No compulsion in religion

I've just stumbled upon a website that does a good job of explaining the Qu'ranic teachings on relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. The most commonly cited verse on religious tolerance is from 2:256:

There is no compulsion in religion, for the right way is clearly from the wrong way. Whoever therefore rejects the forces of evil and believes in God, he has taken hold of a support most unfailing, which shall never give way, for God is All Hearing and Knowing.

This article does not let the matter rest with that one passage, however, so the author can't be accused of cherry-picking. This passage, for example, explains that the  roots of tolerance are inherent to an understanding of the omnipotence of God:

Yet if God had so willed, they [non-Muslims] would not have ascribed Divinity to aught besides him; hence, We have not made you their keeper, nor are you (of your own choice) a guardian over them.

The author also  deals with the apparently contradictory quotes as well -- the ones which call for violent action against "unbelievers" --  and shows how they can be reconciled within a tolerant Islam. In all, a very useful and illuminating article. The larger website, called Islam: The Modern Religion, appears to be either under construction or abandoned. Many of the links are dead.

Comments

[iamnot]

Sadly, there are an abundance of active web sites with a different understanding of Islam.

[miriam]

The larger website, called Islam: The Modern Religion, appears to be either under construction or abandoned. Many of the links are dead.

Unfortunately, modern Islam, or moderate Islam, appears to be dead also.