Violence in Islamic thought from the Qur'ān to the Mongols
By: edited by Robert Gleave and István Kristó-Nagy
Contributors: Kristó Nagy, István, 1974-
Series: Legitimate and illegitimate violence in Islamic thought -- volume 1; Legitimate and illegitimate violence in Islamic thought -- v. 1.
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Published: 2015
Place of publication: Edinburgh
Language: eng; ara
Number of pages: 278
ISBN-13: 9780748694235
Copyright date: 2015
Subjects: Case studies; Violence; Islam and politics; Islamic fundamentalism; Islam
Description: From its earliest times, Islam has had an ambivalent relationship with violence. For many early Muslim authors, violence was a simple fact of life. In the Qur'an and in the later Muslim tradition, some forms of violence are condemned, while some, including the waging of holy warfare, are extolled. What is clear from the early Islamic period is that there is no single Muslim attitude towards violence. Instead, there were many different portrayals and evaluations of violence in theology, law, poetry and prose. In this collection, you will find out how Muslims processed violence as a social fact and how they interpreted its role in the early Muslim community. This background is essential to understanding current Muslim thinking about when violence is, and is not, justified.
Notes: 'The Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Islamic Thought Project (www.livitproject.net) funded by the RCUK Global Uncertainties Programme, administerd through the Economic and Social Research Council' (title-page).

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.