Peace Movements in Islam

Muslim thinkers on the nature of peace have contributed to many modern movements, including Sufism in West Africa, the Gandhist coalition in colonial India, anti-Apartheid activism in South Africa, and the 2011 youth revolts of the Arab Spring. Yet the dramatic events of September 11, the attacks on Paris in 2015, the ISIS mini-state in Mesopotamia, and movements such as the Taliban and Boko Haram have led to an imbalance in the field, wherein scholars and journalists have focused relentlessly on the intersection of Islam and violence. Some observers, moreover, have attributed small violent movements to some sort of Islamic essence, painting the whole religion with the brush of extremism.

The chapters in this book counter this narrative by exploring the rich discursive tradition in Islam, the religion of a fifth of mankind, including peace-building in the Qur'an and Islamic scripture, the theological and juridical traditions, Muslim ethics and mysticism (Sufism), political thought, and fundamentalism. Focussing first on the pacific implications of the concept of jihad (struggle), and the importance of ?abr (forebearence) in Islamic thought, the book tracks the global prevalence of peace movements in Islam by examining the West African Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba, founder of the Sufi order the Muridiyya which advocated peaceful opposition in the face of European colonialism. It also examines the surprising importance of peace in the thought of the Islamic fundamentalist Rashid Rida, as well as contemporary Islamist movements in Egypt. Together, these case studies provide an introduction to Islamic Peace Studies, with appeal to students, scholars and policymakers.