Originally Posted by BelFarfalla
They were basically angry criminals looking to legalize their desire to harm and kill people. Islamic terrorism is a home for these types of crazies.
If Islam went totally peaceful tomorrow, these thugs would just look for another reason to express their anger and blood lust.
They could not deny its truthfulness because of the threat of the sword. Those who spoke out (particularly in the early Meccan years) tended to end up dead. This is not only recorded in the Qu’ran, but also corroborated by the ahadith.
This is furthered by secular history and archaeological evidence: Islam was from its beginning a religion spread by the sword. Today, many use that example (and in their view rightly assert), that the perfect model is Mohammed, and thus if he could use violence: either through war or assassination, then they can too.
As for belfarfalla’s contention that if Islam went peaceful, I would point out that it cannot. To attempt to implement change in Islam is seen as apostasy, and thus punishable by death. Islam, regrettably, has built within it a Catch 22 that prevents it from advancing out of 7th century mentalities.