The Origin of the Term “Religion of Peace”

By Louis Palme
President Bush said it on Sept. 16, 2001, “Islam is Peace.” President Obama said it on numerous occasions, for example on Nov 7, 2010, in India, “Islam embodied a religion of peace.” This mantra is also used by the typical Muslim-on-the-street who is trying to defend against Islam’s well-earned reputation for violence and terrorism. When asked where in the Quran does it say that, Muslims cannot cite a verse. It just isn’t there – at least in those words.
So where did that expression come from? It turns out that there was a book printed in India in 1930 (and again in 1988) with the title – The Religion of Peace. The author was Ishtiaq Husain Qureshi, a British-educated historian who was later involved in the establishment of Pakistan. His argument centered around the origin of the word Islam, which he claimed to be from the same root as peace. Actually, as you will read below, it is derived from the word submission (to Allah and Sharia Law).
Due to the Quran being comprised both of revelations received in Mecca when Muslims were outnumbered by non-Muslims and of revelations received in Medina when Islam was the dominate religion, Muslims can find Meccan verses supporting a peaceful Islam which were later overturned (abrogated) by the more militant verses revealed in Medina. However, Muslims have no problem believing both A and B, even if those two statements contradict. That is nonsense to non-Muslims.
Qureshi engages in some sleight-of-hand to underscore the brotherly love of Muslims for all people. His book, of course, was written before the partition of India, when millions of Muslims fled India to the newly-created Pakistan to avoid living in a mixed community ruled democratically by both Muslims and non-Muslims. Qureshi misquotes Surah 2:213 as “All men are a single nation.” The text actually explains that all men were a single nation until, through envy of one another, people began to dispute the good news and warnings of the prophets. A more revealing verse regarding “brotherly love” is Surah 48:29: “Muhammad is Allah’s apostle. Those who follow him are ruthless to the unbelievers but merciful to one another.”
Abode of Muslim Peace finally found:
According to Qureshi, “A true Muslim’s life after death shall be perfect peace; for according to Islam, salvation is nothing but the attainment of complete peace. Paradise is ‘the abode of peace’ — for the Quran says, ‘And their greetings there shall be; Peace.’(Surah 10:10)”
Qureshi adds another verse to underscore his point: “They shall not hear therein vain or sinful discourse except Peace, Peace.” (Surah 56:25 – 26)
There you have it. Peace for Muslims is realized only after death when they arrive in Paradise. The important question, then, is what must Muslims do to get to Paradise?
How to be assured of Peace in Islam:
The Quran reminds Muslim that those who “fight for the cause of Allah” are superior in Allah’s estimation than those who stay at home. (Surah 4:95)
“Allah has purchased from the faithful their lives and worldly goods and in return has promised them the Garden. They will fight for the cause of Allah, slay and be slain. . . .Rejoice in the bargain you have made.” (Surah 9:111)
A reliable Hadith compiled by Bukhari states, “I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “The example of a Mujahid (“one who engages in jihad”) in Allah’s Cause– and Allah knows better who really strives in His Cause—-is like a person who fasts and prays continuously. Allah guarantees that He will admit the Mujahid in His Cause into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He will return him to his home safely with rewards and war booty.” (52:46)
The promise of Paradise for women may be even more challenging: One hadith says, “If a woman dies while her husband was pleased with her, she will enter into Paradise.” (Ibn Majah and Tirmidhi – one of the six canonical collections of hadith)
What Honest Muslims Say about Peace:
In April 2010, in the United Kingdom, Anjem Choudary, an Islamic radical, said, “You can’t say that Islam is a religion of peace, because Islam does not mean peace. Islam means submission. So the Muslim is one who submits. There is a place for violence in Islam. There is a place for jihad in Islam.” He also said, “The Koran is full of, you know, jihad is the most talked-about duty in the Koran other than tawhid belief. Nothing else is mentioned more than the topic of fighting.” (There are 164 “jihad” verses in the Quran, including passages that mention a military expedition, fighting, or distributing war spoils.)
In June, 2014, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-appointed caliph of the Islamic State (ISIS), said, “Islam was never a religion of peace. Islam is the religion of fighting. No-one should believe that the war that we are waging is the war of the Islamic State. It is the war of all Muslims, but the Islamic State is spearheading it. It is the war of Muslims against infidels.” (Sharia Law – Reliance of the Traveler – defines under “objectives of jihad” as the caliph making war on Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians until they become Muslim or else pay the non-Muslim poll tax – (Para. o9.8.)
So the next time someone touts Islam as the “Religion of Peace,” ask him/her to show you where it says that in the Quran or in a hadith. They can’t, because it isn’t there, and it never will be.
Dear Mr. Sina:
What was the title of the book you read written by an islamic cleric (?) that was influential in you leaving islam? I remember you said the title of it in a old article but I do not remember the title.
Re: Sayed
This responder, above, admonishes Ali Sina because he isn’t an Islamic scholar, so he is not in a position to comment on the Quran. Yet Sayed provides a totally false rendering of Al Kafirun (Surah 109). He says it explicitly states that to everyone his way and there is no compulsion in religion. Here is what the Surah actually says: “Say, ‘Unbelievers, I do not worship what you worship, nor do you worship what I worship, nor will you ever worship what I worship. You have your own religion, and I have mine.'” This Surah was “handed down” in Mecca, when Muhammad had only a small following of converts. It says nothing about freedom of religion, and the “no compulsion” Surah is actually 3:83 (later abrogated by 2:256). I would say that Sayed’s statement about Islam are “profoundly incorrect,” to use his words. BTW, the Quran must be the only book in the world, that readers need the help of scholars to understand. That makes a lie out of the statement in the Quran, Surah 5:15, “. . . there has come to you [People of the Book — Jews and Christians] light and a clear Book from Allah.”
Oops, I posted the comment below on the wrong page.
@Sima et al,
Here’s a few points to consider for Sima or anyone else supporting Islamic immigration into our Democratic nations:
– You ex-muslim Atheists are either forgetting or purposefully disregarding the fundamentals of the Quran and Hadith; i.e. Waging Jihad and subduing non-believers.
– You might claim that most muslims are not terrorists because of your own personal experience with them, yet you ignore the fact that the moderates give the fundamentalists their moral support and most fundamentalists were once moderate.
– You ex-muslim Atheists, like all other Atheists, claim to be Skeptics as well, yet you are not skeptical of the moderate muslim claims, “who only want to live in peace with jews and other infidels”.
???
– You ex-muslim Atheists who side with the Left claim to be intellectually and morally superior, yet you cannot recognize the multicutlural paradox created by Leftists;
You believe all cultures are equally great, even the cultures who wish to devour your culture. Those who hate western culture must be imported en masse and special arrangements must be made to accomodate the annihilators.
– You people claim to be intellectually superior but your brain cannot fathom the fact that Islam is not a race. You need to believe this lie because a) you cannot defend your position logically and b) it’s the only weapon that you have against your opponent and that is to label false charges of racism against him.
Islam means “Ïshmaeli-tribe”. for more information please visit at http://www.religiontruths.wordpress.com
@Shankar,
Vatican has long been taken by Satan. This pope is now an instrument of Satan.
Thus, in regards to your statement that if a muslim converts to another religion he should be killed is totally wrong, although Iam not a scholar but only a practicing muslim. Refer to surah Al Kafirun whereby, the quran explicitly states that to everyone there own way and that there is no compulsion in religion and only the time that a person who converts become a danger to the muslim community and implements hostility and war that he should be killed. Furthermore, ever human being has been given a choice by Allah to accept tge truth or not and that they will ultimately answer to him and will be accountable for there actions. Moreover, it took prophet mohammad 23 yeats to convey the divine message with the aid of the creator and is written in superior arabic language and translations at times does not provide the actual meaning, especially arabic to persian or english and diligence should be taken. On the other hand, in order to understand the quran it should be read in entirety with the assistance from scholars to be able to effectively and efficiently comprehend and interpret whereby, I can observe that you are not in the position or have the experience, knowledge to do so. So, therefore, from this point onwards I will provide feedback and try to clarify in writting your misconceptions about Islam and the prophet becuase it seems that you only want to discuss issues in writting only. Additionally, I also believe that you have been hurt profoundly in life and are trying to take your anger in this manner but are not realising the damage to the entire human race and are contributing to disunity as opposed to harmony and peace which we need and posterity needs.
Muslims are being portrayed as war mongers advice me as who has waged these wars in the middle east, palestine. Poor Palestinian people are living in worse conditions for the last 50 years than animals, who has imposed such brutality on them, there children and the wealth and resources of the muslim world is being looted in front of the the so called champions of democracy and nations are turning a blind eye and are labelling muslims as the culprits. Dear Ali, open your eyes to the chapters of history whereby, history is the wisiest of the judges and fairly draw conclusions becuase future generations will judge your analysis, evaluations.
Thus, I have been reading your statements about islam which are profoundly incorect. Furthermore, you are interpreting hadiths and the quran incorrectly in order to justify your arguments which are biased and out of anger and your own misunderstanding. Moreover, just becuase of you misunderstanding of islam does it make Islam incorrect.
On the other hand, you are also judging islam on how muslims are behaving and cannot comprehend that islam cannot be critisiced for the mistakes of muslims. Additionally, you also stated that Dr. Campbell had won the debate against Dr. Zakir Naik and I spend four hours watching the debate whereby cambell himself accepted defeat and ciuld not reason abd made a joje of himself which I will post a copy on your site in order for people to observe your lies, manipulations becuase if you can maje a such a big lie about tge debate where everyone can access on you tube than you are a manipulator, liar and can only persuade with your lies ignirant and uneducated people. I would like you to answer this simple question, just a brief point, propget mohammad stated 1500 years ago that the sun and the moon are in orbit, while the western world confirmed in 1800s by Galilei through tge aid of a telescope and prior to galilio the world including ancient greece, rome, persian empire were worshipping the sun, moon.
How could a men in the middle of the desert discuss astronomy with such precision 1500 years ahead of his time. The holy quran is full of scientific qoutes which was discussed in rhe campbell naik debate where zakir naik discussed. The scientific qoutes in the quran with such accuracy are nit an accident which is only beung confirmed today by science as opposed to otger books such as bible. This is evidence that the qyran is the book of god and prophet mohammad the messenger.
Why are you not taking zakir naiks proposition of a life debate like campbell wh was trying to run away but couldnt. Are you scared and are making silly reasons to manipulate ignorant people. Throughout history life devates have been tge only successfull means of debating issues and if you dint have anything to hide should come to the stage like a men.
Dear ali sina
What are your thoughts on VATICAN POPE ?
For me he seems more like a mulla than a pope .
For muslims hardly below 5%,he says islam is part of soluton,when it will reach 20%,he will say islam is religion of peace ,then at 50% he will say ,islam is the solution to life and above 50% VATICAN is islamic state .Is he not disgusting ? i hate him more than obama and hillary .Please shed some light