In the aftermath of Sept. 11 Muslims all over the world, including here in America, went on the defensive in an attempt to explain how Muslim extremists could carry out the terrorist attacks. \Islam is Peace!"" everyone was saying. Fortunately, within a couple of days President Bush also joined in Islam's defense. However, even in this attempt to remove Islam from the stain of Muslim extremists, there were many people all over the world pointing to controversial verses in the Quran talking about ""slaying all non believers."" Thus for many non Muslims, Muslims lacked credibility in their defense of Islam.
We must consider the question: ""What do we mean when we say that Islam is peaceful?"" Contrary to what the phrase appears to mean, Islam is not a pacifist religion. Since its appearance on the world stage, and throughout Islam's history, violence/war has always been considered a legitimate practical method in military defense and in furthering political causes. Having said that, it must be mentioned that the character of Prophet Muhammad, from which Islam draws its many fundamental social principles, was such that he would not go to war unless it was absolutely necessary. This is a far cry from the ideology that the concept of physical Jihad has become as the end all, be all of Islam advocated by many Muslim groups including al-Qaeda. Thus, when we say that Islam is a peaceful religion, we mean that Muslims can co-exist with people of different races and beliefs without compromising on the principles and teachings of the religious tradition.
When considering verses of the Quran dealing with the call to arms, it is important to visualize the socio-political conditions during its revelation. The Quran was revealed in stages over a period of 23 years, sometimes in response to specific situations engulfing the Prophet and his new Muslim community. It was revealed in pre-Islamic Arabia, where Arabs, politically constituted as clans, coexisted in a general state of war and suspicion. In this atmosphere, pre-emptive strikes on other opposing clans were not considered immoral, unless peace treaties and alliances had been established with them.
A general state of war led the Arabs to constitute the mechanism of ""forbidden months"" when everyone agreed to cease hostilities and establish a sanctuary at the religiously significant, for all Arabs, place of Makkah where no fighting was to take place at any time; later this same site became spiritually significant for all Muslims. Therefore, in such an atmosphere the Prophet and the Muslim community at times also took part in pre emptive aggressive Jihad on other clans to ensure the defense of the community, as long as no treaties/alliances were violated and as long as it was practical.
It is a great achievement of humanity in modern times that the world we live in is no longer based on co-existing in mutual suspicion. The turning point came when with the establishment of the United Nations when the assumed state of existence for all nations, in theory, was peace and not war. According to the general principles of traditional Islamic Law, law (e.g. for Jihad) must change when the customs of people change in time. Therefore, the meaning and conception of physical Jihad takes a wholly different form in the modern context. It is in this sense that we can say that Islam is a peaceful religion in terms of not pursuing pre-emptive aggressive Jihad, legal in the pre-modern context. Sadly with the occurrence of Sept. 11 and an increased threat of terrorism all around the world, as well as the possibility of a pre-emptive American strike on Iraq, the entire world may well get slightly closer to going back to a general state of war.
