One common verse that is brought up Islamophobes is that of Surah 5 verse 33, which reads as follows:

005.033 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: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter;

They quote this verse and conclude that Islam is a violent religion, which calls for the Mutilation and Crucifixion of those who aren't Muslims.

The context of the verse itself is very important, and refutes the Islamophobe's thesis; the verse starts out by saying:

The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger

So notice right at the start of the verse the conditions are laid out. As you can see the first condition for a punishment to be handed out is if the people wage a war against God and his messenger. The verse continues with the second condition:

strive with might and main for mischief through the land

So now the second condition is given, which is that people who make mischief in the land are to be punished as well, basically the crooks and criminals. We now have the two conditions in which a punishment can be handed out, and now comes the part about the punishment:

execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land

So if the two conditions are met, whether it be someone who has declared a war against the Muslims, or a criminal, then the appropriate punishment will be handed out to that person. In fact if you carefully read the verse you will see that this verse is not specifically limited to none-Muslims only as the verse doesn't even mention them, rather it is open and general to include both Muslims, and none-Muslims.

The verse is basically a verse that lays the law down, warning of severe punishments to the criminals, and indeed there is nothing barbaric or wrong with that. Criminals must be dealt with; the verse is referring to such criminals who rape, murder, steal, and commit any other heinous acts including terrorism.

Now let us read the next verse, something Islamphobes can never do. The next verse reads:

5:34: Except for those who repent before they fall into your power: in that case, know that Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. 

Allah is so merciful he tells the Muslims to forgive and allow for repentance. So in reality these two verses preach true justice and mercy. The justice is that God calls for enemy combatants and criminals to be punished and dealt with, and the mercy is that God allows forgiveness for those same people who stop their provocative acts and repent and make peace.

It seems Islamophobes would prefer that Allah says leave the criminals and crooks on the streets and simply turn the cheek and go preach love to them! This isn’t the land of the jungle my friends, we need law and order.

Muslims should be proud of Surah 5:33, it is a beautiful verse of strong justice against the crooks and criminals of this world. You should raise your head high and be proud that the Quran leaves no room for thugs and criminals, and calls for their speedy hard punishments. Islam came to bring justice, and make no doubt about it, criminals will get what they deserve when they are caught according to the Islamic way.

And Allah Knows Best