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The Quran contains verses that speak of peace, peacemaking, forgiveness, and of God’s grace, although these verses deal mostly with peace among Muslims themselves (49,10) or with peace that the (Muslim) believer will find in paradise. (56,26; 15,47).
Other Quran texts speak of violence and even command it: „O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be stern with them. Hell will be their home – a hapless journey’s end!“ (surah 66,9 and others). The unanswered question is, to whom this command of violence is directed to and at what time or under what circumstances it should be applied to.
Concering this question there is a broad variety of different opinions among Muslim theologians: There are those who are totally against violence and refer to verses in the Quran that speak of a (peaceful) call to the Muslim faith, and there are those who think that after a certain period of peaceful testifying they may also imply methods of combat against the „unbelievers“. Then there are also groups that want to turn the structures of the Western World upside down, obtaining the same rights as the Christian churches, but would reject to use violence for their targets.
Another problem is that Islam does not know of any highest authority which is entitled to speak for all or most Muslims, and it does not have any written confession, nor any gremium, council or credo that defines and specifies what is considered to be “Islamic” or “non-Islamic” which would be accepted by the majority or all of the Islamic groups.
Also, Muslim tradition praises „jihad“: “jihad” is one of the gates to Paradise“, or: “Djihad” is an act of pure devotion“ (to Allah). Such verses seem to promise that the martyr may enter Paradise because of fighting the “jihad”. In many places the Quran seems to express that when a martyr dies, he may enter paradise right after his death: „Now if you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks … And those who are slain in the way of Allah, he renders not their actions vain. He will guide them and improve their state, and bring them in unto the Garden [of Paradise], which he has made known to them“ (surah 47,4-6).
There have always existed suicide commandos outside of Islam, like the Japanese Kamikaze fighters in World War II, for example. But Islam has a certain potential, because of promises like: “Djihad” is one of the gates to Paradise“, as Muslim tradition says. These promises express clearly that suicide attacks are linked with eternal salvation, since in Islam the „normal“ believer will always be uncertain as to whether he will be really saved or not, since Allah is almighty and unpredictable, and the last decision is up to him.
There is no doubt among Muslim theologians that after moving to Medina in 622 AD (the “hijra”), Muhammad fought against those who did not want to accept Islam or recognise himself as the messenger of God. From 622 AD on, Muhammad considered the Jews to be the greatest enemies of Islam, but more and more also the Christians and different Arab tribes who did not surrender to him.
The Jews were regarded mainly as political adversaries by Muhammad. He considered them a menace to him because of their big number, and they made fun of him because they did not accept his claim to be a messenger of God. He chased them out of Medina, killed several hundred men, even after they had surrendered, and sold many women and children into slavery.
For a long time, Muhammad had expected the Christians to accept his preachings. When these hopes were not fulfilled, his first positive impression concerning their piety, love and humbleness was more and more converted into rejection. He now condemned the Christians because of their belief in the Trinity and the sonship of Jesus, which in Muhammad’s eyes was polytheism and idolatry. Since the number of the Christians was comparatively small, Muhammad did not attack them in battle, but only condemned them theologically, calling them „unbelievers“ who are awaiting the fires of hell: „Certainly they disbelieve who say: Allah is Christ, the son of Mary... Whoever ascribes partners unto Allah, for him Allah has forbidden paradise. His abode is the fire. For evildoers there will be no helpers. They disbelieve who say: Allah is one of three, for there is no God except One God. If they desist not from their word [of blasphemy], verily a grievous chastisement will befall the disbelievers among them“ (5:72-73).
Muhammad acknowledged that Jews and Christians had already received a revelation from God, so they were in his eyes not just like the Arab polytheists. But according to him, as time went by, Jews and Christians had changed and falsified their revelation. The Quran also warns the Muslims not to have Christians as friends: „O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors. They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them [for friendship] is of them. Verily Allah guides not a people unjust“ (5,51).
Jews and Christians, the „People of the Book“, as the Quran calls them (in Arabic: ahl al-kitab), always had a special position in countries conquered by Islam. They were so to say “protégés” (in Arabic: Dhimmis), that is, they were not forced to convert to Islam personally but had to pay a certain amount of money as poll tax (in Arabic: Jizya) and at times also a land tax (in Arabic: haradj). This was a way of buying themselves free from having to convert to Islam (according to surah 9,29).
Many written sources tell us that the Muslim rulers tried hard to minimize the number of the Christians as minorities and to offer advantages in case of conversion or to remove pressure for converts. Christians would always be second class citizens, usually in minor position, often humiliated and only tolerated, but never accepted as equal partners. In different Muslim countries and times Jews and Christians were treated differently. In some places and at some times, they could pretty well live in peace. But usually there was pressure, minor rights or sometimes violence against Christians, like for example the assaults and murders of Christians in Indonesia and Upper Egypt, under the excuse Christians had provoked these conflicts by improper behaviour.
Because of the fact that Christians and Jews and their “idolatrous” faith have no right to exist as such according to many leading Muslim theologians, because of Muhammad’s example of the way he treated the „people of the book“, because of the many Quran verses commanding to use violence or to call non-believers to Islam and because of the different theories and opinions of Muslim theologians resulting from all this, conciliations may be different under which non-Muslims will live in Muslim countries, but they will always have an underprivileged status in the Muslim world, and will enjoy only reduced human and civil rights or will be even actively threatened. The state will not always remove injustices against them. Although many Islamic countries are trying to fight the activities of extremisctic Islamic groups, because they are even a menace to their own governments, their effort to protect “only” the underprivileged group of the Christians from their attacks is normally far less eager.
If we apply the pattern of Islamistic groups dividing the world into the „House of Islam“ and the „House of War“ literally, then the Western world probably is considered to be the „House of War“, although this does not mean automatically, that there has to be an armed combat. From the extremist point of view the non-Muslim world does not have any right to exist as such. This perspective is being confirmed, in the eyes of the extremists, by the moral decay of the Western world.
There is a big controversy among Muslim theologians over the question whether this war should be carried out today, and in what way. Some theologians, especially mystics and some Shi’ite theologians, think that true „jihad“ means to live their daily lives according to the laws of Islam and to take its laws seriously. This would be the „jihad of the heart and of the tongue and of the hands“, which is, according to them, way superior to the „jihad of the sword“.
The problem concerning the question of „jihad“ is that because of Muhammad’s example and his treatment of non believers, (peaceful preaching first, then combat), because of the existence of various Quran passages favouring either peaceful proclamation of Islam or military confrontation , because of the varying practise of Muslim rulers in treating non-Muslims, because of the lack of a highest teaching authority in the Muslim world and also because of the continually changing inner and outside political circumstances in the Muslim world, there are many different interpretations of the duty to fight„jihad“. Politically active groups can justify their deeds by verses of the Quran that call to violent encounters („jihad“ by the sword), while mystics and those that consider the inward searching of God to be the very centre of Islam and emphasize the peaceful purposes of jihad., can also claim to follow the “true” Islamic path.
One of the reasons for these models of „explanations“ can be found in the Muslim or Near Eastern “worldview”, which differs largely from the Western perspective. Already in the Quran we find the statement that the Muslims „… are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind“ (3:110), and thus separating themselves from Christians and Jews. Muhammad as to the Muslims’ opinion is the last and most important prophet, who was already proclaimed by Adam, Abraham, Moses and even by Jesus! Muhammad calls all, even the Christians, to convert to the true religion of Islam. Islam is considered the first religion of mankind that has already existed from eternity and is the only one that will persist in eternity, because „the religion before Allah is Islam“(3:19).
Regarding these ideas, it is very hard for politically active Muslims to accept the fact that the West is in a more powerful position in the world than is the Muslim world. The West has the economical and the military power. According to some extremists, the Western world is not entitled to be the ruler of the world, neither for religious reasons, nor for moral reasons. Not for religious reasons, because Christianity, with which the West is identified, is a religion that will only exist for a certain time, while Islam is the best, most reasonable, holiest, most moral and eternal religion, most pleasing to God.
And for moral reasons, the West does not possess the right to rule the world, since Islamists are well aware of - as they perceive it – the omnipresent immorality of Western society (homosexuality, prostitution, abortion, divorce, families falling apart, etc). Therefore they come to the conclusion that Islam is the very answer for this society they consider wicked, pluralistic and evil; a society which has no orientation and whose collapse is not far ahead.
In the eyes of many Islamistic groups, the West is ready to be taken over by Islam. They just do not agreed on the means how to change Western societies: Some want to accomplish this by peaceful proselytizing, others fight for recognition and equal rights for Islam, and still others think that it is time to free the world of the „unfair“ and „unjust“ ruling of the Western world, even if that means war.
It is a fact that many crimes have been commited in the name of Christianity, innocent people have been killed and nobody can deny the crusades. But these “religious wars” so to say have always been in contrast to biblical teaching as well as to the one who calls himself the „Prince of Peace“. Christian mission in its very sense should never be anything else than a loving invitation , through our words and deeds towards our neighbours to the only one who can give true love to mankind. „He who lives with the sword, shall die by the sword“ and „Put back your sword“ (Matthew 26:52) are not just last words of Jesus Christ before he was captured and his death came by, but also underline the Christian message, which stands against all forms of violence and teaches respect for others. Yes, it even teaches to esteem one’s own brother higher than oneself.
Christian sadly have to agree to parts of the analysis of the illnesses of Western society, uttered by Muslim theologians. But peace in a society will never come by through ruling with the sword, through repression of minorities and establishing Islamic law over mankind. Only when people find peace with God and with themselves, they will also be capable of living in peace with their neighbours.
For terrorist groups on the other hand it is easily possible to interpret certain passages in the Quran as calls to violence and war against the unbelievers, which they consider to be still valid for today, and to find support in the example of Muhammad treating his enemies. At the moment these groups feel that the Muslim world is suffering from another „humiliation“, for which the decadent West is called to account.
As long as the West does not understand in which categories these extreme Islamistic groups think, little can be done to avoid further attacks. In the last 40 years since Muslim workers have come to Germany and have grown to a number of 3.3 million (because of their high birth rates and family reunification), we, in general, did not try hard enough to understand the theological and ideological background of the different groups, and we definitely have not invested enough in personal relationships.
In the beginning, the concept of the „guest worker“, who would sooner or later return to his home country, hindered the development of concepts for integration, but even when it became clear that the majority of the Muslims of the second and third generation living in Germany in the 80ies and 90ies would not return to their homelands, Western society still did not change its attitude toward their “guest workers”. At the same time many Muslims became more and more reserved and withdrew from German society. In Great Britain a parallel society has already emerged. Muslims demand that Muslim citizens are judged according to islamic laws, not according to Western, British laws. Integration seems to have failed here!
It seems imperative to start thinking in new categories, and to try to find new solutions for living together with each other. Christians should think about how they want to handle the challenge of Islam being present in Europe, cultivating relationships with one another and getting to be well informed about Islam, as well as inviting their Muslim neighbours to meet the "Prince of Peace"
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