The Intolerant and Militant Nature of Islam One of the most controversial issues regarding Islam concerns whether or not it is a militant religion. Muslims in the West argue it is peace-loving. Westerners who have experienced it in the Muslim world argue it is inherently in?tolerant and militant.
The Koran itself preaches intolerance toward other religions. Sura 5 contains the following command: %u201CTake not Jews and Christians for friends . . . He among you who takes them for friends is one of them . . . Choose not for friends such of those who received the Scripture before you [Jews and Christians] . . But keep your duty to Allah%u201D (verses 51, 55, 57). Extreme intolerance is commanded in Sura 5:33 %u2014 %u201C[For those who do not submit to Allah] their punishment is . . . execution or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet, from the opposite sides, or exile from the land.%u201D
The Koran also expresses an intolerant attitude toward any person who decides to reject the Islamic faith or convert to another religion. Such persons are to be executed (Sura 9:12). In the Hadith (the oral tradition of Muhammad%u2019s sayings) it says %u201CWhoever changes his religion, kill him%u201D (Hadith 9:57). These commands are practiced in all Islamic Fundamentalist countries today.
With regard to militancy, the Koran not only condones it, it commands it:
