Do you believe that Muslims can be moral despite their faith, rather than because of it? I'm not surprised

It is just as naïve to think that extremist Muslim groups act in the service of their religion as it is to believe that Christian extremist groups such as the KKK act genuinely in servitude of Jesus Christ

Muslims walk towards a mosque (Getty)

A recent Dutch experiment involved members of the public being read out violent or misogynistic passages from a scriptural text. At first they were told these verses were from the Qur’an, and those listening expressed their horror.

‘How could anyone believe in this!?’ one woman exclaimed. Several individuals then affirmed that the Bible was comparatively ‘a lot less harsh,’ contained ‘more positive things,’ and less misogyny.

It was then revealed to the listeners that the verses read out were in fact Biblical, and not Qur’anic, prompting laughter and astonishment, but interestingly not the same horror or negativity as was expressed moments earlier.

As astutely articulated by one listener, this experiment highlighted the unconscious prejudice prevalent within many of us. Without even reading the Qur’an, we assume that it is filled with barbarism and brutality. We assume that peaceful Muslims behave beneficently in spite of their faith, rather than because of it, and that it is the extremists that understand the Qur’an best, following it in its purest form.

In no other academic discipline or sphere of life, apart from in the field of religion, do people form such strong and cemented views on an issue without having properly studied it.

Of course, the views and conclusions we draw about Islam are not based on nothing. They stem from our observation of Muslims in various parts of the world who, cloaked in religious garments and long beards, appeal to the Qur’an before committing atrocities.

Emotionally speaking, it is understandable to despise both these individuals themselves and the creed which they profess. However, this creed is not the Islam that the Prophet Muhammad brought. Rather, it is only a false doctrine taken by reading verses out of context and using them as justification to attain worldly power, conquer territory or accumulate wealth.

The Qur’an itself condemns those who seek materialism at the expense of their spirituality. It mentions that it is only a person’s righteousness that reaches God, and not the supremacy or domination they attain in life. The fact is that in order to attain worldly ambitions or fulfil certain desired interests, individuals appeal to the highest authority of their society. In religious spheres this authority is God and the scriptures, whereas in the Western world, this authority often comes from noble ideals such as freedom, democracy or justice.

With every attack that ISIS commit, or every beheading that Saudi Arabia conduct, we become more and more tempted to condemn Islam. However, rationally speaking, we must remember that Islam is a teaching and thus must be judged on what it teaches, rather than on how a corrupt clergy or a terrorist group behave fourteen hundred years after the religion was founded.

Some people are inherently violent. If not Islam, certainly they would use some other motivation to conquer lands or attain power.

It is just as naïve to think that extremist Muslim groups act in the service of their religion as it is to believe that Christian extremist groups such as the KKK act genuinely in servitude of Jesus Christ.

Sadly, all too often in today’s world, when a Muslim commits a crime it is linked to his religion, whereas when it is a person of another faith they are deemed mentally unstable. This Dutch experiment, among others, showed that what we fear most is that which we are unaware of.

We are more comfortable with the Bible, even though we know it contains certain violent verses, than we are with the Qur’an even though we have never opened one to discover what it really teaches. It is certainly a challenge to read a book that is even touched by groups such as Isis, never mind supposedly used as their inspiration, but if we let extremists shape our views or our attitudes then in some way they have already beaten us.

It is a task indeed to read the Qur’an and attempt to understand it in its proper context. But if undertaken properly, one may be surprised by just how wrong the interpretations of extremists really are – and that’s the beginning of an important type of resistance.