Quotes From The Quran Prove Islam Is Violent ?

It should come as no surprise to anyone these days that the United States is currently in the grips of a rabid and dangerous islamophobia.   Many of those on the right-wing have branded islam as a violent religion, and some have declared it is not a religion at all but instead a violent political movement intent of world domination.  

Some writers have even scoured the Quran (muslim holy book) for quotes that show just how violent the religion of islam truly is.   Here is a list of 22 quotes that one writer says proves this point:

Every Christian should be aware of these. The following endorses genocide, violence, rape, forced marriages, infanticide, and even cannibalism.

1. "..devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. "
2. "Happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us, he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks."
3. “But of the cities of these peoples which [Allah] gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them."
4. "And when [Allah] shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them."
5. "And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword."
6. "Their children shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes! There houses spoiled, and their wives raped...Dash the young men to pieces...have no pity on the fruit of the womb, the children shall not be spared..."
7. "So [he] smote all the country of the hills, and of the south, and of the vale, and of the springs, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as [Allah] commanded."
8. "We took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain."
9. "And [he] smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel. And [he] saved neither man nor woman alive."
10. "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the female children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."
11. "But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me."
12. "And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon."
13. “If a man finds a young woman who is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and he seizes her and lies with her, and they are found out, then the man who lay with her shall give to the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife because he has humbled her.."
14. "If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s, and he shall go out by himself."
15. "And if you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife, then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free."
16. "Make ready to slaughter his sons for the guilt of their fathers; Lest they rise and posses the earth, and fill the breadth of the world with tyrants."
17. "If there be found among you... man or woman....who hath gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded...then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman who has committed that wicked thing unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones till they die."
18. "Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. But you shall destroy their altars.."
19. "You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall by the sword before you."
20. "Take all the heads of the people and hang them up before [Allah against the sun.”
21. "They shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up!"
22. “And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.”


Of course, as some of you religious scholarly types out there have probably realized, these quotes do not come from the Quran.   They come from the Bible.   The blogger who composed the list is the owner of the excellent blog One Pissed Off Veteran.   He says the quotes can be found in the Bible at:

1 Samuel 15:3, Psalm 137, Deut 20:16, Deut 7:1-2, Joshua 6:12, Isaiah: 13: 16-18, Joshua 10:40, Deut.2:26-35, 1 Samuel 27:8-9, Numbers 31: 17-18, Luke 19:27 2 Samuel 12:31 Deuteronomy: 22: 28-29, Exodus 21:4, Deuteronomy 21:11-14, Isaiah 14:21, Deuteronomy 17:2-5, Exodus 34: 11-12, Leviticus 26:7-8, Numbers 25:4 Hosea 13:16.


This should make it clear to everyone that cherry-picking verses from any holy book of any religion does not prove much.   I doubt if there are any verses in the Quran any more violent than those quotes from the Bible.   And yet some right-wing christians want to brand islam as violent while claiming their own religion is one of peace and love.  

The hard fact is that there are both good and bad people in all religions (and even among those of us without religion).   The bad people cannot be identified or brought to justice by misusing quotes or branding entire religions as evil.

Our most precious political document, the Constitution, guarantees religious freedom for the followers of all religions (and those who believe in no religion).   It's time for Americans to grow up and show some tolerance toward the beliefs of others -- as our Founding Fathers intended.

(The picture above is "Joshua Commanding The Sun To Stand Still" painted by Gustave Dore in 1883.)