Religious intolerance is refusing to acknowledge and support the right of others to have their own beliefs and related legitimate practices. Individuals also demonstrate intolerance when they are unwilling to have their own beliefs criticized or evaluated. Throughout history every religion has been accused of religious intolerance, particularly Muslims most recently. While the acts of Islamic puritans may demonstrate intolerance, the acts of that small group are not enough to justify the claim that the religion as a whole is intolerant.
Islamic puritans strive for political and cultural dominance. They are frustrated with other ways of life and, unlike the other parts of Islam which seek self-empowerment, look to overpower and take the privileges of others. Every group that includes billions of people is subject to having some deviate from the regular practices and interpret things their own way. Puritans are uncompromising and reject all forms of belief that do not follow the “true” religion of God. This is a perfect definition of religious intolerance, which puritans may be, but they can not represent for all the people of Islam. Puritans are labeled intolerant because of the way in which they interpret the Quran. However, they are giving a bad name to the religion of Islam because they are only the small majority to have fundamentalist values.
One prominent theme in Islam is the treatment of non-believers. In the early revolutions within Islam, Christians and Jews of an area under attack were give three choices once their town was taken by Muslims. They were given two reasonable choices; they could either convert to Islam or pay a tax for protection. The other option was simply to have a battle. Giving these choices shows some tolerance of Jews and Christians, this tolerance does not mean to give them camaraderie but simply to coexist with them. The verse of the Quran that explains this treatment states that “Fight those among the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) who do not believe in God or the Hereafter, who do not forbid what God and His Prophet have forbidden, and who do not acknowledge the religion of truth – fight them until they pay the poll tax with willing submission and feel themselves subdued.”
If this passage is to be read in isolation it can read as though non-believers must acknowledge Muslim supremacy by paying the tax. Read this way, tolerance is easily reversed and can vary greatly based on the circumstances. Those who are not Muslims and try to speculate that the religion is intolerant are not aware of the political and historical context when they interpret sections of the Quran. Things are also left undefined in the Quran and therefore it is left up to the reader to interpret it as they wish. It refers to general themes such as mercy, justice and kindness. Interpretation can vary based on the morals of the reader. This vagueness is why there are different extremes within Islam especially regarding tolerance of other religions and ways of life.
Intolerance can also be applied to topics within the religion of Islam, such as the segregation of men and women. The Quran can support diversity and tolerance between genders. The Quarnic verse that states, “O humankind, God has created you from male to female and made you into diverse nations and tribes so that you may come to know each other…”. Part of tolerance can be accepting the practices of others as legitimate and even be able to learn from them. The Quran also states that God created everyone different so that people could learn from each other. Everyone is different but striving for the same thing, meaning that they must work together to achieve it.
Another source that leads people to believe that Islam is an intolerant religion is the issue of jihad. Jihad literally means to strive for a just cause. The Western media leads people to believe that jihad is associated with a war against non-believers. According to the Prophet of Islam, the highest form of jihad is the struggle waged to cleanse oneself of the vices of the heart. The Quran emphasizes that a war may be fought against those who are the aggressors, but never against people who back down and surrender.
While there are many details that can prove that Islam is a tolerant religion, the decision comes down to different interpretations. People with good morals will interpret the text as it is supposed to be interpreted and put it to good use and be just in their practices. But the puritans, who are the minority of Muslims, give all Muslims a bad name by immorally interpreting the Quran and deviating from it so that their practices follow a more political and controlling path. Religious intolerance is rejecting others practices as incorrect. Puritans in Islam believe that their beliefs are the only “right” beliefs and they refuse to acknowledge that there can be other ways to practice the same ideas.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
