Islam promotes lying and killing disbelievers

TaqiyyaAllegations have been made against Islam that a doctrine called ‘Taqiyya’ (meaning deception) is permissible to be used in the spreading of faith.I’ll start of by quoting Thomas Carlyle (May 8, 1940) in his lecture: THE HERO AS PROPHET. MAHOMET: ISLAM“Our current hypothesis about Mahomet, that he was a scheming Impostor, a Falsehood incarnate, that his religion is a mere mass of quackery and fatuity, begins really to be now untenable to anyone. The lies, which well-meaning zeal has heaped round this man, are disgraceful to ourselves only. …… It is really time to dismiss all that. The word this man spoke has been the life-guidance now of a hundred and eighty millions of men these twelve hundred years. These hundred and eighty millions were made by God as well as we. A greater number of God’s creatures believe in Mahomet’s word at this hour, than in any other word whatever. Are we to suppose that it was a miserable piece of spiritual legerdemain, this which so many creatures of the Almighty have lived by and died by? I, for my part, cannot form any such supposition. I will believe most things sooner than that. One would be entirely at a loss what to think of this world at all, if quackery so grew and were sanctioned here.”Meanwhile, even more people have become Muslim. If propagation of Islam was all based on deception, wouldn’t people find out sooner or later about the lies and evil of Islam? Why is Islam then still a growing religion? You would expect it to become smaller as time progresses.Then, often a verse from the Quran is pointed out, referring to this subject:“Whoso disbelieves in Allah after he has believed — save him who is forced thereto while his heart finds peace in the faith — but such as open their breasts to disbelief, on them is Allah’s wrath; and they shall have a severe punishment.” Quran 16:107Here, the Quran is referring to apostates. Allah says he will punish apostates (himself, no reference to any corporal punishment is made). An exception is made for people who are forced to recant their faith, but in their hearts are still believers. A few verses onwards it says:“Then, surely, thy Lord — to those who fled their homes after they had been persecuted and then struggled hard in the cause of Allah and remained steadfast — aye, surely, after that thy Lord is Most Forgiving, Merciful.” [Quran 16:111]Here the Quran says that these people who were persecuted for their religion (which lead to forceful recantation), will eventually be forgiven after they have fled from these dangerous circumstances. This means that the recantation mentioned above is still a sin, but it will be forgiven after migration.Furthermore, the Quran constantly forbids the use of lies and deception categorically. There are numerous verses which explicitly forbid lying. The hypocrites mentioned in the Quran are the worst kind of people. In the opening verses of chapter 2 (surat al-Baqarah, 2:3-21) three groups of people are described: the believers, the disbelievers and the hypocrites. The hypocrites will get even greater punishments than the disbelievers. How can it be acceptable then that Muslims use lies to propagate their faith and become hypocrites? (1)“O ye who believe! be strict in observing justice, and be witnesses for Allah, even though it be against yourselves or against parents and kindred. Whether he be rich or poor, Allah is more regardful of them both than you are. Therefore follow not low desires so that you may be able to act equitably. And if you conceal the truth or evade it, then remember that Allah is well aware of what you do.” [Quran 4:136]Even when it comes to the enemies of Islam, the Quran teaches to be just:“O ye who believe! be steadfast in the cause of Allah, bearing witness in equity; and let not a people’s enmity incite you to act otherwise than with justice. Be always just, that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is aware of what you do.” [Quran 5:9]Another two verses telling Muslims to do as they say and not be a hypocrite:“O ye who believe! Why do you say what you do not do?” [Quran 61:3]“Most hateful is it in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do.” [Quran 61:4]JihadAnother misconception about Islam is Jihad. People in the west generally believe that Jihad is the Holy War of the Muslims against all disbelievers. These disbelievers should be wiped out by force. Nothing could be further from the truth.There are three types of Jihad in Islam: Jihad Akbar (greatest jihad), Jihad Kabeer (great jihad) and Jihad asghar (lesser jihad).The greatest Jihad is against one’s self. It is the Jihad of self-reformation, to control one’s sinful inclinations. It is considered the most difficult Jihad and has the greatest rewards. (2)The great Jihad is the propagation of Islam, by peaceful means:“strive against them by means of the Quran with a mighty striving.” [Quran 25:53]It becomes clear from this verse that the propagation of Islam should be done with the Quran, with the teachings from the Quran. No use of force, deception, killing, etc. is mentioned here.Then it comes to the lesser or small Jihad. When the Holy Prophet Muhammad came back from battle, he is once reported to have said: “We are returning from the lesser Jihad to the greater Jihad”. (3) The (defensive) war that was fought out, is named the lesser Jihad and the propagation of Islam is the greater Jihad.When it comes to the lesser Jihad, the Quran mentioned defensive warfare in several verses:“And fight in the cause of Allah against those who fight against you, but do not transgress. Surely, Allah loves not the transgressors.“ [Quran 2:191]“Permission to take up arms is given to those against whom war is made, because they have been wronged and Allah, indeed, has power to help them. Those who have been driven out from their homes unjustly, only because they said,’Our lord is Allah’. And if Allah had not repelled some people by means of others, cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of Allah is oft remembered, would surely have been destroyed. And Allah will, surely, help him who helps Him. Allah is indeed, Powerful, Mighty.” [Quran 22:40-41]These two verses are quite clear on this matter: fighting is only allowed as a defensive measure. The Quran also states:“This is a perfect Book;” [Quran 2:3]“He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book; in it there are verses that are firm and decisive in meaning – they are the basis of the Book – and there are others that are susceptible of different interpretations.” [Quran 3:8]This means that there cannot be contradiction (which would cause it to be imperfect). It also says that there are verses that have multiple interpretations and verses which have one interpretation. It is quite clear that the verses named above have one interpretation: war is an act of defence in Islam. Therefore any other verses that mention warfare have to be taken into context and cannot be interpreted in a way that causes contradiction, since that would make the Quran imperfect.Bottom-lineThe Quran definitely does not promote the use of deception and lies to propagate the message of Islam. Islam also does not propagate terrorism and the killing of disbelievers.References:1. https://www.alislam.org...2. https://www.alislam.org...3. http://www.alislam.org...Note on the numbering of Quranic verses: The numbering might differ from other sources. This is because the verse “bismillah…” is considered the first verse of every chapter, except surat al-Taubah which does not start with this verse. Therefore, subtract 1 from the number to find the corresponding verse.