Islamic Peace Paradigms

Journal of Third World Studies, Fall 2007 by Haque, Muhammad M

Bangura, Abdul Karim (ed). Islamic Peace Paradigms. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2005, 129 pp.

From the time humankind's inception into the earthly life, then treading onto the dawn of civilization through passing all its tracks, and finally accessing the modern era, there was no single segment in this time span which can be identified as free of horror, cruelty, terror, oppression, and frightful moments, either in an absolute sense or simple imagery portrayal. While these fearful words have a commonality in terms of thematic meanings, they have distinct connotations with specific metaphysical underpinnings contingent upon the users' motive, drive, and ultimate action. The powerless ones have used them in absolute as well as in imagery forms to simply survive to avoid the aggression from the power structure, while the powerful ones utilized them in both forms not only to survive, but to survive and thrive to their best, crushing every thing else around at any cost possible.

In this book, the editor/author Bangura, along with seven other coauthors embark on a journey to rebuttal, to repudiate numerous images labeled onto the religion of Islam identified mostly by the West as oppressive, male dominant, undemocratic, fascistic, inhuman, and philosophically terror based in achieving various goals by its adherents as opposed to adopting peaceful means. The authors use much of their efforts to make a distinction between Islam in its ideal form opposing the negative perceptions originating from the powerful stakeholders benefiting out of it, and Islamic actions opposing the few Muslims who truly do not represent the truth. Interestingly enough, they also are boldly supporting actions defined as harmful if used as a last resort to achieve peace.

Following the initial work by Mualim Abdul Aziz Said, and the analysis of the Quranic verses and Prophetic traditions accompanied by historical evidence, the authors are not only presenting Islam as a religion of peace in simple idea and a rebuttal for the sake of it, but also as a distinct paradigm composed of clearly articulated sub-perspectives or sub-paradigms in the way Kuhn conceptualized the term paradigm in his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). According to the authors, the Islamic peace paradigm is so unique that it shifts away from all the existing ones, standing as the most powerful one capable of responding to a simple crisis in a family to a much larger conflict in the international arena including responding to a collapsing physical environment to restructure to its possible homeostasis.

In the introductory chapter, the editor/author Bangura lays out the central theme as highlighted before. Next, in five additional chapters. Bangura and other contributors further explain the processes to solving conflicts at any level- from a minute individual or small group level to crises involving multinational stake holders- through five systematized Islamic means or subparadigms, each acting as a perspective with clear philosophy, theory and method as conceptualized by Kuhn and envisioned and embedded in Islam fourteen hundred years ago with later reformism and renewalism.

First, the idea of coercion is presented as has been used by many at different levels throughout human history either for justice or for destruction leading to some tangible or intangible gain. In Islam it can be used only as a last resort for the sake of defense and as a pre-emption realizing that without such action justice will disappear followed by the demise of peace, with the assumption that few can be dispensable for the greater good of the humanity and its mass survival. second, every society is based on a set of rules and regulations in the form of written and unwritten laws to guide humankind to achieve its collective good and sometimes to protecting the rights of various sub-cultural groups as long as they do not infringe upon the larger system and culminate the system into a deceased form. Along this perspective, Islam has laws virtually for every organic and inorganic being or animate and inanimate object for their existence to maintain harmony from the subatomic particles to the largest elements conceivable in the cosmos. Third, the Islamic system initiates to achieve peace using both highly mandatory, highly optional, and actions and thoughts in between, in the form of justice, charity, wisdom, forgiveness and compassion embedded in various norms and general advice, which are nonviolent in nature. Fourth, in addition to negotiation, pure mediation, power mediation and arbitration, Islam brings the concepts of conciliation, consultation, interactive problem-solving strategy and conflict transformation by recognizing the rights of different tribes, nations and religious groups to bring social order as these processes fit to the larger scheme of peace. These processes fall under the communicative approach. The last perspective deals with the Sufi approach of peace through love in which attempts are made to bring a metamorphosis in the individual and the community focusing on spirituality, consciousness, culture and education. This approach is founded on the principle of actualization of beneficial properties purely for the sake of the Supreme Creator through internal experience transformation of the heart.