What is the Link Between Islamic Teaching and Violence?
'Nothing to do With Islam?' - by Peter Townsend
One of the most depressing realities of modern life is the regularity with which deadly attacks are carried out in the name of Islam. In the past few days it was the turn of Israel, with an attack by HAMAS (which is an acronym for the ‘The Islamic Resistance Movement’ in Arabic). Almost as depressing are the invariable reassurances by apologists and media personalities that such events are distortions of the ‘true peaceful teachings of Islam’.
As part of these reassurances we will also regularly hear the terms Radical Islam, Islamism, Militant Islam, and Jihadist bandied about as if people who act violently on behalf of Islam are somehow perverting the pristine teachings of the Muslim religion by adding an alien emphasis to it (and therefore deserve and ‘extra’ label).
Yet, niggling doubts remain. Why, if Islam is indeed a “religion of peace”, do these attacks keep coming? Why are the vast majority of acts of terror in our world today carried out by people steeped in the teachings of the Qur’an?
In my book, “Nothing to do with Islam”? - Investigating the West’s Most Dangerous Blind Spot, I examine the evidence as far as the possible link between Islam and violence is concerned. I do this by carefully analyzing the foundational texts of Islam (most notably the Qur’an and traditions), as well as the canonical set of stock responses whenever such a link is asserted.
The question whether Islam promotes violence could very well be one of the most important questions ever faced by Western civilization. It deserves more attention and analysis than a few glib sound bites. Nothing to do with Islam? provides you with the opportunity to examine this question from all angles and come to your own conclusions.
You can get your copy (in both paperback and Kindle formats). There is also an audiobook version on Audible.
Kind regards,
Peter
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