Islamic Reformulations: Belief, Violence, Governance

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In this project, two fundamental research areas within the Global Uncertainties Programme (GU) are investigated. First, how might ideologies and beliefs contribute to "global uncertainty", and what response is appropriate if they do? Second, as some modern Muslim intellectual trends are viewed as creating "global uncertainty" through legitimising global terrorism and violence, what are the potential future directions for legitimate violence in Islamic thought?(1) GU Leadership activities: Thoughtcrimes and Dangerous BeliefsResearch in the first area cuts across GU, though the natural location is the GU Core Area "Ideologies/Beliefs". By exploring the complex relationship between ideological adherence and action, the project will sharpen the focus of the Ideologies/Beliefs Core Area. Is global security threatened by ideologies? If so, how might dangerous beliefs be identified and their contribution to global uncertainty be assessed and neutralised? Much recent academic research has addressed these questions; responses involve a range of disciplines from psychology, anthropology, law and political science, to history and religious studies. For Gleave, these questions formed the underlying research focus of the "Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Islamic Thought" (LIVIT) project; LIVIT research explores the intellectual justifications for violence within the Muslim tradition, and how these justifications have formed the basis for action by particular Muslim movements. In this project, research on the contested relationship between ideological adherence and action will be first synthesised by the team; then, due to the complex nature of these research questions, an interdisciplinary network of expertise, including both academics and practitioners, will be established. This network will meet for two focussed workshops in the project's first year; in year 2, a major high-profile public seminar, entitled "Thoughtcrimes", will be held drawing on the workshops' findings. This event will attract additional network participants (both academics and user/practitioners) to the project, leading to further research synergies and public-facing events in the final year. The research programme aims to have a major impact, raising the level of public debate around these core GU research imperatives. Through this activity, the Ideologies/Beliefs CA will acquire methodological rigour, but this rigour will feed into other CAs (in particular Terrorism and CBRN Weapons Proliferation), thereby enhancing GU's overall coherence. (2) Islamic Reformulations Research ProgrammeGleave's past work (LIVIT and elsewhere) has charted Muslim intellectual justifications for violence over time. This project will extend this research by focussing on the possible developments of Muslim thinking on violence within the current context by reference to past patterns of justification. The current context may be peculiar, but its elements are not unprecedented. The (so-called) Arab Spring has indeed created new possibilities for Islamism generally, and Islamic ideology specifically. The governments in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, which self-identify as "Islamic", are experiencing challenges; in each case the debated use of force forms a central element of the challenge. These developments are best understood in the context of previous Muslim notions of violence and its legitimacy; by examining them against this background, the current intellectual landscape of the Muslim world, and its potential ideological trajectories, can be better understood. Research will progress across the three years through research (both independent and collaborative) by Gleave and the researcher, intensive "sandpit" consultations with LIVIT's established expertise base, and a programme of bespoke events for the public and the practitioner/user communities. These activities are designed to raise public awareness and enhance the project's impact inside and outside academia.