Is Islam an Extremist Religion?

A few days ago, a friend of mine called me and told me that a few non-Muslims are studying with him at his university. They often ask him about Islam, but since he doesn't have much knowledge about his religion, he tells them that he would discuss the matter with a religious scholar. He requested me to visit the university to meet his friends and answer their queries. I was well aware of my lack of knowledge, but there were two things that gave me confidence and I agreed to meet them. The first was the fact that most of the questions asked by non-Muslims and moderate Muslims were related to jihad, the wives of Prophet Mohammad and science.
Moreover, I realized that there was nothing better than guiding someone toward the right path. Thus, I reached the place at the specified time. After the introduction, they started asking me questions. As I expected, the first question was: "Sir! There are orders for jihad on several instances in your religious book. At one occasion, it is written that jihad is obligatory for Muslims. In addition to that, the Prophet Mohammad of Muslims is himself famous for participating in 27 wars and sending his devotees for twice as many wars. Doesn't this proof that Islam is a radical religion?" The second question that was related to the first one was: "The Prophet of Muslims has said that deception is allowed in war, while it is not allowed in any other religion. What do you think about it?"

Complete Code of Life
I said that Islam was a comprehensive religion. In English, we can call it a "Complete code of life," i.e., it was a religion that can be put into practice. There is a secret behind every commandment of Islam. There is no commandment in this religion that can be considered as impractical for its followers or oppressing or unjust for disbelievers. This is a religion that stresses the need for protecting animals and plants and also the nonliving things. In a religion like this, why would there be no rights for the best of creatures, i.e., the humans? For instance, Islam forbids spending lavishly and unnecessarily. It also prohibits the wastage of money and food. This means that Islam has always done justice to mankind. I also told them that these superb and practical commandments are a trademark of Islam, not of any other religion. In response to their question, I said that there are many reasons for the holy Quran to repeatedly talk about jihad and mention its rewards.
The human nature is restricted because of these reasons. It is because of these reasons that both Muslims and non-Muslims are tempted to fight their enemies. However, the difference is that Muslims fight for the sake of their religion, the love of their Lord and for the pursuit of paradise, while the non-Muslims fight for their pride, material rewards, and the worldly status.

The Reasons
The following are the reasons for Islam not being an extremist religion:
1. The followers of every religion of the world consider their religion to be sacred and true. Likewise, Muslims consider their religion to be the greatest of all religions, which is true. In this case, if the Muslims try to remove the obstructions that come in the way of spreading this great religion of theirs, what is wrong with that? Every person of the world would like to fight for his/her religion; it is not right to single out Islam or Muslims. You must know about the loss of lives and the strain on the economy that former US President George W. Bush inflicted on his country by calling the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan "crusades," but the United States is still continuing with these wars because they consider them as a religious obligation.
2. When part of a body gets infected and there is fear that it could spread to the other parts as well, that part of the body is detached through operation. The same example applies to our society, whereby disbelievers are removed from the blessed Muslim society like an infected part of the body to prevent their poison from reaching to other parts. This law is prevalent in every society of the world, whereby people who are considered a menace to the society are eliminated from the society.
3. Another thing that is exceptional for Muslims is that when they hear about jihad [in other words Qital], their hearts are overwhelmed with fear because Muslims hate violence more than the non-Muslims. The disbelievers can eat all kinds of food without worrying about what is allowed and what is not. They can eat all kinds of animal meat [cat, dog, etc.] without worrying about the violent behavior that they can instill in them. Furthermore, the disbelievers don't care about the fact that the use of addictions [alcohol] causes the human brain to stop functioning, and then they become violent, brutal and inhuman. In contrast, Muslims are forbidden from eating the meat-eating animals because they have the tendency to make them as ruthless as the beasts and foster "cannibalism". Likewise, Islam has also forbidden the use of addictions, so that the Muslims can remain mindful and distinguish between their mothers, sisters, wives, and other women and stay away from other immoral activities.
Muslims are not interested in violence or bloodshed; they have never heard any harsh words in their societies; they have morals; they remain patient in times of prosperity and hardships alike and they honor each other in business and trade. They follow the commands of their God and believe that whoever goes and pacifies his/her opponent after a fight will enter paradise five hundred years prior to the opponent. When the enemy attacks people living in peaceful societies like these, it is expected to achieve victory over them very soon because these people are used to remain patient at all times. With so much mercy in their hearts, how can these people kill their enemies or their children? How can they confront the enemy when they have never felt the need to use the weapons? The rewards of jihad are offered to the peace-loving Muslim nation in order to induce them into it. This is because the power of their faith is more precious than anything in the world. In addition to that, these people have many enemies that need to be dealt with. Thus, it is impossible to defend the "Fortress of Islam" without jihad. That is why God has offered such lucrative rewards in return for jihad, so that at least a particular group among Muslims, if not all of them, engage themselves in this sacred cause. As I have said before, none of the commandments of Islam are unrealistic to follow, so the founder of the Islamic faith Prophet Mohammad was the first one to practically implement this tough and challenging task. By shedding his own blood, he made it clear for the whole nation the significance of taking part in this divine act. Prophet Mohammad took part in not one or two, but 27 battles to prove to his nation that jihad is a highly rewarding act and an easy way to enter paradise.
Like Islam, other religions also claims to offer rewards for fighting for the religion for instance the Christian priests used to make false lucrative claims to induce their people to take part in the crusade. During their war with the Arabs, they claimed that whoever is killed at the hands of the enemy [i.e. Muslims] would go to paradise to live with Jesus, which was against their religious beliefs. They believe that they have all been saved; the sacrifice given by Jesus has compensated for all their sins. Nobody asked them that if Jesus has given you the ticket to paradise, then what is the point of getting killed at the hands of the enemies [Muslims] and going to paradise for the second time?
In addition to that, the other nations of the world are also willing to go to any extent for their defense and survival; such people are awarded different kinds of medals and they are held in high-esteem. So, what is wrong with Islam offering rewards to its righteous believers and saviors?
4. If Islam were really a violent religion, at least one of the more than 50 countries in the world would have attached their neighboring countries or spread violence somewhere in the world. Like the United States, they must have fostered conflict between the public and the government somewhere. But on contrary, Muslims are victims everywhere in the world. Is it possible for someone to learn the lesson of "aggression" from an engineering university and become a doctor? Not at all. This proves that Islam is a peaceful religion that teaches kindness and brotherhood. The answer to the second question is that deception, which is forbidden in the Muslim society, is not allowed in wars as well. By deception here, we mean war tactics, policies, and schemes that are essential for protecting oneself and inflicting greater damage to the enemy. This is not forbidden as all armies of the world have some "codeword". With the exception of Islam, the history of other religions of the world prove that they did not refrain from using deception and fraud in wars. The US attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan are an example of this. In contrast, Islam forbids deception, lies and oppression against the Muslims and also the infidels. One of our greatest religious figures Imam Azam Abu Hanifa said that if someone killed a disbeliever living in a Muslim land without reason, he should be killed in return. Can a religion offer protection greater than this to its opponents?

Assessment
Once the companions of the holy Prophet Mohammad conquered a place. But this victory was suspected to be the result of deception. When the commander of the companions came to know about it, he vacated the whole area because it could have turned the local population against Islam. As a result, all those people became admirers of the companions and accepted them as their rulers.