The Quran is undoubtedly a book of peace. It is not a book of war and violence. This can be judged from the fact that all of the Quran’s pronouncements are directly or indirectly related to peace. Its opening invocation is: “In the name of God, the Most beneficent, the Most Merciful” and this verse has been repeated in the Quran no less than 114 times. This is an indication that the greatest attribute of the Supreme Being who sent this book to mankind is mercy. Indeed, the theme of this entire holy book is God’s all-embracing compassion.

The greater part of the scriptures, either directly or indirectly, strongly advocate peace. Of the 6666 verses of the Quran, there are hardly forty verses, which deal with the injunction to wage war, and then only in self-defence; that is, even less than one percent. To put it more specifically, only 0.6%.

Those who accept the Quran as the Book of God will be regarded as true believers only when they follow its admonitions and become peace-loving in the full sense of the word. Under no circumstances, should they launch themselves on violent courses of action. In order to conduct an objective study of this subject, it is necessary to differentiate between Islam and Muslims. Muslim action should not necessarily be seen as deriving from the teachings of Islam. In effect, Muslim practices ought to be judged by the criteria of Islam — which is an ideology — rather than Islam be judged by Muslim practices. Those who have abandoned the teachings of Islam can have no claim to be Islamic in their conduct, even if by their own lights they regard themselves as champions of Islam. Muslims are Muslims only when they follow the basic teachings of their religion.

Source: The Seeker’s Guide