ZEAL AND RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE IN THE BIBLE AND THE QUR’AN

Resumen

Without a vibrant belief or faith, it is difficult, if not impossible, to sustain the tenets of any religion. Sometimes, this vibrant faith is called religious zeal. This zeal sometimes translates into religious fanaticism, which in turn leads to religious intolerance and violence. Although zeal is highly valued in religious circles and could be an aid in the survival of the phenomenological aspect of a particular religion, when it leads to intolerance and violence, it becomes a hindrance to the realization of the real end of religion, which is the uniting of the human person with God. This paper looks at the role of zeal in the furtherance of religious violence in the Bible and the Qur’an and argues that a fundamentalist interpretation of the texts where violence seems to be encouraged as an expression of religious zeal can only lead to various forms of religious intolerance, including militancy and terrorism.