Page 148 - Islam Denounces Terrorism

146 Islam Denounces Terrorism

Examples of
Compassion, Affection

and Humanity in the
History of Islam

To sum up the facts we have seen
so far, the faith of Islam as described in
the Qur'an is a religion of peace, love
and compassion. This truth is accepted
by many non-Muslim historians and
theologians too. One of these is the

British historian Karen Armstrong, a
former nun and an expert on Middle
East history. In her book Holy War,
which examines the history of the three
Divine religions, she makes the follow-
ing comments:

... The word ‘Islam' comes from
the same Arabic root as the
word ‘peace' and the Qur'an
condemns war as an abnormal
state of affairs opposed to God's
will… Islam does not justify a
total aggressive war of extermi-

nation… Islam recognizes that
war is inevitable and sometimes
a positive duty in order to end
oppression and suffering. The
Qur'an teaches that war must
be limited and be conducted in
as humane a way as possible.