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Nine. War and Peace in Islam

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Islamic Political Ethics
This chapter is in the book Islamic Political Ethics
9War and Peace in IslamBASSAM TIBIIslam is a system of moral obligations derived from divine revelationand based on the belief that human knowledge can never be ade-quate. It follows that believers must act on the basis of Allah’s knowl-edge, which is the exclusive source of truth for Muslims. Ethics inIslam, though concerned with man’s actions, always relates these ac-tions to the word of God as revealed to the Prophet, Muhammad, andas collected in the Quran. This understanding of ethics is shared byall Muslims, Sunni or Shii, Arab or non-Arab.1In this chapter, I first identify the Quranic conceptions of war andpeace that are based on this ethical foundation. I then consider sev-eral Islamic traditions pertaining to the grounds for war, the conductof war, and the proper relation of Islam to the modern internationalsystem. I conclude that the Islamic worldview is resistant to changeand that there are many obstacles to the development of an ethic ofwar and peace compatible with the circumstances of the modern age.The basic scriptures of Islam, the Quran and the hadith, are writtenin Arabic. My effort here to understand Islamic thinking on war andpeace focuses on the Quran and on interpretations of Islamic tradi-tion in contemporary Sunni Islam. Because the most important trendsin Sunni Islam have been occurring in the Arab world (all Sunni Mus-lims are, for example, bound by the fatwas of the Islamic al-Azharuniversity in Cairo), my references to the Arabic Quran, to the teach-ings of al-Azhar, and to authoritative sources for Islamic fundamen-talism reflect not Arab centrism but the realities of Islam.Conceptions of War and PeaceThe Quran chronicles the establishment of Islam in Arabia betweenthe years 610 and 632 c.e. In early Meccan Islam, before the foundingof the first Islamic state at Medina, in a Bedouin culture hostile tostate structures, one fails to find Quranic precepts related to war andpeace. Most Meccan verses focus on spiritual issues. Following theirexodus (hijra) from Mecca in 622, the Prophet and his supporters es-

9War and Peace in IslamBASSAM TIBIIslam is a system of moral obligations derived from divine revelationand based on the belief that human knowledge can never be ade-quate. It follows that believers must act on the basis of Allah’s knowl-edge, which is the exclusive source of truth for Muslims. Ethics inIslam, though concerned with man’s actions, always relates these ac-tions to the word of God as revealed to the Prophet, Muhammad, andas collected in the Quran. This understanding of ethics is shared byall Muslims, Sunni or Shii, Arab or non-Arab.1In this chapter, I first identify the Quranic conceptions of war andpeace that are based on this ethical foundation. I then consider sev-eral Islamic traditions pertaining to the grounds for war, the conductof war, and the proper relation of Islam to the modern internationalsystem. I conclude that the Islamic worldview is resistant to changeand that there are many obstacles to the development of an ethic ofwar and peace compatible with the circumstances of the modern age.The basic scriptures of Islam, the Quran and the hadith, are writtenin Arabic. My effort here to understand Islamic thinking on war andpeace focuses on the Quran and on interpretations of Islamic tradi-tion in contemporary Sunni Islam. Because the most important trendsin Sunni Islam have been occurring in the Arab world (all Sunni Mus-lims are, for example, bound by the fatwas of the Islamic al-Azharuniversity in Cairo), my references to the Arabic Quran, to the teach-ings of al-Azhar, and to authoritative sources for Islamic fundamen-talism reflect not Arab centrism but the realities of Islam.Conceptions of War and PeaceThe Quran chronicles the establishment of Islam in Arabia betweenthe years 610 and 632 c.e. In early Meccan Islam, before the foundingof the first Islamic state at Medina, in a Bedouin culture hostile tostate structures, one fails to find Quranic precepts related to war andpeace. Most Meccan verses focus on spiritual issues. Following theirexodus (hijra) from Mecca in 622, the Prophet and his supporters es-

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Foreword: Of Theology and Diplomacy vii
  4. Preface xi
  5. PART I: STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY
  6. One. Civil Society and Government in Islam 3
  7. Two. Perspectives on Islam and Civil Society 38
  8. Three. Alternative Conceptions of Civil Society: A Reflective Islamic Approach 56
  9. PART II: BOUNDARIES AND DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
  10. Four. Islamic Perspectives on Territorial Boundaries and Autonomy 79
  11. Five. Religion and the Maintenance of Boundaries: An Islamic View 102
  12. PART III: PLURALISM AND INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY
  13. Six. Islam and Ethical Pluralism 115
  14. Seven. The Scope of Pluralism in Islamic Moral Traditions 135
  15. Eight. Islamic Ethics in International Society 148
  16. PART IV: WAR AND PEACE
  17. Nine. War and Peace in Islam 175
  18. Ten. Interpreting the Islamic Ethics of War and Peace 194
  19. Glossary 217
  20. Contributors 219
  21. Index 221
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https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400825370.175

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Foreword: Of Theology and Diplomacy vii
  4. Preface xi
  5. PART I: STATE AND CIVIL SOCIETY
  6. One. Civil Society and Government in Islam 3
  7. Two. Perspectives on Islam and Civil Society 38
  8. Three. Alternative Conceptions of Civil Society: A Reflective Islamic Approach 56
  9. PART II: BOUNDARIES AND DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE
  10. Four. Islamic Perspectives on Territorial Boundaries and Autonomy 79
  11. Five. Religion and the Maintenance of Boundaries: An Islamic View 102
  12. PART III: PLURALISM AND INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY
  13. Six. Islam and Ethical Pluralism 115
  14. Seven. The Scope of Pluralism in Islamic Moral Traditions 135
  15. Eight. Islamic Ethics in International Society 148
  16. PART IV: WAR AND PEACE
  17. Nine. War and Peace in Islam 175
  18. Ten. Interpreting the Islamic Ethics of War and Peace 194
  19. Glossary 217
  20. Contributors 219
  21. Index 221
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