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M. Mir: The Starting Point of International Affairs
Written by Dr. Mustansir Mir, Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Youngstown State University, US
Monday, January 2, 2006
The very name of Islam means peace. According to the modern Egyptian scholar Sheikh Muhammad Abu Zahrah, peace and not war should be Muslim society’s starting point in international relations. Muslims, he says, should look at peace not only in the general sense but also in the narrow political sense, because that is the implication of the Arabic word silm in the applied area of international matters. Second, neither Islamic political theory nor Muslim historical conduct exclude completely the possibility of war.
Muslims have a problem in their hands. I use the term problem in mathematical sense of something that needs to be solved by clear thinking. How do Muslims find solutions that are both authentic from a religious standpoint and also relevant to modern life situations?
The solution of all great issues in Islamic history received a stamp of approval from the great Muslim legal mind — individuals who on the one hand have possessed the highest intellectual caliber and at the same time were known as models of piety.
Peace is a complex notion. It does not simply mean the absence of hostilities. It has several aspects or dimensions, and it is a very rich concept in Islamic law and Islamic theory. I would like to propose that a conference of representative Muslims scholars of the law in the wider sense to take on the many issues that surround the concept of peace.
[Source: Islamic Perspectives on Peace. Tarrytown, NY: Universal Peace Federation, 2006]