Wahiduddin Khan and Peace in Contemporary Islamic Thought

Abstract

Despite a resurgence of the view that the religious sciences and Islam are antithetical to the secular sciences and to secularised thought respectively, a reading of contemporary Islamic literature on peace and war reveals a great deal of resonance with peace psychology. As in peace psychology, much of Islamic thought is concerned with the theory and praxis of peacemaking and peacebuilding, and with the prevention of collective and structural violence. In the interest of encouraging dialogue between the religious and secular sciences, this article introduces readers to contemporary Islamic scholarship focused on collective violence, peacemaking, and peacebuilding. Special attention is given to one contemporary Islamic scholar, Wahiduddin Khan, and his faith-based ideas on peace promotion. Wahiduddin Khan's works on peace, representative of a socio-normative approach to social justice, are examined alongside a reading of Islamic perspectives on knowledge and human nature. By way of conclusion, the parallels between Islamic and peace psychology perspectives are noted, and a brief call is made for a study of the influences of faith-based approaches in current peace initiatives across different regions of the world.