Islam in the Dilemma of Violence and Peace: the roots of non-peaceful interpretations of Islam

There are two major interpretations of Islam that represent two opposite ends of the spectrum. At the one end of the spectrum، there is a completely peaceful interpretation of Islam، and at the other end، a violent image is presented of Islam. On this basis، the non-peaceful interpretation of Islam، some groups carry out explosions and killings، restore to terror، or prescribe violence. Since each of these interpretations has profound consequences، it is of great importance to determine which one is correct. The peacefulness of Islam، which can be inferred from the analysis of Qur’anic verses and Prophet’s Sunnah، is presumed as evident in the present article. The main question of this article is whether Islam is a religion of peace and the Qur’an does allow Muslims to start any war or violence، whether the Prophet’s wars were merely fought in self-defense، and what are the roots of non-peaceful interpretations of Islam? From the author''s viewpoint، which will later be presented as a theory، these non-peaceful interpretations of Islam are rooted in the pre-Islamic jahiliyyah (ignorance)، which returned to the Islamic society after the death of the Prophet، and was institutionalized in Islamic culture and civilization in the framework of the Umayyads and Abbasids’ desire for power and superiority.