Question:
Does Islam teach hatred of non-believers?
Summary Answer:
There is no place in the Quran where Muhammad commands Muslims to love people of other religions. By contrast there are at least three dozen verses that tell Muslims to fight against non-Muslims and about 500 that speak of their place in Hell. They are from each period in Muhammad's life, scattered across 87 of the Quran's 114 chapters.
To put this in perspective, nearly one out of twelve verses in the Quran says that Allah hates non-Muslims to the extent that he will torment them for eternity in horrible ways. The Suras that make reference to this comprise about 95% of the Quran's total volume. If Allah creates infidels merely to fuel the fires of Hell, then there is little reason for Muslims to believe that such lives are of any worth in this world either.
The Quran:
As mentioned, there are nearly 500 verses from 87 Suras that speak of Hell. This is just a sample:
Quran (40:71-72) - When the fetters and the chains shall be on their necks; they shall be dragged Into boiling water, then in the fire shall they be burned
Quran (22:19-21) - But as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them; boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads; Whereby that which is in their bellies, and their skins too, will be melted; And for them are hooked rods of iron
Quran (4:56) - Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment Lo! Allah is ever Mighty, Wise
Quran (56:92-94) - But if he is of the rejecters, the erring, then the welcome will be boiling water and roasting at hell-fire
As to what regard Muslims are to show for those who don't believe, the Quran says to be ruthless toward them, since they are going to Hell anyway:
Quran (9:73) - O Prophet! strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination
Quran (66:9) - O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey's end.
Quran (8:55) - Surely the vilest of animals in Allah's sight are those who disbelieve
Quran (9:30) - And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah... Allah (Himself) fighteth against them. How perverse are they!
Quran (4:52) - Those (Christians) are they whom Allah hath cursed...
Quran (4:47) - O you (Jews) who have been given the Book! believe that which We have revealed, verifying what you have, before We alter faces then turn them on their backs, or curse them as We cursed the violaters of the Sabbath, and the command of Allah shall be executed.
Quran (5:59-60) - This verse begets the infamous belief on the part of some Muslims that Jews are descended from swine and apes, since it says that wicked Jews (at least) were transformed by Allah in the past. (See also 2:64)
The Quran also contains dozens of verses that specifically describe Jews in the ugliest, most hateful terms. These parts of the Quran are indistinguishable from hate literature.
From the Hadith:
There are hundreds of verses from the traditions that speak of violence and hatred against non-Muslims, particularly Allah's intense dislike, manifested by his plans to physically torture them for eternity.
Bukhari (54:487) - Someone asked, "O Allah's Apostle This (ordinary) fire would have been sufficient (to torture the unbelievers)," Allah's Apostle said, "The (Hell) Fire has 69 parts more than the ordinary (worldly) fire, each part is as hot as this (worldly) fire." In other words, ordinary fire isn't hot enough to torture non-Muslims. Therefore the fire in Hell is 69 times hotter.
Bukhari (2:28) - Women comprise the majority of Hell's occupants. (A weak Hadith, Kanz al-`ummal, 22:10, even suggests that 99% of women go to Hell).
Muslim (40:6831) - Non-Muslims in Hell will be given thick skin so as to prolong their agony (before they are given fresh skin for a new round of torture - Quran verse 4:56).
Bukhari (59:727) - Allah's Apostle [said]... "Allah's curse be on the Jews and the Christians" This was spoken on Muhammad's death bed, and was one of the last things that he ever said.
Ishaq 240 - "The Jews are a nation of liars.... The Jews are a treacherous, lying, and evil people"