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Yes, there are verses in the Quran that mention violence, but they are not blanket endorsements of violence.
Many of the verses that mention fighting were revealed during times of war or persecution, and were addressing specific circumstances, like defending the Muslim community from attacks. Ignoring the historical and textual context can distort their meaning.

The Bible, especially the Old Testament, contains many more explicit and detailed descriptions of violence, including genocide, conquest, and divine retribution.

The West seems to have learned little from centuries of Judeo-Christian, God-centric belief systems. Just look at the sheer scale of cruel and suppressive violence inflicted on the Global South, from colonisation and slavery to coups, sanctions, and endless wars. Moral superiority rings hollow when these legacies remain unacknowledged or ongoing.

@Jeroen said:
Hmm I have read the Koran, and it actively advises violence against unbelievers. There were also certainly documented incidents where Mohammed - when he was converting people and came up against the Jews - started beheading folks when they refused to convert, killing several dozen Jews.

I’m not interested in the Bible, it’s not really taken seriously and the truthfulness of some of the violent accounts in the Old Testament is contested by the historical record. As a spiritual text it’s primarily useful as a record of the words of Jesus, and many people who read it acknowledge that. More to the point you don’t see its adherents blowing up planes or walking into offices and starting killing people.

Although I can certainly understand that you want to broaden the scope of the discussion to all holy books, it is not really what this thread is about. For the record I’d like to see modern interpretations of holy books move away from seeing violence as a means of enforcing religious ideas. Tolerance seems to be the prime virtue of civilisation.

Nice bit of selective framing there, @Jeroen. You tend to focus on Muslims and Islam whenever violence comes up, but you’re starting to sound like those who blame October 7 alone for what’s happening in Gaza now, ignoring everything that led up to it. Much of the instability in the Middle East today stems from Western powers’ interventions, invasions, and support for oppressive regimes. This goes back as far as the Balfour Declaration, which helped set the stage for decades of conflict and dispossession. Cause, condition, effect.

I know this might be hard for you to grasp, @Jeroen, but the Quran itself isn’t a cause of violence, it’s how people interpret and use it that matters. The same can be said for the Christian and Jewish Bibles. Most Muslims read the Quran as a guide to peace and ethical living. The Muslims I know are peaceful, and when I’ve travelled in Muslim countries, I’ve personally found them to be some of the most friendly helpful and generous people I’ve ever met.

Yes, Islam, like any religion, should not be shielded from criticism, it like all other religions has faults. But the question is, why focus solely on Islam? If we’re going to talk honestly about religious violence or extremism, it needs to include all traditions, not just the one that’s easiest to single out in today’s climate. We need to understand the context: historical, geopolitical, and social, behind why and how these expressions of violence emerge.

And the motivation for the War on Drugs was primarily political, it was a mechanism for the Nixon administration to target left wing hippies and young black people and send them to jail. But it’s basically the scenario from Prohibition years, where gangs were enriching themselves by smuggling liquor and it was found to not work.

But the whole drug trade is even useful to the CIA. There was a story Terence McKenna told, about how at a certain point in the 1980s the US market was flooded with lots of excellent quality Afghani hashish, because the CIA were bringing it in by the boatload and bypassing customs in order to generate untraceable income for the agency.

Yes, it would seem that drugs are winning the war on drugs, a war the US has been waging since 1971. Over 50 years later, it drags on with no real victory in sight. Meanwhile, someone is making a heap of money the longer this war continues.
From private prison operators and arms manufacturers to law enforcement contractors and even pharmaceutical giants, there are powerful interests who stand to profit as long as the system keeps cycling people through courts, jails, and rehab centres, without ever addressing the root causes.

@Jeroen said:
I just find it interesting that rather than discussing the core of the post, all the replies chose to focus on one small two word generalisation. I thought we had moved beyond one-upmanship on this forum…

Nice put-down, Jeroen. But I think the objection is to the OP in general, which has a distinctly racist and ethnocentric tinge to it.

Yes, Islam has a violent streak. So does Christianity. So does Buddhism. So does Judaism. So does Hinduism. Osho and his followers had their moments, too. Personally, I think you're picking on Islam because you have a certain bias - prejudice, if you will.

It doesn't really matter what's included in their scriptures. Their actions are the most telling. For the largest part, Muslims are a kind, generous and peaceful people.

I feel like Islam should be open to criticism just as much as any other religion. If you do that though its important to keep it to doctrine and not conflate Islam with Muslims. And realize that while culture is often tied up with religious beliefs they aren't one and the same. So using language that recognizes people's individuality and complexity rather than saying "those people" as if they are all the same, or "illegals" rather than illegal/undocumented immigrants. Ajahn Brahm often talks about when he goes to visit people in prison he doesn't talk or think about them as criminals, but people who have committed a crime.

@Jeroen said:
@Shoshin1: I’m not going to try and justify the acts of western governments, geopolitics expands the scope of this discussion way beyond its original intention.

Fair enough, but if you're going to make sweeping statements about Muslims or Islam, then surely the broader context does matter. We don’t exist in a vacuum.

@Jeroen said:
I came across an interesting video of Osho on Islam, which I’ll just paraphrase here…

“I haven’t spoken much on Islam because in order to do so I’d have to disagree with some of its beliefs. Islam’s message is meant for more primitive people; it is like teaching a primary school class, while speaking on spirituality in India is like lecturing at a university. But because the Koran says it is the last word from God to man, there hasn’t been much evolution. The Upanishads have been continually refined and interpreted in new ways over the years, and in order to make progress in Islam there should be new commentaries and interpretations of the Koran. As it is, the Koran is a diamond, but a diamond in the rough, uncut.”

Personally, I have no interest in the Abrahamic religions, or any institutional religion. All have been corrupted or co-opted, including Buddhism when turned into a system of belief. The state of the world today reflects how teachings meant to free can become tools of control.

While I understand he often used provocative language to challenge dogma, however, when he says Islam was “meant for primitive people” or comparing it to “teaching a primary school class” feels condescending and reductive. It ignores the richness of the Islamic tradition, especially Sufism, whose mystics like Rumi, Hafiz and Rabia al-Adawiyya expressed timeless spiritual insight.

From what I gather Osho came from a region shaped by centuries of religious tension and caste oppression. It’s worth noting that during the Islamic conquests of the subcontinent, many from oppressed castes, especially the untouchables, converted to Islam seeking dignity, justice, and equality, an escape from the rigid Hindu caste system. This may have shaped some of his views, consciously or not, especially his criticism of Islam.

It’s also worth noting that many in the West see Osho as a cult leader, given the scandals surrounding his commune. This doesn’t nullify everything he said, but it does call for caution when he makes sweeping judgements about other paths.

Dictators, systems of law where they still behead people, a distinct lack of tolerance. And all of that in one of the most religious societies in the world. The whole idea of a “last word” and “the only book you’ll need” removes a lot of incentive for learning and progress, I think.

This view oversimplifies a complex region and ignores the historical role of Western colonialism and their interference and propping up dictatorships.

Islamic civilisation made important contributions to the Western world, especially during what is now referred to as the Islamic Golden Age. Muslim scholars preserved and built on Greek, Persian, and Indian knowledge, shaping the fields of medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy. Their influence can also be seen in architecture, agriculture, and trade. Much of this knowledge later fed into the European Renaissance and helped lay the foundations for modern science.

Western propaganda will always promote its own narrative, often downplaying or ignoring the contributions of others, especially those from the Asian, African and Islamic world.

Dismissing a religion because of its misuse misses the deeper point: it’s the inner inquiry, not the outer form, that truly matters.

“Beyond right and wrong, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.”
~Rumi~