There are two different visions of Islam. The first is seeing Islam through its divine source, namely the Quran and the method of this vision is understanding Islam through its own terminology and language. The Arabic language as any other language is a living being whose terminology and words’ meaning change depending on the time and place, and also depending on the cults , the school of thought and societies in general. Therefore he who wants to approach Islam through its divine sources the Quran, needs to adhere the Quranic language. Then to proceed without any preconceived ideas to trace the subject under research. It’s essential to go through all the verses connecting to the subject being searched , be it the general straightforward and unequivocal verses ‘the Mohakamat’ all the verses mentioning either a detail or an exceptional case related to the subject, called ‘the mutashabehat’ verses.

After such scrutiny one reaches the complete and correct view of Islam. This is the Quranic vision of Islam.

The second vision is seeing Islam throughout its tradition. It’s a human source as opposed to the divine source mentioned above, which includes not only the Quran, but also the sayings ascribed to the prophet, the tales meant to justify the verse in the Quran, the saying of “ skilled in low” ‘the focahaa’ and the various exegetes. It’s clearly natural to find in these sources other than Quran, contradicting opinions. Each opinion searches for supporting verses in the Quran. The researcher takes these out of their context and understands them according to the terminology of the tradition. Since the researcher is thus lead astray, it’s no wonder that his understanding of Islam contradicts the reality of Islam and it’s vision , it’s implicitly out of this second vision of Islam that come the judicial Sentences fatwa which puts Islam in a position that allows it to be accused of terrorism, violence, anomalies and fanaticism. In fact muslem during the middle age like many others living with the mentality of the middle ages, namely with fundamentalism, fanaticism , holy wars and religious trials, and persecutions. They interpreted the Quranic verses according to their culture and mentality, along with the invention of the prophetic saying that serves their purposes. The saying were made holy specially in the case of Sunni muslems. The Shies followed sayings attributed to the prophets relatives ’Al Elbeit’ . the Sufis followed the saying of the holy leader, thus from this second human traditional vision of muslems we find that there was a diversity of sources and truths, and he who chooses this traditional vision of muslems in order to understand Islam will find nothing but violence and terrorism. But, if he goes back to the Quran and its understandings and its laws he will be astonished to find that Islam is the religion of peace and forgiveness. We choose to understand Islam through the Quran as it’s the only and confirmed source, using a scientific method which adheres to Quranic terminology and understanding. By means of this method we have previously researched and wrote about Islam and its comparisons to the traditional the muslems, their history in the middle age, and their contemporary Islamic movement which purported to bring the muslems back to the mentality of the middle ages .

What about the relationship between Islam and peace? this is the subject of this paper which was already mentioned in various works of ours. Peace is the origin of the understanding of Islam , and the base of the relationship between Muslims and others . peace is also the pack-bone of the Jehad laws in the Quran.

We start with the understanding of the word “ faith” according to the Quranic terminology and its particular language . The word “believing” eman , has two meanings in Quranic along with the Arabic language; you can believe in (eman b--) or you believe or trust others ( eman l--);

The first one is related to faith as in the verse ‘the messenger believed in what was descended to him from his Lord and the believers all behind God , His angles , His books. Messengers.’ (2: 285 ) thus to ‘believe in’ to have deeply rooted faith concerning the relationship between man and God . people have had diversified faiths, even within the same religion or even within the same school of thinking . And the Quranic confirms that people will be judged for the diversity of their faiths by God alone and only on judgment day (as found in verses ( 2: 113 , 3: 55 , 10 : 93 , 16 : 124 , 5 : 48 , 39 : 3 , 7: 46 ).

The second meaning, namely believing or trusting others, implies that when someone is safe and secure people trust and believe in him. He is also called a ‘believer’ because he is believed himself . this meaning is repeated in the Quranic specially in the Quranic stories concerning the Prophet . for example in the story of Noah, the arrogant ones told him “ shall we believe in thee when it is the meanest that follow thee?” (26 :111 ) that means how can we trust you and feel secure with you seeing that you are followed by the lowest of the people. This meaning of ‘believing’ that is trusting somebody is repeated in the story of Abraham (26 : 29 ), the story of Joseph (12 :17 ) the story of Moses (44 :21) and (23 : 47 ) , and also in the Quranic Narratives of the life of the prophet Mohammed in Medina ( 3 : 37 ) And (2 : 57 ).this meaning of believing is found in other subject as well . when somebody behaves in a trust worthy manner he became safe and secure as seen from his outward behavior. According to the Quranic terminology this person is called ‘a believer’ regardless of his religion or Faith . for that matter he/she can be a Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, or Jew , it is a private matter between he/she and God . as for judging whose religion is right or wrong that is right reserved to God alone.

The two meanings of the term ‘believing’ were simultaneously expressed in God’s Verse concerning the prophet Mohammed that says “ He believes in God, has faith in the believers” ( 9 :61 ) yo’min be ALLAH wa yo’min lil moa’minin. Not that in Aabic the words ‘believes and has faith in ) are both the same word : Yo’men . thus the verse shows that to believe in God is to worship him , and to believe in others is to trust them. To believe in God is to Acknowledge he is the one and only. And the evaluation of this faith, which many people dispute, is to take place in judgement day. therefore what concerns and should only concern , Men among themselves ,is to live in trust, safety, security and peace . thus faith in Islam is equivalent to peace among men and being a believer means a man of God or a man of peace .

The understanding of Islam, as was the case with the word ‘believe’ in the Quran has an outward meaning concerning the dealing with other people and inward meaning concerning the relationship with God .

The inward meaning of Islam is to succumb and submit to God alone, pledging allegiance and obedience to him and him alone (6:161-163). This meaning of Islam is the same message that came with all of the prophet in all religions, and in all ancient languages until it finally appeared in Arabic . God doesn’t accept any other religion deferent from the submission to his will . this the meaning of the verse (“The religion before God is Islam …”) (3:19). Note that the word Islam in not capitalized on propose to show that the Quran is describing an attitude or a mode of being and not a specific religion. The verse continues (“ If anyone desires a religion other than Islam , never will it be accepted of him and in the hereafter he will be in the rank of those who had lost”)(3:85 ). Islam is submitting to God’s will in any language, any time or place and in all divine messages. Alas unfortunately , in our culture Islam was transformed into an Arabic description of a definite group in a specific epoch.

God is uninterested in the titles and divisions that people choose for themselves such as Muslims, Jews, Christians and Sapiens for this reason God confirms in two verses that those who believe inwardly, that is in God, and those who believe in God outwardly that is in peace, and those who perform righteous deeds and believe in the last day by fearing it and working to it, this are the Allies of God whether they are believers who follow the Quran or the old and new testament (2:62, 5:69) this verses imply that he who believes in God, the last day and performs righteous deeds is considered a ( Muslim ) i.e. someone who has submitted to God’s will no one has the right to judge the faith of another unless he is claiming divinity upon himself . only God reserves this right for himself. The real meaning of the inward face of Islam is submitting to God and succumbing to him with the language of the heart . it is the universal language that leaves no room for discord among people or believers . and based on this languages all people will be judged on the last day to believe outwardly as mentioned above is directly related to the safety and security expressed and practicing among people no matter how deferent their inward believes are . God says : “ o ye who believe into peace wholeheartedly” ( 2:208 ) . Thus God ordered the believers to let peace reign . and we remember here that the salutation of Islam is peace “ Alsalamu alikum” and that “peace” is one of God’s wholly names all of this expresses the confirmation of peace in Islam and it confirms the fact that belief also means safety and security. The person who expresses and demonstrates a belief in goodness in his dealings with others become trusted. And the person who in his heart has a true belief or faith in god, This person would be deserving ‘peace’ in the hereafter. Th same with he who practices ‘Islam’ in his dealings with others and who in peaceful and not a transgressor and who realizes ‘Islam’ in his relationship with god by submitting to him his heart and his behaviors. This person would be deserving ‘peace’ in the hereafter. On this subject god says :(” It’s Those who believe and confuse not their beliefs with wrong that are truly insecurity for they are ‘right’ guidance “)(6:82). That means that those who believe in god and in the same time people trust them because they do not wrong them this will be enjoying safety and security as a reward on the last day. And their reward is nothing but the outcome of their deeds, God describes them in paradise, in the hereafter enjoying peace. Their greeting upon entering paradise (“ Enter ye here in peace and security “)(15:46). And god says about paradise that (“for them will be a home of peace In the presence of their lord”) (6:127). Thus peace and security in dealing with others plus submission to believe in and obedience to him alone leads to peace and security in paradise. Such is the Islamic formula as presented by the verses of Quranic. On the other hand , transgression and injustices inflicted on others and on god leads only to Hill.

Now that we have clarified the relationship between the notion of peace and the understanding of “Islam” and its reality let’s turn to the relation between “peace” and the “Islamic legislation” ‘Sharaah’. And also let’s examine the rule of ‘peace’ between muslems and non_muslems.

The recording of the Islamic history was started and established in the empirical period that muslems witnessed following the footsteps of the Persian and the roman empires. Thus the writing of their history was shaped by the concepts of power authority fanaticism. Or in other words depending on the imperial concepts of the middle ages. For that reason the gap between the Quran and the tradition ‘Alturath’ widened in terms legislation and even in beliefs, as far as our subject is concerned we find a clear gap between what the Quranic says about the early muslems during the period of the prophet and what was said in the recording history in the recorded history of the Prophet ‘ Alsirah Alnabaweiya’ about the history of early muslems and their battles. The history of the prophet was only recorded 2 centuries after his death during the Abasied empire. The ‘sira’ written by Ibn Isaac, Ibn Hisham,Ibn Saad, Altabary, and others mainly concentrated on the violence of the muslems in the battles during the ruling of the prophet , the historians made clear between the line that Islam was spread by the sward, but that was only to legitimize the spread the expansion of the Islamic empire. Yet what is found in the Quranic is something entirely different the starting point goes back the Quranic term ‘those who believed’ and it’s original meaning being ‘Those who choose safety and security in their dealing with other’ even if they were persecuted and harassed by them. We understand better the intended meaning of ‘those who believed’ from the verse that says (“Oh ye who believed! believe in god and his messengers, and the scripture which he has sent to his messengers, and the scripture which he sent to those before. Any who denieth God , His Angles, His Books his messengers, and the day of judgement, hath gun far, far away’.(4:136). Thus god calls upon the believers, i.e, the peaceful ones the imprase faith in God, his prophets and his holy books. In other words, he calls upon those who chose ‘eman’ in terms of peace to add to it the inwards belief In god, his prophets, and his books. The expression ‘oh ye who believed’ does not imply any particular religious group. It’s addressing those who choose peace as a way of life calling them to accept religion because he said ‘Oh ye who believed!..’ in other words, to complement the belief in security and peace by the belief in god, his books and his prophets. And to finally be able to reach the blessing of paradise in the hereafter, namely peace and security.

Those peaceful believers who joined the prophet in mecca, and then later in madina insisted on peace and on tolerating persecutions. After they migrated to madina they were continuously threatened by the ‘unbeleivers’ as understood by the Quranic these were not the non_muslem but anyone who transgresses and persecute. Even if he/she was known for being muslems, who wanted to force them to go back to their previous idolatrous religion. If it were not for the Quranic verses descended to allow them to practice self-defense they would have being destroyed by persecutions and killing. Yet, the learned ones on the tradition during the middle ages did not allow these verses to be taken rationally, because rationalizing about these verses would bring out meaning that they prefer to be silent about. The verse says (“To those against whom war is made, permission is given ‘to fight’ because they are wronged and verily god is most powerful for their aid”) (22:39). This verse implies a permission for self-defense in case of persecution and injustice regardless of what the religion is. God encourages self-defense and bring victory to the victims who do so. The learned ones were oblivious to the generalization of this verse because it gives the right to any one to fight for his/her freedom of religion. And since this meaning is not exactly what the middle age were about, it was be better to disregard the real meaning. They also neglected to a greatly important meaning since the believers were facing a dangerous enemy, if they had not been allowed to defend themselves they would have easily been completely massacred. The Quran demonstrates a historical reality disregarded by the historians of the Abasied empire . the fact is that unbelievers repeatedly raided madina, and even killing took place, but the muslem would not take action because they were not yet allowed to permitted to do so. It was until they received the permission that they begin to defend themselves. The following verse is another case where the learned ones chose not to rationalize:(”those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right ‘for no cause’ except that they say ‘our lord is god’, did not god check one set of people by means of another, there would surely have been pulled down monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques, In which the name of god is commemorated in a abundant measure”) (22:40). We understand from this verse that not only did the victims face a threat of death, but the reason for their explosion from their homes was commemoration of god’s name, due to the religious fanaticism during Abasied empire the learnt ones who chose to overlook the main point of this verse, namely that all religions pray to the same god, and thus all the houses of prayers are all equal to god’s eyes, the verse explains that if believers had not defended themselves since the beginning of the beginning of the religion altogether , their houses of prayers would not have stood up. The verse clearly mentions without differentiation the places of worship of the Christians , Jews, Muslims , and others all united by the act of ‘the constantly commemorating God’s name’ what is of extremely importance here is that the Quran assures the need to protect all these houses of prayers and note that the mosques are mentioned last. And also had the Quran been biased for Islam the verse would have said ‘ In which God’s name alone is constantly recited ..’ But since there are religions that attached other names to God ‘i.e.’ Christianity, these are also taken into account even though they clash with the Islamic theology of ‘there are no Lord but God’ La illah illa ALLAH . therefore the aim of this verse was to put all houses of prayer belonging to all religions and cults under protection from any violation . making it religiously accepted for any of these groups to defend themselves and their places of worship even if blood have to be shed . the freedom of religion is among the basic rights that the Quran grants no matter what the religion is and as long as it is a peaceful one void of any violence or transgression . every person who builds a house of prayer has his own view of God and worships him in his way. By all means these houses and the people praying in them must enjoy safety and peace. And yet this truth clearly claimed by Islam was also disregarded by the learned ones .

When the permission to fight was granted it was expected that the believers would rejoice with the idea of retaliation , but the opposite occurred. They had grown accustomed to passiveness and toleration of pain . and so they hated the new legislation concerning Jihad- note that Jihad here implies holy war in terms of self defense- the believers were oblivious to the fact they needed against the danger awaiting them . they didn’t realize that their enemy would seize to attack them once they show some resistance . God said to them (“Fighting is prescribed upon you , and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But god knoweth and ye know not”)(2:216). Here god is telling them that even though they hated fighting it was good for them because they needed to defend themselves , at the same time they liked to be silent and passive towards the raging war .yet it was dangerous for them. The problem was that they had gotten accustomed to patience and peace, but it had reached a degree that was not only threatening there religion. But even their existence. This Quranic clarification was not enough for them , to change their attitude and to push them to prepare themselves for retaliation. A group among them rejected the legislation for fighting and even raised their voices asking god to postpone his command. So god answered (“hast thou not turned they vision to those who were told to hold back their hands from fight but established regular prayers and spend in regular charity? When at length the order for fighting was issued to them, be hold ! a section of them feared men as-or even more than-they should have feared god: they said ‘our lord! Why hast thou ordered us to fight? Wouldst thou not grant us respite to our ‘natural perm’, near enough? say, ‘short Is the enjoyment of this world, the hereafter is the best thing for those who do right, never will ye be dealt with unjustly in the very least !)(4:77), when the believers were in mecca they were ordered to refrain from self-defense and to consecrate their time and effort in praying and spending in charity. The fact that a group rejected the order to fight and asked for it to be postponed shows to what extent they were devoted to peace and hateful to bloodshed.

The battles during the period of the prophet were the biggest proof for the muslem tendency towards peace and their hatred for the self-defense war, forced upon them. We shall demonstrate the peaceful attitude of the muslem during three battles, Badr, Alahzab, and that Al osra, and as portrayed in the Quran.

The battle of Bade was the first and most famous, in order to understand the real causes of this battles we must first understand what the terms convenient of Koraysh represents. It’s mentioned in the sura of Koraysh: (“For the covenant ‘of security and safeguard enjoyed’ by the Koraysh there covenant “covering” journeys by winter and summer- led them adore the lord of this house who provides them with food against hunger, and with security against fear of danger’ (106:1-4). The koraysh traded with syria and yemin exchanging goods once in the summer and once in the winter. They had obtained covenant of security outside mecaa, safeguarding the caravan during their journeys between mecca and yemin, and between mecca and Syria, inside Mecca there was another type of covenant among the inhabitants ; the Koraysh people had to participate in financing the two caravans, the winter and the summer one. The budget, needed was divided into shares that the koraysh people invested in. And at the end of the year they calculated the prophets of the shares and each one took his earnings. When the muslem were forces to leave mecca and go to madina they lost their investment in the caravan. And they would not dare ask for their money from the ‘unbelievers’ who were chasing and persecuting them. When the Moslem received the right to fight it was natural that they would claim their money back. for that reason they raided the caravans which traded with their money , the muslem were promised that they would either take over the caravan or that they would win over their enemy. They went for the caravans, But soon enough an army from Koraysh came to save the caravans and kill the muslem who happened to be few in number, also it was clear that since there were no caravans, then they would surely win the battle, as god promised them nevertheless some of the muslems were frightened to face the enemy in the battle. The Quran describes this situation as follows (“Just as thy lord ordered thee out of they house in truth, even though a party among the believers disliked it. Disputing with thee concerning the truth after it was made manifest as if they were being driven to death and they ‘actually’ saw it )(8:5-6). It’s clear that they hated fighting; that they were honest about their position even though god promised to support and when they were ordered to engage in war it was as if they could actually see death coming to seize them. we need mention here, that what the Quran says concerning the battle of Badr contradicts the stories written about the prophet. these stories confirm that all of the Muslims of Badr were anxious to fight and that one of them was doubtful about it. If it was not for the Quran we would not have known the reality of the situation, of the situation (know the early muslems were not a bunch of blood thirsty fanatics welling to die for the though, called “Holy War”. they wanted to worship in peace and glorify god and all that he represents, namely goodness and peace. But the stories have been twisted around in order to use these early muslems ‘incorrectly’, as an example for the movement that reach their goals by use of violence and under the name of god). The contemporary Islamic culture has until now not paid attention to this verses, and most of the Islamic reality is messing and continues to be so.

In the battle of Alahzab , the Unbeleivers surrounded madina, and the muslems were strongly overtaken by fear, it’s enough to see what the Quran has the say about their state of mind; (“and behold the eyes became dim and the hearts gaped up the throughts and ye imagined various ‘vain’ thoughts about god, in that situation where the believers tried : they were shaking as by a tremendous shaking. )(33:10-11). The fear was so great that some of them run away. That lead to weakening the other worriers, and the spreading of rammers (33:18,19,60). On the other hand some others should great courage, and they filled with faith and submission to god’s orders(33:22-23).

In the battle of that alosra, which was the last of the battles, the muslems was still not eager to fight or retaliate. Here the Quran became more reprimanding in (9:13-16). And also when he says (“Oh ye who believed . What is the matter with you, that when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of god, ye cling heavily to the earth ?”)(9:83). Clearly they used to cling heavily to the earth whenever they were ordered to fight. Therefore the lack of motivation, they felt in the beginning remained with them until the end of the prophet’s life. We chose to discuss, the believers to see how they really believed in terms of loving peace and security and how they hated fighting and killing, even if the latter was a defense against an intolerant and endless enemy. The unbelievers aime in that war was ‘fighting you until they turn you back from your face if they can’ (2:217), before the prophet’s death mecca was invaded and these same unbelievers converted to Islam and fought in the apostasies war. Then they become the leaders of the muslems, and formed larger armies for the invasions of Syria and Egypt, afterwards they ruled the invaded countries and created an empire; the ummayad empire which was built on weapons and blood and the inheritance of power and the gap between the muslem and Islam became wider and wider.

jehad is understood according to the Quranic terminology is the striving of the soul to please God and the striving with one’s money to help the poor and those in need . God says “ therefore listen not to the unbelievers but strive against them with the utmost strenuous with it (the Quran)” (25 : 52 ). Thus jehad could be understood as self defense , but it is not limited to that . in this verse the Quran sets the legislation for jehad along with its basis , goals and meaning.

Usually the orders found in the Quran are legislation based on a principle and aiming to reach a specific goal . the order to kill is based on principles of self-defense and in response to violation, or in the Quranic term “ fighting the cause of God” the final goal of fighting is , to assure religious freedom and prevent religious persecution the goal is to allow every person to follow the religion of his choice. To be able to leave peacefully and securely to be responsible for one’s religious choices only before God on the last day. Here are some examples to demonstrate the correct principles of jehad . God says , “ fight in the cause of god those who fight you, but don’t transgress limits : for god loveth not transgressors” (2 : 190 ) the order here is to fight and the principle is repeated again when god says : “ if then anyone transgresses the prohibition against you , transgress ye likewise against him” ( 2 : 193 ) as for the ultimate goal of this legislation we find it in His saying in and fight them on until there is no more oppression( 2: 193 ) therefore the prevention of oppression is the essential aim for the legislation of fighting . the term oppression ‘ Fitnah’ in the Quranic terminology refers to religious oppression and religious persecution which is exactly what the unbelievers get in mecca against Muslims . God says “ opposition are worse than slaughter. Nor will the cease fighting you until they turn you back from your faith if they can” ( 2: 117). By allowing religious freedom and preventing oppression devotion becomes to God alone and only he judges the faith on the last day. None else has the right to take upon himself god’s sovereignty or judge other people’s faith or to persecute those who hold deferent religious opinion. This is precisely what the verse calls for when it says “ and fight them on until there is no more oppression and prevail justice and faith in God altogether and everywhere” ( 8: 39) obviously this legislation concerning fighting agree with what is understood from the terms ‘ Islam’ or submission ‘ faith’, Muslim ‘and believer. Or in other words this legislation protect peace from any animosity or transgression. These also assure religious freedom. He Islamic faith of submission is protected by these legislation from many claims against it of fanaticism or fascism. The faith is also free from imposing any choice or believe in other people.

Not only does the Quran establish a clear relationship between the terms ‘Islam’ ‘faith’ and the legislation of war , but the Quran also present other legislation in order to confirm the main goal and to leave no ground for ambiguity or intended misuse. We find a clear-cut example insura 4 hence. it talk about the prohibition of killing A peaceful and a safe believer the verse says : “ never shall a believer kill a believer, but ( if it is so happens ) by mistake” (4 : 92) it means that it is impossible or unjustifiable, that a true believer would intentionally kill another. The verse goes in talking about the compensation due such a case and the lose related to it. Verse 4: 93 talks about the divine punishment awaiting the killer of a peaceful man or a believer for that matter doesn’t make a deference at the point. The verse says : “ if a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is hell, to abide therein ( forever : and the wrath and the curse of god are upon him and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him ”thus he who kills a peaceful believer faces eternity in hell, wrath in god, his curse and great suffering. There are usually stated in the Quran as separate punishments each. Yet it seems that the persons who commits such a dreadful crime deserves all o this punishments added together.

The surah 4 continues As verse 94 declares th right of life to anyone who calls for peace, it says : “ oh ye who believed! When ye go abroad in the cause of God investigate carefully and say not to anyone who offers a salutation’ thou art non of a believer” ( 4: 94 ) thus in time of war which is the meaning of going abroad in the cause of God , the believers must carefully investigate to make sure that they aren’t committing the crime of killing a peaceful man, who by misfortune happens to be in the battle field. And the Quran gives the enemy a constant right to be saved simply by pronouncing the words ( peace be among you) if a man says so with a genuine intention i.e. it is not just a trick to attack , it then becomes unlawful to kill him. He even becomes a peaceful believer, therefore the peaceful Muslims believer is he who calls for peace even during war time , and if he gets killed then his killer deserves the abode in hell, the great suffering , god’s curse and wrath. In a case of a worrier fighting Muslims who decided to cease fighting he only has to seek a asylum. When he does so his life is in safe and secured, he should be allowed to listen to the Quran to chose to believe in it or not, and also to have no excuse before God in Judgment day. The Muslims are ordered to escort him to a safe place, or a home, in security and peace. That is precisely what the verses says : ‘ if one amongst the pagans asks thee for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of God : and then escort him to where he can be secured, that is because they are without knowledge ( 9 : 6).

The truth is that most Muslim are also without knowledge. The proof is that Islam is a religion of peace . peace is in its origin and in its goals and legislation and yet because of the behavior of the Muslims, Islam has become accused of fanaticism, fascism and terrorism.