Question:
I am an atheist thinking of Islam. I heard that Muslims believe that non-Muslims do not deserve life. How far is this correct?

Answer:
Peace be with you,
Thank you for your question and for contacting Ask About Islam.
What you heard about Muslims believing that non-Muslims do not deserve life is simply not true! The best proof for that is the Quran, the Holy Book of Islam, which defines what Islam is about, basically.
It might be appropriate for me to quote here some verses from the Quran, to make my point clearer.
Here is a verse that acknowledges the faith of all who believe in God and the hereafter.
{Verily, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians, and the Sabians -all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds-shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.} (Al-Baqarah, Chapter 2, Verse 62)
And this is a similar verse:
{for, verily, those who have attained to faith [in this divine writ], as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Sabians, and the Christians – all who believe in God and the Last Day and do righteous deeds – no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve.} (Al-Ma’ida, Chapter 5, Verse 69)
As for ‘fighting against the disbelievers’ that you might have heard some extremists talk about, here is the related verse, which is fair enough, I am sure:
{And fight in God’s cause against those who wage war against you, but do not commit aggression-for, verily, God does not love aggressors.} (Al-Baqarah, Chapter 2, Verse 190)
There are many verses that talked about a relationship of friendship between Muslims and non-Muslims. Here is an example:
{Allah does not forbid you respecting those who have not made war against you on account of [your] religion, and have not driven you forth from your homes, that you show them kindness (Arabic: birr) and deal with them justly; surely Allah loves the doers of justice. Allah only forbids you respecting those who made war upon you on account of [your] religion, and drove you forth from your homes and backed up [others] in your expulsion, that you make friends with them, and whoever makes friends with them, these are the unjust.} (Al-An’am, Chapter 6, Verses 8 & 9)
And notice that the word “birr” (translated as kindness) that God used in this context is the same word that is used for the type of kindness that a Muslim should show to his/her parents, as in “birr al-walidain” (kindness to parents)! This is not just friendship but deep respect, isn’t it?
The other verse I would like to mention is the verse that allowed Muslims to marry Christians and Jews:
{… virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the Scripture before you are lawful for you …} (Al-Ma’ida, Chapter 5, Verse 5)
Again, this is not just friendship. This is the closest and strongest possible human relationship; a husband and his wife, who is his lover, friend, and mother of his children. No other religion (officially) allows that.
As for the verses that ‘forbids’ friendly relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims, for example:
{O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: they are but friends and protectors to each other. And he among you that turns to them for friendship is of them.} (Al-Maaida, Chapter 5, Verse 51)
But this was revealed in certain historical circumstances, in which there was a war between the infant Islamic State on different occasions on four different fronts: the Romans, the Persians, the pagans of Arabia, and the Jews of Medina. So, the historic context of the revelation of this verse is a situation of war between Muslims and the People of the Book (Jews, internally in Medina, and Christians, through a Roman crusade), and Muslims were not allowed to make friends with the enemies during the time of war, simply. This verse is an exception in an exceptional case, and is by no means a general rule.
I hope this helps answer your question.
Salam.

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