Is Islam a Religion of Peace?

Islam
What Islam needs is an introspective leadership, a leadership which is prepared to have a fresh look at its traditional doctrines and approach. It must give up its religious arrogance and its fundamentalism, its basic categories of believers and infidels, its imperialist theories of Zimmis and Jazia, its belief that it has appeared with a divine mission to replace all other religions and modes of worship.
- Ram Swarup (Indian Express, 2.1.91)

Fourteen hundred years ago, a new faith burst out of the Arabian deserts and exploded like forked lightning onto three continents. Under the oasis green banner of the Prophet, the warriors of Islam converted whole civilizations to their holy book, their way of life and their world view. Today a reconstructed idea of Islam is spreading at what often appears to be the same speed over much the same territory. From the North African coast to the steppes of Central Asia, the Prophet’s precepts interpreted as a code of earthly behaviour are galvanizing Muslim societies with hope for renewal and fear of upheaval. The whole world is watching and wondering about the impact of this tectonic shift, as represented by the Islamic Jehad. Terrorism, intolerance and revolution for export – the revival movement’s three scourges, have become a matter of grave concern to liberal societies all over the world. Islamic thought today is a closed system that admits no analysis, no debate of what are today common interpretations of the revealed word.

The Muslim talent for riot, rape, murder, loot and arson is a historical fact. It is a tragic heirloom of Muslim history. No one can escape it.

Since August 15, 1947, the Muslims of India have been causing communal riots at regular intervals, disrupting the country's secular and peaceful life. They have been successful in keeping up the terrific communal tension which was a sad and tragic feature of Indian politics before partition and independence. The Muslim masses, with their inherent background of racial hatred and suspicion, have been misguided by their leadership and media and led to believe that they and their religion are not secure in India. R