British Islamist Anjem Choudary, for one, however, in a 2010 interview with CBN News flatly rejected such interpretations of Islam:
“You can’t say that Islam is a religion of peace,” he said, “Because Islam does not mean peace. Islam means submission. So the Muslim is one who submits. There is a place for violence in Islam. There is a place for jihad in Islam.”
Choudary is right. Although the Arabic word for peace, salam and the word for submission (islam) come from the same three-consonant root, they have quite distinct meanings and come from different forms of the verb. No-one who knows Arabic could mistake one word for another.
Islam does not mean “peace.” Islam means “submission.” Its root, salam, means peace, but not in the Western sense of the word. It means the peace that will prevail in the world once mankind converts to Islam, although which branch of Islam is apparently still in dispute.[1]
What is curious is that no-one, so far as I know, has placed much or any emphasis on the earliest history of Islam. By any measure, this early history sadly demonstrates that Islam has never been a religion of peace and that modern jihadists, especially Salafis, take their inspiration directly from the actions of the first three generations of the faith, the Salaf (forefathers), the companions of the prophet, their children and their grandchildren. What is, or should be, worrisome, is that these figures serve as constructive role models for Muslims today.
The rest is at Gatestone Institute
One wonders if these terrorists simply shake their heads in wonderment at the politically correct stupidity they face in their advisary.