But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war); but if they repent, and establish regular prayers and practise regular charity, then open the way for them: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. (Q 9:5) World renowned Islamic scholar, Mufti Taqi Usmani was a sharia judge in the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He has served on the sharia advisory boards of several financial institutions, including HSBC. In his book Islam and Modernism, he responds to a question about whether jihad should still be waged in a country in which Islam can freely be preached. He responds by citing Q 9:29 (above) and commenting: We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth [one] better than it or similar to it. Do you not know that Allah is over all things competent? (Q2:106)

It is beyond the scope and space of this article to document the spread of Islam through the centuries and how this has been and continues to be done through violent jihad. [20] Suffice to say that force has been used to increase the influence of Islam throughout the history of Islam. I will make do with a couple of representative quotes and refer readers to other resources for further study. Eller, Cynthia (1990). "Oral History as Moral Discourse: Conscientious Objectors and the Second World War". The Oral History Review. 18 (1): 45–75. doi: 10.1093/ohr/18.1.45. JSTOR 3674738. Beginning in the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation gave rise to a variety of new Christian sects, including the historic peace churches. Foremost among them were the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites, and Church of the Brethren. The humanist writer Desiderius Erasmus was one of the most outspoken pacifists of the Renaissance, arguing strongly against warfare in his essays The Praise of Folly (1509) and The Complaint of Peace (1517). [21] [29] Ahmadiyya claims its objective to be the peaceful propagation of Islam with special emphasis on spreading the true message of Islam by the pen. Ahmadis point out that as per prophecy, who they believe was the promised messiah, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, rendered the concept of violent jihad unnecessary in modern times. They believe that the answer of hate should be given by love. [133] Many Muslims consider Ahmadi Muslims as either kafirs or heretics, an animosity sometimes resulting in murder. [134] [135] [136] Jainism [ edit ]Here it is clear that physical fighting is regarded as the greater endeavour. All four schools of Sunni jurisprudence, as well as the Shi’ite tradition make no reference to a ‘greater jihad’. There are multiple references to jihad in the most trusted hadith collections and with virtually no exceptions, they all refer to physical fighting. For example: War and the Iliad". The New York Review of books. Archived from the original on 1 May 2008 . Retrieved 29 September 2009. An important thinker who contributed to pacifist ideology was Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. In one of his latter works, The Kingdom of God is Within You, Tolstoy provides a detailed history, account and defense of pacifism. Tolstoy's work inspired a movement named after him advocating pacifism to arise in Russia and elsewhere. [43] The book was a major early influence on Mahatma Gandhi, and the two engaged in regular correspondence while Gandhi was active in South Africa. [44]

As Germany dealt with the burdens of the Treaty of Versailles, a conflict arose in the 1930s between German Christianity and German nationalism. Many Germans found the terms of the treaty debilitating and humiliating, so German nationalism offered a way to regain the country's pride. German Christianity warned against the risks of entering a war similar to the previous one. As the German depression worsened and fascism began to rise in Germany, a greater tide of Germans began to sway toward Hitler's brand of nationalism that would come to crush pacifism. [64] World War II [ edit ] A peace strike rally at University of California, Berkeley, April 1940 There are those, however, who deny that Jesus was a pacifist [25] and state that Jesus never said not to fight, [28] citing examples from the New Testament. One such instance portrays an angry Jesus driving dishonest market traders from the temple. [28] A frequently quoted passage is Luke 22:36: "He said to them, 'But now, the one who has a purse must take it, and likewise a bag. And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one.'" Pacifists have typically explained that verse as Jesus fulfilling prophecy, since in the next verse, Jesus continues to say: "It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment." Others have interpreted the non-pacifist statements in the New Testament to be related to self-defense or to be metaphorical and state that on no occasion did Jesus shed blood or urge others to shed blood. [25] Modern history [ edit ] Penn's Treaty with the Lenape Adam Roberts and Timothy Garton Ash (eds.), Civil Resistance and Power Politics: The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present, Oxford University Press, 2009. See [1]. Includes chapters by specialists on the various movements.

Winder, Virginia. "Conflict and Protest – Pacifist of Parihaka – Te Whiti o Rongomai". Archived from the original on 5 July 2009 . Retrieved 29 July 2007. The sudden outbreak of the First World War in July 1914 dismayed the peace movement. Socialist parties in every industrial nation had committed themselves to antiwar policies, but when the war came, all of them, except in Russia and the United States, supported their own governments. There were highly publicized dissidents, some of whom were imprisoned for opposing draft laws, such as Eugene Debs in the U.S. [47] In Britain, the prominent activist Stephen Henry Hobhouse was jailed for refusing military service, citing his convictions as a "socialist and a Christian". [48] Many socialist groups and movements were antimilitarist, arguing that war by its nature was a type of governmental coercion of the working class for the benefit of capitalist elites. The French socialist pacifist leader Jean Jaurès was assassinated by a nationalist fanatic on July 31, 1914. The national parties in the Second International increasingly supported their respective nations in war, and the International was dissolved in 1916.

Although Muhammad did not envisage modern terrorism, some of his instructions and actions can be used to justify such. For example, Q 8:12: No one can claim that Islam is a religion of peace if by that they mean that it had a peaceful founder, or that its teachings advocate peaceful interaction with people of other religions, or that historically its followers have been violence-free. The first peace movements appeared in 1815–16. In the United States the first such movement was the New York Peace Society, founded in 1815 by the theologian David Low Dodge, and the Massachusetts Peace Society. It became an active organization, holding regular weekly meetings, and producing literature which was spread as far as Gibraltar and Malta, describing the horrors of war and advocating pacificism on Christian grounds. [38] The London Peace Society (also known as the Society for the Promotion of Permanent and Universal Peace) was formed in 1816 to promote permanent and universal peace by the philanthropist William Allen. In the 1840s, British women formed "Olive Leaf Circles", groups of around 15 to 20 women, to discuss and promote pacifist ideas. [39]Janzen, John M. (1982). Lemba, 1650–1930. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc. p.173. ISBN 978-0824093068. Johnston, Alastair I (1998). Cultural Realism: Strategic Culture and Grand Strategy in Chinese History. Princeton University Press. pp.66–67. And strive (jahidoo ) for Allah with the striving (jihadihi ) due to him. He has chosen you and has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty.

Some religions teach total non-violence and non-harm, such as branches of Hinduism and Buddhism. This approach is called pacifism . Followers of certain branches of Christianity are pacifists, such as Quakers . The Hindu leader, Mohandas Gandhi (often called Mahatma Gandhi) led a successful non-violent struggle to free India from British rule. Power and the Pursuit of Peace: Theory and Practice in the History of Relations between States, by Francis Harry Hinsley, Cambridge University Press, 1967, ISBN 0521094488, (pp.13–45). However, some pacifists, such as the Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy and autarchist Robert LeFevre, consider the state a form of warfare. In addition, for doctrinal reason that a manmade government is inferior to divine governance and law, many pacifist-identified religions/religious sects also refrain from political activity altogether, including the Anabaptists, Jehovah's Witnesses and Mandaeans. This means that such groups refuse to participate in government office or serve under an oath to a government. However, this verse, and many others, is regarded as having been abrogated by the ‘verse of the sword’: [11] Throughout history many have understood Jesus of Nazareth to have been a pacifist, [25] drawing on his Sermon on the Mount. In the sermon Jesus stated that one should "not resist an evildoer" and promoted his turn the other cheek philosophy. "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well... Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you." [26] [27] [28] The New Testament story is of Jesus, besides preaching these words, surrendering himself freely to an enemy intent on having him killed and proscribing his followers from defending him.What about if most of the followers of a religion are peaceful and law-abiding? Would this make it a religion of peace? Perhaps. But what if a significant minority claim inspiration from the teaching of their religion to commit acts of war and terrorism? What if this minority has a strong claim to be following the example of the founder of their religion? What if this minority can also point to multiple religious authorities and examples through history as setting a precedent for their religious understanding? A.J.Davies, To Build A New Jerusalem: The British Labour Party from Keir Hardie to Tony Blair, Abacus, 1996 So making ‘mischief’ can be seen as any form of disobedience of Allah. This would make any non-Muslim or disobedient Muslim an exception to the instruction not to kill a person. In the 13th century, Salim Suwari a philosopher in Islam, came up with a peaceful approach to Islam known as the Suwarian tradition. [117] [118]