Is Islam a Religion of Peace and Tolerance? It Depends on What Sources Are Cited

The description of Islam as a religion of peace has become familiar to many living in the post-9/11 West. Books and articles have been published promoting this premise, stating that Islam is consonant with modern, pluralistically tolerant societies.^[1] Understandably, though, questions emerge about this premise whenever violent expressions of Islam occur. Over the past several years, for instance, radical Muslim militias in Nigeria have terrorized Christian clergy, laypeople, and moderate Muslims.^[2] In March of this year, a Muslim man shot and killed two people and wounded fourteen more in Austin, Texas.^[3] Islam is not a monolithic religion (i.e., Muslims differ in their religious beliefs and practices), and it is certainly true that many Muslims live peaceful lives. Nevertheless, how do we account for the dissonance between the violent expressions of the faith and the assertion that Islam is a religion of peace? This article aims to track the sources that proponents of an irenic Islam use to support their position.

Selective Use of the Traditions

Islam’s two foundational sources are the Qur’an and the Islamic traditions.^[4] Muslims revere the Qur’an as the inerrant word of Allah and their supreme authority. The majority of the details about Muhammad’s life, however, derive not from the Qur’an but from the Islamic traditions—date of birth, names of his family members and wives, the year his revelations began, battles he led and commissioned, etc.—and they form Muslim identity and an understanding of their religion.^[5] Further, the Islamic traditions offer contextual information that the Qur’an lacks and are used to explain passages and provide application.^[6] Many scholars, however, have noted the difficulty of discerning what elements of the traditions are reliable as they were compiled and written centuries after Muhammad’s lifetime and contain contradictory information.^[7]

Another, and perhaps more pressing issue for some Muslims, is that Islamic traditions also contain directives and explanations that justify violence. For instance, in his commentary on Q 9:5, medieval Muslim historian Ibn Kathir (1300–1373) states that this verse “abrogated [annulled] every agreement of peace between the Prophet and any idolater, every treaty, and every term.”^[8] It must be noted that these directives against unbelievers are not only aimed at non-Muslims, as reports have indicated that a significant portion of the victims of violent expressions of Islam are other Muslims.^[9] Given these complexities, it follows that some Muslims reject the Islamic traditions.^[10] However, as noted, the contextual explanations needed to better understand much of what the Qur’an says derive from them. Nonetheless, some writers have attempted to rely solely on the Qur’an to demonstrate the religion’s peacefulness.

As an example, in his book Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires, history professor Juan Cole aims to convey Islam’s irenic nature.^[11] While he acknowledges that the Qur’an does speak of war, he clarifies that the aim of his book is to focus on peace. In accordance with his thesis, he cites Qur’anic passages emphasizing peace, and what he considers the Qur’an’s celebration of multiculturalism (Q 43:81–89; 59:23; 30:22). However, as Ayman Ibrahim pointed out in his review of the book, Cole is only able to establish the case of Islam’s peaceful nature by citing the Islamic traditions beyond the Qur’an.^[12] Ibrahim observes that Cole references eighth-century Islamic commentator Muqatil ibn Sulayman’s (d. 767) comments conveying Islam’s peacefulness, but overlooks the latter’s assertion that verses like Q 9:29 nullify the peaceful passages Cole highlights to make his case.^[13] Cole is, of course, correct that the Qur’an contains several passages about peace (Q 8:61; 5:13; 10:99; 109:6; 29:46). The issue, as pointed out by Ibrahim, is that Cole violates his stated method of relying solely on the Qur’an without the influence of “what Muslims believe about their scripture”^[14] (i.e., Islamic traditions), then proceeds to selectively cite them in order to establish his premise that Islam is peaceful. In other words, he picks over evidence to make his case.

Without recourse to the Islamic traditions, there simply is not enough material to paint a clear and detailed picture of who Muhammad was, and the material that does exist from the five or so decades after Muhammad’s death paints a complex picture of the nature of Muhammad’s religious movement. Some accounts report acts of violence and destruction by the Muslims as they invaded and conquered the Middle East and neighboring areas.^[15] Other sources speak favorably of the new Muslim authorities, specifically Mu‘awiya, whose rule as governor of Damascus (r. 639–661) and later as the Caliph (r. 661–680) was praised by Christians for honoring their faith and ushering in a reign of peace.^[16] These sources, written by non-Muslims, offer some details about early Islam, but their descriptions present a kind of general monotheistic movement that welcomed Christians and Jews.^[17] This complex portrait of Muhammad’s early religious movement, scholars have observed, changed by the end of the seventh century. It is during this time that Islam as we know it, with distinctive religious boundaries—such as denouncing the divinity of Jesus—and the early formation of Islamic traditions, began.^[18]

Use of a Dubious Source

Perhaps as a remedy to the difficulty of navigating the Islamic traditions, some scholars have identified another source outside the Qur’an that they contend serves to differentiate the traditions’ reliable components from their unreliable ones. The source is collectively known as the Covenants of Muhammad, which he reportedly granted to various religious communities. The Covenants assure non-Muslim people the protection of their lives, property, and religion, along with implementing numerous stipulations on Muslims pertaining to their interactions with non-Muslims. Proponents contend that the Covenants’ tolerant and pluralistic elements reflect the true nature of Islam and its peaceful disposition toward other religious groups.^[19] Further, these proponents regard the Covenants as the third foundational source for Islam,^[20] functioning to filter out bigoted, racist, and overly violent elements recorded in the Islamic traditions that paint a villainous portrait of Muhammad.^[21] However, most scholars (both Muslim and non-Muslim) regard the Covenants as forgeries due to, among other things, their absence from Islamic traditions and appearance in non-Muslim sources written at least two and a half centuries after Muhammad’s lifetime.^[22] It seems improbable, therefore, that radicalized Muslims, who find justification for their violent acts in Islamic traditions that have been trusted and passed down for more than a millennium, will alter their actions based on a dubious source like the Covenants.

Conclusion

With one report indicating that over 100,000 Muslims immigrate to the US every year, our interactions with Muslims are likely to increase.^[23] So what do we do with this article’s information in light of this demographic reality? If you have Muslim neighbors or colleagues, get to know them. As stated earlier, Islam is not monolithic. Therefore, in order to discern what form of Islam any given Muslim practices, ask them questions: What are your thoughts about the Islamic traditions? Do you view them as authoritative for your faith? If your Muslim neighbor, colleague, or friend says that they subscribe to the Islamic traditions, ask them about specific passages that justify violence and ask them their thoughts. They may not even be aware of this justification, or they may simply say they do not abide by those aspects of the traditions.

Nevertheless, a distinction must be made between Muslims, who are people, and Islam, which is a religious ideology. Personally, I have enjoyed every interaction I have ever had with Muslims. They are wonderfully hospitable and eager to talk about matters of faith, especially Muslims born outside the US. There are plenty of Muslims who love and promote peace, some who revere the Islamic traditions as a whole, but reject the violent aspects of them, and some who reject the traditions entirely. And, the Islamic traditions contain directives that justify the violent acts committed by some Muslims in the name of Islam. The tension between what individual Muslims adhere to and what the Islamic traditions actually state is a reality that must be maintained for the sake of clarity and honesty.

Common among proponents of an irenic Islam is the desire to remove violent acts from the religion and promote peacemaking and religious pluralism.^[24] Unfortunately, as the Islamic traditions sanction violent directives against those considered unbelievers (i.e., Muslim and non-Muslim), we are likely to continue witnessing acts of violence. Thus, pronouncements that Islam is a religion of peace are misleading at worst or lack proper clarification at best.

1. Juan Cole, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires (New York: Nation Books, 2018); John Andrew Morrow, The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World (Tacoma: Angelico Press and Sophia Perennis, 2013); Ibrahim Zein and Ahmed El-Wakil, The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad: From Shared Historical Memory to Peaceful Co-Existence (London: Routledge, 2023); Halim Rane, “Cogent Religious Instruction: A Response to the Phenomenon of Radical Islamist Terrorism in Australia,” Religions 10, no. 4 (2019): 17. ↑
   

   
   

2. Fredrick Nzwili, “After Thousands of Deaths and Kidnappings, Nigerian Christians Call on US to Recognize Their Persecution,” Christianity Today, March 24, 2025; a report from Open Doors indicates that in back-to-back years (2025–2026) radicalized Muslims have killed over 3,000 Christians, kidnapped more than 2,000, and raped or sexually assaulted around 1,000. ↑
   

   
   
3. Jack Myer et al., “FBI Investigates Texas Bar Shooting That Killed 2 and Wounded 14 as Possible Terrorist Act,” AP, March 2, 2026. ↑
   
   

4. Islamic traditions include hadith collections, books about history, Qur’anic commentary, biographies of Muhammad, Muhammad’s expeditions, and texts that offer the Qur’an’s contexts of revelation. For a more in-depth explanation of the different genres that compose the Islamic traditions, see Ayman S. Ibrahim, A Concise Guide to Islam: Defining Key Concepts and Terms (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2023), 1–15. ↑
   

   
   

5. Ayman S. Ibrahim, A Concise Guide to the Qur’an: Answering Thirty Critical Questions (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2020), 22. ↑
   

   
   

6. Ibrahim, A Concise Guide to Islam, 1. ↑
   

   
   

7. Patricia Crone and Michael Cook, Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977); Fred M. Donner, Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing (Berlin: Gerlach Press, 2020); Ignaz Goldziher, Muslim Studies, 2 vols., trans. S. M. Stern (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1967–1971). ↑
   

   
   

8. For Ibn Kathir’s full commentary on this passage, see Ibn Kathir, “Q 9:5,” Quran.com, accessed June 3, 2026; abrogation is an Islamic idea that certain verses cancel others. For more on this concept, see Ibrahim, A Concise Guide to the Qur’an, 90–95. ↑
   

   
   

9. “Are most victims of terrorism Muslim?” BBC, January 20, 2015, https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30883058. ↑
   

   
   

10. “People of the Qur’an,” who are sometimes also called Qur’anists, are Muslims who believe only the Qur’an and reject all Islamic traditions. See Ibrahim, A Concise Guide to the Qur’an, 134. ↑
    

    
    

11. Cole, Muhammad, 1. ↑
    

    
    

12. Ayman S. Ibrahim, review of Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires, by Juan Cole, Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association 4, no. 1 (2019): 10–27. ↑
    

    
    

13. Ibrahim, review of Muhammad, 8. ↑
    

    
    

14. Cole, Muhammad, 1. ↑
    

    
    

15. For examples, see “Doctrina Jacobi,” “Sophronius’ Letters,” and the “Khuzistan Chronicle,” translated in Stephen J. Shoemaker, A Prophet Has Appeared: The Rise of Islam through Christian and Jewish Eyes: A Sourcebook (Oakland: University of California Press, 2021), 37–44, 45–54, 128–137. ↑
    

    
    

16. See Isho’yahb III’s letters and John Bar Penkaye in Michael Penn, When Christians First Met Muslims: A Sourcebook of the Earliest Syriac Writings on Islam (Oakland: University of California Press, 2015), 29–36, 85–107. ↑
    

    
    

17. See Fred McGraw Donner, Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2010), 61–69. ↑
    

    
    

18. The majority of the Islamic traditions were created after AD 750, but there are some Islamic traditions that date before this. See Maʻmar ibn Rashid and ʻAbd al-Razzaq ibn Hammam al-Ḥimyari, The Expeditions: An Early Biography of Muhammad, ed. Sean W. Anthony (New York: New York University Press, 2014), whose biography is linked to Umayyad-era scholar Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri (d. 742). ↑
    

    
    

19. Several books and articles in recent years have been written with the aim of proving the ancient and authentic nature of these covenants and contending that Muhammad’s movement was tolerant and pluralistic. Morrow, The Covenants of the Prophet; Zein and El-Wakil, The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad: From Shared Historical Memory to Peaceful Co-Existence; John A. Morrow, Islam and the People of the Book Volume 1–3: Critical Studies on the Covenants of the Prophet (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars, 2017); Ahmed El-Wakil, “The Prophet’s Treaty with the Christians of Najran: An Analytical Study to Determine the Authenticity of the Covenants,” Journal of Islamic Studies 27, no. 3 (September 2016): 273–354. ↑
    

    
    

20. Charles Upton, “Foreword,” in John Andrew Morrow, The Covenants, xi. ↑
    

    
    

21. In response to Mubasher Hussain’s review of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad, Morrow notes how the Islamic traditions are divided against themselves, presenting two opposing portraits of Muhammad: one as the “Prophet of God” and the other as the “Prophet of Satan.” Morrow concludes that the traditions should be re-evaluated in light of Qur’anic norms, as reflected in other sources such as the covenants. See Mubasher Hussain, review of The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the Christians of the World, by John A. Morrow, Islamic Studies 57, no. 3–4 (2018): 311–322; see also John Andrew Morrow, “The Covenants Continue to Cause Controversy,” Maydan, October 16, 2019. ↑
    

    
    

22. This is a point made by Mubasher Hussain, who is Head of Department at International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan. See Hussain, review of The Covenants; also see Andrew D. Magnusson, “Salman’s Charter as a Site of Memory,” in Zoroastrians in Early Islamic History: Accommodation and Memory (Edinburgh University Press, 2022), 78–111; Miriam Frenkel, “Adaptive Tactics: The Jewish Communities Facing New Reality,” Medieval Encounters 21 (2015): 364–389; Fred Astren, “The Gibeonite Gambit: Harranians, Karaites, and Khaybari Jews on the Margins of Medieval Islamic Society,” Journal of Medieval Worlds 1, no. 2 (2019): 3–25. ↑
    

    
    

23. “New estimates show U.S. Muslim population continues to grow,” Pew Research Center, January 3, 2018. ↑
    

    
    

24. Charles Upton, “Forging Covenants,” First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion & Public Life, no. 242 (April 2014): 16–17. ↑