Islam is Peace for Britain? [Excerpts]
“Who are we? We are Islam is peace. We want to eradicate Islamophobia. Our home is Britain. And we represent peace.”
It’s a new ad campaign in Britain: Islam is Peace. Buses and trains are sporting the legend, “Islam is Peace,” and an array of images, including that of a Muslim policewoman, a Muslim scout group, and a Muslim chef, attempt to show that Muslims in Britain are ordinary citizens, and should not be regarded with suspicion.
The group’s website derides as a “misconception” the idea that “jihad means holy war.” It speaks about jihad as involving a “struggle to improve the quality of life in society and the struggle against injustice, oppression and tyranny,” but says nothing about armed struggle. It leaves unexplained how innumerable thousands of Muslims worldwide could have gotten the idea that jihad had something to do with violence. The site also dismisses the idea that “terrorism is supported in Islam,” saying, “this misconception is one of the most widely held misconceptions about Islam today,” and quoting the Qur’an to show that “it is clearly Islamically unlawful to murder an innocent person.” However, it doesn’t specify what qualifies a person as innocent, and thus does not answer the jihadist claim that no non-Muslim can be innocent.
