The Qur'an openly preaches violence and hatred against non-believers.

I want to start by thanking my opponent for being exceptionally kind and letting me present full rebuttals to her arguments. I hope that they will be of good quality! -- Content -- Rebuttal Section: o Increase in Disease? o Verses Preaching Hatred Toward Jews? o Middle Easterners View Jews 'Unfavourably' o Wars in the Name of Islam o Modern Scholars and Offensive War o Terrorism - Misinterpretation or Bad Mental State? o Friendship o Mecca and Medina for Muslims Only o Houses of Worship in Islamic Countries -- Rebuttals -- o Increase in Disease? Jannah (my opponent) asked why God does not help guiding non-believers toward faith rather than use scare tactics. Firstly, He does. However, God says: [Qur'an 13:11] "Allah does not change a people's lot unless they change what is in their hearts." God guides people, but if they wish to remain hypocrites, then God lets them be free agents. It is not God who wrongs by letting them do what they want. It is they themselves. God forgives people even if their sins are as great as mountains, but they have to ask God for forgiveness, and they have to work on their negative sides and ask God for help. Hypocrites are the ones who should change themselves and ask God for forgiveness, and He will be there for them. Also, it is the same as if a child was crying for a hamburger. If he kept crying for it, and his mother kept telling him to stop crying and she would give it to him, but not if he keeps crying, then she will not give it to him unless he stops crying. If he stops crying, she will give it. Similarly, God lets hypocrites be what they are, so unless they stop fooling themselves, God will just let them be what they are. If they wish to change, God will help. It is they who are the ones that are wronging. o Verses Preaching Hatred Toward Jews? My dear opponent says that God transformed some Jews into apes. Yes, but as I said, even Muslims can get punished. She mentioned some verses mentioning Jews in a way that God is displeased with them. There are certain things that only apply to God only. Yes, God does not like those who do bad deeds, such as worshipping false gods. But, that is something God will deal with. It does not urge Muslims to do anything about it, but to spread the true message of God. Chapter 109 speaks about freedom of religion.[1] o Middle Easterners View Jews 'Unfavourably' Jannah said that 90% of Middle Easterners view Jews unfavourably. I do not know how sound that statistic is, but that is nevertheless easy to explain. When people grow up in the area of Middle East, they hear about Israel bombing Muslims, Jews being Zionists, etc., so naturally, they feel bad about many Jews. If you go to the Balkans, you will see 90% of such-and-such people viewing such-and-such people unfavourably. Bosnians may view Serbians unfavourably, etc., because they went to war, there are political problems, and so forth. o Wars in the Name of Islam My opponent claimed that there have been wars fought in the name of Islam. This is not a debate about history, and while I can present lots of arguments in the defence of Islam, I will say that there have been wars for numerous religions, beliefs, etc. Also, when 'Muslims' fight political wars, they may say 'for Islam' or 'Allahu Akbar' simply because Muslims do that in battles, even though they may fight purely political wars. o Modern Scholars and Offensive War Jannah claimed that some modern scholars interpret 'Jihad' meaning 'offensive war', something Muslims should lead against non-Muslims. Firstly, 'Jihad' is not Holy War. Jihad means 'struggle' or 'strive', i.e. struggle and strive to wake up every morning to prayer, defend your people against oppressors, etc. Holy War is not found in the Qur'an, and the Arabic word is Harb ul-Muqadasa. Now, there may be some scholars saying that Jihad must be offensive, Muslims must fight etc., but those are highly misguided. Almost all Muslim scholars and orators say that Muslims must not be oppressors. If they are under threat, if enemies break peace treaties, if they are directly oppressed, this is something different. The Qur'an prohibits leading offensive wars and forced conversions very strictly. First, please look at source #2. A picture shows very famous Muslim orators of these days, and I have never heard any of them promote offensive war. In fact, Dr. Zakir Naik gave a great lecture about Islam and Terrorism, which can be watched on YouTube. [Qur'an 10:99] "If it had been thy Lord's will, they would all have believed,- all who are on earth! wilt thou then compel mankind, against their will, to believe!" o Terrorism - Misinterpretation or Bad Mental State? Jannah said that terrorism by Muslims may be rooted in misinterpretation of the Qur'an. I say it is generally due to bad mental states of people. Many psychologists will say this. Why? A child in Afghanistan, born in the year 2002, has grown up seeing non-Muslim forces every day, hearing about them killing innocent people on many occasions, occupying their land, stealing their resources, taking their freedom, and so forth. Can this not be a great cause to their bad mental states, which can lead them to becoming so-called 'terrorists'? I say yes. Gaza, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc., all those areas are invaded, attacked, etc., so of course some people will be totally harmed and perhaps blow themselves up. Maybe they use religion as a hope for a better life in the Hereafter, instead of just losing everything by blowing themselves up. This is related to psychology, not verses of the Qur'an. o Friendship Now, Jannah said something about tolerance. Why are Muslims not allowed to 'fully' trust non-Muslims? I say that it is not only about 'trust'. It can be many things. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said that a person will follow the belief of his close friend, so he should be careful about who he befriends. Imagine a Muslim being very good friends with an Atheist. He might tell the Atheist everything, and feel confident about him. Then the Atheist can speak about how bad religion is, or anything similar, and lead the Muslim astray, because the Muslim felt 'confident' in the Atheist. So, would it not have been better if the Muslim stayed a bit away, yet remained friends? Yes, indeed. It is not because Islam wants to demote tolerance. It promotes it, but it also protects the Muslim individual by guiding him. I have non-Muslim friends, and I can notice some bad feelings about my religion sometimes. This way, my Faith can weaken, but of course, I am careful. o Mecca and Medina for Muslims Only Why are Mecca and Medina for Muslims only? These are protected cities. Muslims are only allowed to enter them. Every day, Muslims face Mecca when they pray, and this is very holy for us. Thee are lots of other places non-Muslims can go to in order to learn about Islam. I understand that it my seem 'intolerant', but it is not. The Vatican may allow non-Christians to enter the Holy See, but not every single office. Similarly, we Muslims let non-Muslims in mosques etc., but not two locations in Saudi Arabia, because they are very holy. o Houses of Worship in Islamic Countries Islam allows religious freedom. Non-Muslims have their communities etc., and are excluded from religious obligations. They are protected by Muslims, and Muslims are not allowed to insult them or harm them. [Qur'an 8:61] "But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace, and trust in Allah: for He is One that heareth and knoweth (all things)." [Qur'an 60:8] "Allah does not forbid you to treat kindly and deal justly those who have neither fought you in the matter of religion, nor driven you out of your homes. Indeed Allah loves the just." -- References -- [1]http://www.usc.edu... [2]http://irf.net...