Art. #25:  WHAT DOES ISLAM SAY ABOUT WAR?  Like Christianity, Islam permits fighting in self-defense, in defense of religion, or on the part of those who have been expelled forcibly from their homes.  It lays down strict rules of combat, which include prohibitions against harming civilians and against destroying crops, trees, and livestock.  As Muslims see it, injustice would be triumphant in the world if good men were not prepared to risk their lives in a righteous cause.  The Qur’an says:  “Fight in the cause of God against those who fight you, but do not transgress limits.  God does not love transgressors.” (2:190)  And: “If they seek peace, then seek you peace.  And trust in God for He is the One that heareth and knoweth all things.”  (8:61)

War, therefore, is the last resort, and is subject to the rigorous conditions laid down by the sacred law.  The term Jihad literally means “struggle”, and Muslims believe that there are two kinds of Jihad.  The other “Jihad” is the inner struggle, which everyone wages against egotistic desires, for the sake of attaining inner peace.

REBUTTAL:  In the double-speak of Islam, a “transgressor” is any non-Muslim society or nation and “the last resort” is when a nation or society is unwilling to embrace Islam and be enslaved without a fight.   On conquering another society, after the initial orgy of killing and rape subsided, you can be assured that only the old and infirm were harmed (killed); the balance of inhabitants were enslaved, either physically or through the harsh systems imposed on conquered societies, including the Jisyah (poll tax) and Haraj (land tax).  And a few other quotes from Allah (Muhammad) are:

"I am the Prophet that laughs when killing my enemies." (Hadith)

"It is not fitting for a prophet that he should have prisoners of war until he hath thoroughly subdued the land." (8:67)  Note: Some translations read "until he hath made slaughter in the land." 

"The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution , or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land." (5:33)