I am afraid that the Koran does sanction violence as a tool for "conversion":Think you wrong with this. The Koran doesn't teach this, it's the people in charge that do.
“... whereas Allah supposedly told the prophet that ‘there is no compulsion in religion’ (2: 256), once the messenger grew strong enough, Allah issued new revelations calling for all-out war/ jihad till Islam became supreme (8: 39, 9: 5, 9: 29, etc.).”
Mainstream Islamic jurisprudence continues to hold that the sword verses (9: 5 and also 9: 29) have “abrogated, canceled, and replaced” those verses that call for “tolerance, compassion, and peace.”