Consider the following:

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 10:34-39 NASB)

and this:

"I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. (Luke 12:49-53)

A prescription for internecine warfare and martyrdom!

Couple it with 300 years of war against "infidels," 350 years of choice between conversion or a date with the Iron Maiden, the burning or drowning of witches and heretics, Srebrenica and the genocide in Bosnia…But no one asks, "Is Christianity a violent religion?"

Consider this:

(10) When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

(11) And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.

(12) And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:

(13) And when the LORD thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword:

(14) But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
15 Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.
16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:
17 But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:
18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy)

And then consider Deir Yassin, Abu Shusha, Al-Dawayima, and dozens of other massacres by Zionist groups like the Irgun. Consider the disproportionate use of force in last summer's bombardment of Lebanon.

But no one would dare ask, "Is Judaism a violent religion?"

Consider this:

"Till at last the gallant Lakshman and the godlike Rama came,
And they swept the hosts of Ravan like a sweeping forest flame,

"And their shafts like hissing serpents on the falt'ring foemen fell,
Fiercer grew the sable midnight with the dying shriek and yell!

"Dust arose like clouds of summer from each thunder-sounding car,
From the hoofs of charging coursers, from the elephants of war,

"Streams of red blood warm and bubbling issued from the countless slain,
Flooded battle's dark arena like the floods of summer rain,

"Sound of trumpet and of bugle, drum and horn and echoing shell,
And the neigh of charging coursers and the tuskers' dying wail,

"And the yell of wounded Rakshas and the Vanars' fierce delight,
Shook the earth and sounding welkin, waked the echoes of the night!" (Ramayana)

Then think upon the 2002 Gujarat massacre, in which 2000 some Muslims were brutally murdered; countless houses, stores, places of worship burnt down.

Think upon the pogroms of 1984 which resulted in the deaths of 4000 Sikhs at the hands of Hindus angry over the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

Think of the Tamil Tigers who have killed tens of thousands in suicide bombings, assassinations, and ethnic cleansing pogroms.

But no one asks, "Is Hinduism a violent religion?"

Consider this:

"The cakravartin shall come out at the end of the age, from the city the gods fashioned on mount Kailasha. He shall smite the barbarians in battle with his
own four-division army, on the entire surface of the earth. ... Raudra Kalki shall smite Krinmati .... then they shall go to the city the gods fashioned on Mount Kailasha where Cakri lives." (Kalachakra Tantra)

Ponder Zen and the brutal and suicidal Samurai culture. Ponder the Box Rebellion which slaughtered tens of thousands of Chinese Christians. Ponder Tibetan Buddhism and the warrior monks of Lhasa and the countless uprisings of the Tibetan people led by Buddhist monks since communist China took over Tibet in 1951. Ponder the actions of the predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese in Sri Lanka, where civil war has caused the deaths of an estimated 60,000 individuals. Ponder the Democratic Karen Buddhist Association who practices ethnic cleansing and salts their homeland with land mines.

But would we ask, "Is Buddhism a religion of violence?"

Of course not.

But take a snippet of verse of the Qur'an quoted out of context, a few dozen hadith out of some 10,000, and the crimes of various modern Muslims and we are presented with the question, "Is Islam a violent religion?"

To the thoughtful, the disparity in assumptions and standards should be blatant.

Rather than posing the question of whether Islam is violent, perhaps we should have been asked, "Is religion inherently violent?" or "What teachings does your faith tradition offer to counter violence?" or "How can faith traditions counter those who would wage war in their name?"

So, having said all that, is Islam inherently violent?

Of course not! I do not believe so; nor do millions upon millions of Muslims who live in peaceful coexistence with their non-Muslim neighbors.

Aside from the very fact that the very name, “Islam” means peace, and our greeting is with words of peace, there are explicit teachings which proscribe peaceful relationships between human beings.

The Qur'an is not a book to be read outside of its historical context. It was revealed over 23 years. Various topics were introduced at one level, taken to another level, and then expounded even further. Alcohol, for instance, was not immediately forbidden. Rather, the faithful were at first advised not to come to prayers drunk. Later, the prohibition was made complete.

So too relations with non-Muslims. In the beginning of the revelation, we see verses which preach a live and let live motto -- Surah Kafirun, for instance, which says, "I do not believe what you believe, and you do not believe what I believe. I will not believe what you believe, and you will no believe what I believe. To you, your way, to me mine."

After the Prophet fled to Medinah, a period of armed conflict ensued. Verses from that time describe the limits of war -- telling the community of believers to shun aggression, practicing only self-defense; telling them that it is OK to fight on the holy grounds which had been forbidden previously, but that if the combatant ceases to fight, they too must cease to fight. (2:190 Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loveth not, aggressors. 2:191 And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the Inviolable Place of Worship until they first attack you there, but if they attack you (there) then slay them. Such is the reward of disbelievers. 2:192 But if they desist, then lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. 2:193 And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrongdoers.)

It is worthwhile to note that during a time when the community was being attacked by their former town-mates, the Qur’an talks about the limits of war – it isn’t beating the drums of war, exhorting them on to slaughter and rampage, but telling them, don’t go overboard in war, observe the limits.

After this period of hostility, there was a period of peace again, at which time, the final word about relations between Muslims and non-Muslims were revealed: 5:4 This day I have perfected your religion for you... 5:5 This day are all good things made lawful for you. The food of those who have received the Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them. And so are the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the Scripture before you when ye give them their marriage portions and live with them in honor, not in fornication, nor taking them as secret concubines.

Thus peaceful relations were established between Muslims and non-Muslims -- fellowship by breaking bread together, and intermarriage. Clearly there is no permanent state of war. Nor is there any command to kill every "infidel."

Of course, as with any religion, or even atheism for that matter, those who wish to wage war, will find texts in the tradition that they can abuse and distort to support their cause. This is what Osama Bin Laden does when he calls for international jihad. This is what Yusuf Qaradawi does when he supports Palestinian suicide bombers. This is the fatal mistake made by Syed Qutb and Maududi who promoted the notion that there is a realm of peace and a realm of war, and that Islam had to be spread by whatever means necessary. These people ignore(d) fundamental Islamic principles in order to justify their own teaching and/or acts of hatred and violence.

Principles such non-aggression.

Principles such as the teaching that even in open warfare, you do not kill non-combatants -- women, children, old men. Nor do you destroy infrastructure -- do not burn the buildings, or the orchards.

Principles that suicide is a grave sin and one should never hasten one's death.

Principles that killing a soul unjustly is like killing all of mankind, and saving a single soul is like saving all mankind.

Principles that say, you are not a true believer until you want for your fellow humans what you want for yourselves.

As with any religion, Muslims who believe in harmonious coexistence, in the beauty of pluralism, must confront and challenge those within our tradition who promote hatred and violence. We must use every legal means available to us to prevent and prosecute crimes, whether it is on an individual level, such as an honor killing, or a national or international level.

That struggle, at the moment, is particularly urgent within the global Muslim community. But the current situation is neither typical of Muslim history, nor unique to Islam. Demonizing Islam as a religion of violence is not likely to help improve situations. Rather, it thrusts the moderates into the position of continually feeling under attack, leaving us in defensive mode, rather than freeing us to deal with the issues that really need to be dealt with.