Is fighting and warfare prescribed only in Islam, or do other religions also permit it?

A common tactic used against Islam is to selectively highlight verses about fighting while ignoring that every major world religion has prescribed fighting at some point, particularly in self-defense or against oppression.

The Bible contains numerous passages about warfare and killing:

In the Book of Ezekiel 9:5, the Lord commands: 'Go ye after him through the city, and kill: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity.'

In the Book of Exodus 32:27-28, Moses says: 'Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.'

Jesus Christ himself told his followers to arm themselves. In the Gospel of Luke 22:36, Jesus says: 'He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.' And in Matthew 26:51, one of Jesus's own apostles drew a sword and struck a servant, cutting off his ear.

In Hinduism, the Bhagavad Gita — the most revered Hindu scripture — is entirely set on a battlefield. It contains 18 chapters of Lord Krishna advising the warrior Arjuna to fight and kill his own relatives, the Kauravas, because they were on the side of injustice. When Arjuna expresses reluctance to fight his own cousins, Krishna tells him: 'Do not yield to this degrading impotence. Give up such petty weakness of heart and arise, O chastiser of the enemy.' Krishna further says: 'If you do not perform your religious duty of fighting, then you will certainly incur sin.'

The Mahabharata, the great Hindu epic of which the Gita is the essence, describes a massive war between relatives. There is more fighting described in the Bhagavad Gita than in the entire Qur'an.

All these religious scriptures must be understood in context. The common thread across all major religions is that fighting is permitted — and sometimes required — when it is for truth, justice, and the defense of the innocent against oppression.

The Qur'an's position is consistent with this universal principle. It commands standing firm for justice even if it goes against one's own interests, parents, or relatives. But it adds crucial restrictions that many other traditions do not emphasize as strongly: do not transgress limits, do not harm non-combatants, accept peace when offered, and escort a surrendering enemy to safety.

The question to ask critics who single out Islam is: Have you read the scriptures of other religions? Why is Islam selectively targeted when fighting for justice is a universal religious principle?