so much time on the background information is that interpretation of any scripture cannot be done without the proper understanding of the context. Seminaries teach a class called Hermeneutics (the science of interpretation). The main lesson in this class is that the most important things in interpretation are first CONTEXT, second CONTEXT, and third CONTEXT.

One other important item in the interpretation of the Qur’an is that Muhammad had three different roles in his public ministry period. He had a role of a prophet alone in the beginning (AD 610 -622), but after the Hijrah to Medina, he had the additional roles of a Military Commander and a Political Leader (AD 622-632). When Muhammad was in Medina, his followers formed a large community and he “had to rule” them as a society of a large number of believers. Also, this community was under attack by the entire tribes of Arabian Peninsula led by the Quraysh tribe in Mecca. These battles were nearly continual until Muhammad won over the entire peninsula. This is important background for the Qur’an and is indispensable in providing proper interpretation of it.

Let us first examine a verse from the Qur’an that appears to encourage violence.

Qur’an 2:190-193 “(190) Fight for the cause of Allah against those who fight against you, but do not overstep the proper limits, for Allah does not love transgressors. (191) Kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from where they have driven you out, for persecution is worse than death. However, do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque unless they attack you there first, but if they do, then slay them, for that is the punishment for those who reject faith. (192) But if they cease their aggression, then remember that Allah is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful. (193) And fight them on until there is no more persecution and Allah’s way of life prevails. If they seek peace, you seek it as well, except against the oppressors (az-Zalimun).”

This is a part of the passages that explain Jihad. Typically, when Christians claim that the Qur’an indeed incites violence, they just quote v v. 191 – 193a, without v. 190 and v. 193b. Several phrases like “Kill them wherever you find them” or ” fight them on until there is no more (religious) persecution and Allah’s way of life prevails” or “(religious) persecution is worse than death” are quoted as a proof that the Qur’an teaches violence, and that Muslims are taught to kill everyone other than Muslims, to continue the fight until there is Islamic dominance over the world, and that Muslims learn that religious persecution is worse than physical death. How terrible, some Christians allege that they are doing this because they read the Qur’an thinking that they can just read the Qur’an and put their own interpretation just as they do with the Bible.

On top of that, they find so many verses in the Qur’an similar to the above passage. In addition to the above verses, there are many more verses that could be interpreted to encourage violence: Q. 2:244, 2:216, 3:151, 4:74, 4:76, 4:89, 4:95, 4:104, 5:33, 8:12, 8:15, 8:39, 8:57, 8:59-60, 8:65, 9:5, 9:14, 9:20, 9:29, 9:30, 9:38-39, 9:41, 9:73, 9:88, 9:111, 9:123, 17:16, 18:65-81, 21:44, 25:52, 33:60-62, 47:3-4, 47:35, 48:29, 61:4, 61:9, 61:10-12, 66:9.

However, if we think about all the background information I have provided in the beginning, we would have an entirely different interpretation. These messages are to encourage the followers of Muhammad to defend and fight against the external threat. The tribe of Quraysh, Muhammad’s opposition, was determined to annihilate Muhammad and his followers, and there was no other way to survive except by complete defeat of his opposition. Therefore, the above passage of the Qur’an should be applied to the similar situation as Muhammad had after his Hijrah, not indiscriminately for all occasions. All other verses in the Qur’an should be interpreted in the similar manner.

However, so many fundamentalist Christians conclude that there is no way to reconcile with Islam.

Let us look at the Bible regarding verses that could be interpreted to encourage violence.

Deuteronomy 20:12-14 “(12) But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. (13) And when the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, (14) but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the LORD your God has given you.”

This is not any better than what is in the Qur’an. Not only this, but there are so many more verses in the Old Testament that could be interpreted as encouraging violence: Num 31:7-19, Deut 2:33-35, Deut 3:4-7, Deut 20:12-14, Joshua 6:21, Joshua 8:2, Joshua 8:24-25, Joshua 10:30, Joshua 10:33, 1 Samuel 15:1-3. In particular, it becomes a lot worse in 1 Samuel 15:3. The Lord commands Samuel to instruct King Saul to kill not only men, but women, and babies, including all cattle as well. This is indeed a lot crueler than in the Qur’an. Even in the New Testament, there are a few verses that could be interpreted to incite violence: Matthew 10:34, Luke 12:49-51, Luke 22:35-38.

Christians interpret these verses in the historical context first. Most of the OT verses are to get rid of the culture which had been completely corrupted, and the only way was to wipe them out. Also, it was just a historical event that was needed at the time of Moses and the early period of Israelite kingdom. It is not an instruction to be kept forever. The verses of the NT are explained by the fact that Jesus was telling his disciples that they have to choose the new way vs. the old way, even between family members. Christians made use of the context in interpreting these Bible verses, and that is what they are taught. Shouldn’t we do the same with the Qur’an? No question about it!

Now then how about the practice of Muslims vs. Christians? Most Christians (more like 99%) never use the above Bible verses as a means of encouraging violence. Perhaps there are few (more like 1%) who use these Biblical verses to justify the use of violence such as the KKK, or some US domestic extremist group who occasionally become news topics. On the other hand, 10 to 15 % of Muslims use the above Qur’anic verses to justify the use of violence. Why the difference? Due to the difficulty in providing a proper interpretation of the Qur’an, Islamic religious leaders heavily rely on what the traditional Islamic teaching says, which was determined when Islam was at war with surrounding neighboring countries. Since there is no context in the Qur’an, that was the only thing they could follow. In a way, Islamic leaders understand the Qur’an incorrectly, and therefore they have taught Muslims wrong. That is why such a large fraction of Muslims become Jihadists in the sense of preferring violence, including the suicide bombers.

The following conclusions could be made from this short (from the perspective of what is needed) yet lengthy (from the perspective of the length in blog page) discussion.

1. The Qur’an does not teach violence just as the Bible does not.
2. The Qur’an requires special attention in the area of providing proper background on each verse. This requires the “Extra Qur’anic” materials to understand the background information. But we should be careful to avoid adopting the interpretations in such traditions as the Hadiths because these traditions provide contexts during the time of Muhammad and they are often during many battles Muhammad was engaged in, they would not be applicable today.
3. The general secular perception that the Qur’an teaches violence stems from the wrong understanding and teaching of the Islamic leaders who use the Islamic traditions for their teaching, and from the large fraction of Muslims who are following the wrong teachings of their leaders.

I do lament that Christians do not extend their hands toward Muslims who are in the dark, and have compassion towards Muslims. Even though I am 100 % Christian, just as Jesus looked at the crowd and had compassion toward them – they are like sheep without a shepherd (Mark 6:34), so I have compassion for Muslims.

Heavenly Father, send your wisdom to people so that they may truly understand. Amen.