Religion is often viewed as a propellant of conflict and violence in international relations and conflict resolution studies. The relationship between violence and religion in general, and islam in particular, became a central concern for scholars and policy makers especially after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. However, history provides that religion has also been a source and inspiration for nonviolent resistance and peace-building. This paper explores the relationship between religion and violence and attempts to understand how religious traditions can be employed for peace-building and nonviolent resistance. To support this idea, the paper introduces the Islamic tradition of nonviolence and provides two examples of how this tradition was employed successfully.