Talking to your family about being an Atheist

[ideologue08]

I don't take issue with anything you say here, and I have no doubt that jihad does not always mean armed conflict, and that the word is used a number of different ways. I am not a speaker of Arabic, so I have to rely on the words of people like you (I'm assuming you are) and others. I respect that you only rely on reputable sources, because a lot of people don't, and like you say, it does nothing but undermine.

All that being said, while I think it's important that people agree on what terminology means, I think there is a larger and more important question, and that is, under what circumstances and to what extent is violence / armed conflict permissible (or even advisable or required) in the service of belief in a supreme being, against unbelievers, on the basis of their unbelief? This is a question that can be discussed even without 100% precise definitions.

I won't presume to tell you what your religion says -- I'm no expert -- but as an outsider looking in, it seems to me like it isn't unreasonable at all to come away with the impression that Allah might actually approve of a lot of the shitty things that are supposedly done in his name, at least based the contents of the Qur'an and Sunnah. I'm reluctant to credit any group of people who self-identify as Muslims as the "true" believers, just as I am reluctant to label any particular group as "outsiders", unless a compelling argument can be made based on actual, widely accepted doctrine and/or history. It's not clear to me that such an argument can be made against those who engage in violence in the name of Islam. 5:32 and 2:256 seem to be the most widely cited verses in support of tolerance, and yet in textual and historical context it seems like they don't exactly hold up.

What do you think and what do you base it on?

Well, believe it or not I became very interested in my religion in my late teens, as a result I have amassed many many books on Islam, and also Arabic resources, and I have done pretty heavy research on these kind of issues, the kind of research that goes way beyond what any layman would probably understand, although far far below the level of the actual scholars of Islam obviously. But you can ask me pretty much anything and I can give you the Islamic viewpoint citing the sources and also tell you if there's a difference of opinion on a certain issue and what those differences are.

Both verses you stated obviously mean exactly what they say, but they have to be understood in light of the other verses also, they can't be isolated. Verse 5:32 for example, says that it is a major sin to kill someone unlawfully, it said so in the Torah before and it extends to the Qur'an as well, but unlawfully obviously does not cover the death penalty for example, which is a lawful killing according to 17:33.