Religions of Peace: Formations of Principled Pacifism and Nonviolence in Modern Islam

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This project draws upon both fresh and existing case studies of principled pacifism and nonviolence in the modern Islamic tradition to develop an analytical intellectual history and a rigorous theoretical typology. This new typology represents a fundamentally new departure in the study of these branches of the Islamic tradition, and will both communicate original findings and fruitfully systematise existing research on the one hand, and on the other provide an inter-disciplinary methodological basis for future research. It brings together research and researchers in Islamic studies and moral philosophy so as to develop a much-needed general critical account of the varied roles played by principled pacifism and nonviolence in modern Islam. In its aims, scope, and methods, this project is the first of its kind and makes meaningful contributions both to scholarship and the public understanding of religion.This inter-disciplinary effort analyses explicitly Islamic forms of principled pacifism and nonviolence within their respective historical, theological, and hermeneutic contexts. Rather than arguing prescriptively for the existence of a single authoritative and coherent Islamic approach to pacifism and nonviolence, this study explores multiple approaches while relating them to one another and to the wider contexts of which they form a part. This includes both engagement with characteristically Islamic practices and hermeneutics on the one hand, and an awareness of inter-religious and inter-cultural influence, dialogue, and syncretism on the other. Case studies will range from notable historical figures (incl. Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi, Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Mahmoud Mohammad Taha) to influential contemporary scholars and activists (incl. Muhammad Abu-Nimer, Rabia Terri Harris, Ramin Jahanbegloo, Chaiwat Satha-Anand, Mustapha Barghouti).This project's descriptive approach recognises the multifarious roles played by principled pacifism and nonviolence in modern Islam in terms of their heterogeneous understandings, experiences, justification, and normative consequences. While thoroughgoing recognition of this multiplicity in itself represents a meaningful contribution to work in the field, this project goes further. Beyond recognising the broad gamut of Islamic pacifisms to be found in the modern period, this project develops a systematic typological account of principled pacifism and nonviolence as families of phenomena in modern Islam. To do so, this study draws upon the large and growing literature on the philosophy of pacifism and nonviolence. These philosophical debates provide a rigorous and richly elaborated set of conceptual, normative, and methodological tools which have to date been markedly under-represented in writing on peace and nonviolence in Islam. While this philosophical literature has historically engaged deeply with other religious traditions (particularly Christianity and the Dharmic traditions of South Asia), no comparably substantive dialogue with Islamic thought has to date been achieved. This project will help to redress this historical imbalance. It will both enrich the existing literatures on pacifism and nonviolence in Islamic studies by applying the rigorous frameworks developed by political and moral philosophers on the one hand, and open new avenues for philosophers to explore the insights and intellectual heritage of Islamic thought. As a result, this project builds capacity in qualitative research methodologies while encouraging inter-disciplinarily. Through its core activities and their dissemination, this project will furthermore develop the research community both by supporting new researchers and by integrating them with established networks.