It's World Peace Day and a group of extremists that call themselves The Islamic State are public enemy No. 1 ... wrongly leading many to connect violence and Islam once again. Most fall strongly on either side of the debate about the relationship between Islam and war. Our contribution to that debate is to remind our readers about all the times Islam and religious Muslims categorically called for peace.

Here are 7 times Islam and Muslims reminded us why Salam  matters so much to a religion that gets an exceedingly bad rap.

1. "The worshippers of the All-Merciful are they who tread gently upon the earth, and when the ignorant address them, they reply 'Peace!'" [Qur'an 25:63]

2. "He who makes peace between people by inventing good information or saying good things, is not a liar." - Prophet Muhammad

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3. "God is a unity, and likes unity."- Prophet Muhammad

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4. "War, like children's fights, are meaningless, pitiless and contemptible." - Jalal ad-Din Rumi

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5. "The word 'Islam' means peace. The word Muslim means 'one who surrenders to God.' But the press makes us seem like haters." - Muhammad Ali

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6. "There is no compulsion in religion." [Quran 2:256]

7. "During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed (or on the same rug)--while praying to the same God--with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white." - Malcolm X