Islam, along with many other religions, is an exclusive religion (we have THE right answer, THE right way of life). As such, it cannot afford to be very peaceful. Anyone living happily without that 'right answer' and 'right way of life' is a direct challenge to their beliefs, and erodes power from the religion to control its members. Such challenges can be dealt with by converting the unbelievers, killing them, or convincing believers that unbelievers are not really happy or that unbelievers will be punished by burning in hell or something. But of course, most humans would rather be happy in this life, and the afterlife is so ethereal (and non-existent, most likely), so just telling believers that unbelievers will suffer after death is less effective if believers can see how happy nonbelievers really are.

i don't think any religion at all can be considered peaceful...

No absolutely not. Read the Quran and see for yourself.

I can not speak on Islam, being I am not familiar with their teachings.

There is a big difference between the core teachings & the cherry picking ethical codes of the proclaimed followers of any religion.
If the followers of any organization don't like what's at the core, they need to leave it or reform it. To remain in it, cherry pick, and claim to be innocent, while being complicit in the consequences of that core, is a dishonest & immoral.

No monotheistic religion is. There are groups within Christianity that justify their crimes against their perceived nemeses (including other religions, women's choice, science, et cetera), but fortunately these outliers have been relegated to the minority (still a sizeable one, though).
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However, because of the political unrest and continuous war occurring in majority-Muslim lands, the extremist tendencies of fundamentalists are bolstered, and since violence is the bulk of the life they've known, it continues unabated and is given little reason not to grow exponentially.
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Islam was founded in a time of warlords and tribalism, so at its core, as you said, it played right into the idea of conquest through violence, and those doctrines have not changed in centuries.
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Short answer: NO