Islam is not a religion of terrorism

RebuttalI. What is Jihad? My opponent said that according to the dictionary of Islam, a Jihad is "a religious war with those who are unbelievers in the mission of Muhammad." This is not what in fact the dictionary of Islam says. This is what the dictionary of Islam, which my own opponent has put in his sources and which I mentioned in my arguments, says about Jihad: '(1) Personal Struggle (in the way of Allah (God) to keep evil away from yourself) (2) Holy War (Fighting a fair, defensive war - to stop oppression' [1]Note that Con does not give any link to this "Dictionary of Islam". It seems like its from a site "Why I am not a Muslim". Funny indeed, but the fact is that the dictionary of Islam does not say what Con claims, as I have shown. At my argument round, I explained what Jihad really is and that it does not have anything to do with terrorism. For the sake of the argument, I will explain it briefly again. The meaning of "Jihad" is "effort". Thus, in Islam, "to carry out jihad" is "to show effort, to struggle". Prophet Muhammad explained that "the greatest jihad is the one a person carries out against his lower soul". This means your desires and ambitions. The term Jihad is applied in many different forms. One of its forms is also war. But Allah permitted Jihad in war only for defensive porpuses. And Jihad does not mean "Holy war".Jihad does not have anything to do with terrorism, it simply just a self-defense. Jihad in Islam is striving in the way of God, by for example doing good deeds, propogate the message of Islam, making the hajj, and, if no other choice - with arms (using weapons in combat)II. What the Qur'an says about unbelievers I will respond to both of these verses, taking only with me their place in the Quran, because of limited space.3:149-151Answer: This verse does in no way promote terrorism. It does only say to not follow the disbelievers. Because the disbelievers make partners with God, terror will be cast into their hearts by God, and they will go to hell because of that. It does not say anything about killing the unbelievers or to promote terrorism.4:91Answer: As everybody clearly can see from this verse, the Muslims are ordered to kill them only if they do not offer peace or hold their hands. It does not say to kill them without a reason.The people being referred to by this verse are the pagan Arabs who had been waging war against prophet Muhammed and who had broken their covenant and treaties with him. And how does this verse promote terrorism? This verse is just talking about some pagans which the Muslims was in war with. Does not have anything with promoting terrorism. When it says to kill them wherever you find them, it is only meant for the those same pagan Arabs. Of course you will say to kill them wherever you find them. Every rational person would say that. Should they just look at them? Give them a hug maybe? In war, you have to kill them wherever you find them. Of course, only those who is active in the war.III. Why should we fight the unbelievers?My opponent says that 'the Qur'an says that we should fight unbelievers because of their beliefs'. This is not true at all. There is no complusion in islam. And nowhere in these verses that my opponent gave from the Quran does it say that we should fight the unbelievers because of their beliefs. The closest verse saying this is 9:29, but this verse is being misinterpreted a lot. Let me answer that verse and the other verses my opponent gave.9:28Answer: Yes, the idolatrous are unclean indeed, and because of the fact that they are idolatrous, they are of course not allowed to worship in the place of the Muslims. But what does that have to do with Islam promoting terrorism?9:29Answer: This verse does not say that you should fight the people of scripture because they do not believe in Allah or the last day, but that you should fight the people of scripture, until they pay the tribute. Thats all. Does not have anything with terrorism or killing the people of scripture themself because they don't believe in Allah or the last day. Why they have to pay the tribute is another topic which I dont have time to talk about. 9:30Answer: Again, what does the fact that just because the Christians and Jews are perverse in saying that God has a son, have to do with Islam promoting terrorism?IV. Kill the Apostates!First of all, this verse which you showed us from the Quran does not say that we should kill apostates. It does not have anything to do with apostates. Its also taken completely out of context. This verse speaks about the pagan Arabs. If you read the whole context, you will see that this verse is talking about those pagan Arabs which are not in a peace treaty with you and basically don't want any peace, but just fight. In this verse, Allah clearly says that you should make peace with them if they also want peace, but if they attack you and don't wanna have peace with you, then you have the right to fight them.Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi quotes the verses in their full context and then asks the following:'Now tell me honestly, do these verses give a free permission to kill any one anywhere? These verses were revealed by God to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), at the time when Muslims were attacked by the non-Muslims of Makkah on a regular basis. They were frightening the Muslim community of Madinah. One may say using the contemporary jargon that there were constant terrorist attacks on Madinah and in this situation Muslims were given permission to fight back the “terrorist”. These verses are not a permission for “terrorism” but they are a warning against the “terrorists.” But even in these warnings you can see how much restraint and care is emphasized.' [2]Now, let us say, just for the sake of the argument, that Islam teaches that apostates should be killed. Does that mean that Islam is a religion of terrorism? If so, my opponent has to show me how the killing of apostates proofs that Islam is a religion of terrorism. Basically, how does the promotion of Islam that apostates should be killed, proof that Islam also promotes terrorism?V. How the early Muslims interpreted all of thisFrom GuillaumeThis is not the whole saying. The saying goes on to say that Huwayyisa accepted Islam after this.If one was to believe that the above mentioned killing did happen because of the order of Prophet Muhammad and that command was completely unjust and absolutely unwarranted for (as my opponent wants us to believe), then could the person who had questioned the killer would have accepted Muhammed as the "Messenger of God" and become a Muslim? [3]Also, if you see the historical background behind these conflicts, you will see that the behaviors of the Jews was the root cause of the conflicts. The Jews of Medina, where this happened, used to ridicule Muslim women and tease them, mocked prophet Muhammed, and even converted to Islam just to destroy it, and at the same time living under the Muslims. It should also be noted that this is just talking about the Jews of Medina who was basically bad and tried to destroy Islam. Simple as that.The hadith narrated by AliThis hadith (A saying of prophet Muhammed) speaks about people who leaves Islam. Have nothing to do with promoting terrorism. Anyway, I have refuted this issue on apostaty above and so will not, and does not, need to refute it again. It should also be noted that this saying is talking about the last days. So we in our time, and probably in a very long time to come, does not need to think about this. This hadith is also clearly only speaking about 'some young foolish people'.Sources1. http://www.islamic-dictionary.com...2. http://islamnewsroom.com...3. http://www.mostmerciful.com...4. http://islamnewsroom.com...