Reenvisioning Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution in Islam

Qamar-ul Huda investigates the application of conflict resolution and peacebuilding in Muslim-majority communities. The book focuses on methods and practices by Muslim practitioners and shows how a faith-based commitment retains the capacity to empower effective social, political, and intellectual action that results in meaningful change.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Introduction Section I. Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution & Violence Chapter 1. Integrated Peace and Human Security Paradigms Chapter 2. Peacebuilding in a Globalized World Chapter 3. Rethinking Violence and Countering Violent Extremism Section II. Religion as an Influential Force Chapter 4.Religion and Civil Society Chapter 5. The Discourse of Islam and Peacebuilding Chapter 6. Living in Peace Chapter 7. Interfaith Dialogue and Challenges of Pluralism Section III. Peacebuilding with Peace Education Chapter 8. Peace Education Chapter 9. Islamic Peace Education Section IV. Ethics, Music, and the Sacred Chapter 10. Modern Islamic Ethics in a Global World Chapter 11: The Sacred, Memory, Music, and Peacebuilding Epilogue Glossary Bibliography

About the Author :
Qamar-ul Huda is the Michael E. Paul Distinguished Visiting Professor of International Affairs at the United States Naval Academy. He has previously served as Senior Policy Advisor for U.S. Department of State Secretary's Office for Religion and Global Affairs (S/RGA) where he focused on civil society, religious communities, and diplomacy with non-government organizations.

Review :
This book greatly enlarges our understanding of the possibilities of peacebuilding across the world. By demonstrating that Islamic traditions provide abundant resources for conflict resolution, this book enriches our efforts at intercultural peacemaking and augments our understanding of global culture. Today, many people see religion as the prime cause of the bitter conflicts in our troubled world—and sometimes not wrongly so. Yet religions can also offer solutions. In this highly informative and insightful book, Qamar-ul Huda shows the prospects of such religious peacemaking by referring to the rich heritage of the Islamic tradition. I applaud his goal and his bold thinking for an ethics of peacebuilding. This book is a must-read. Reenvisioning Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution in Islam fills an important gap in peace studies, conflict resolution, and human security. With compelling case studies, Huda argues that specifically Islamic approaches to these fields in relevant contexts would deepen a resonance with civil society actors and complement hard power diplomacy. Highly recommended. Huda invites activists, analysts, and policymakers working for peace and conflict resolution in Muslim countries to learn about local activists’ deeply influential and widely practiced new strategies. Based on research and professional experience, this book offers an alternative approach to peacebuilding and conflict resolution more on the social than political level. Qamar-ul Huda’s insightful work provides a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of Islamic peacebuilding principles and practices in the modern world. The book outlines a practical vision for fostering inner and communal peace amidst global conflict, highlighting real-world applications of peace education and conflict resolution strategies. This book is essential reading for both scholars and practitioners. This book does what many books in the field of peacebuilding fear to do: it acknowledges religion’s vital role in peace and conflict and legitimizes religious peacebuilding with research and analysis. Qamar-ul Huda provides a resource to the broader community, from peacebuilders to policymakers, that will transform their work to become more inclusive, expanding the peacebuilding toolkit. Qamar-ul Huda makes a forceful case that an understanding of Islamic peacebuilding strategies must be a central part of the international peacebuilding field. His analysis offers fresh perspectives and innovative tools for reconciliation, peace processes, national dialogues on the past. This is a very welcome addition to the growing literature on the role of religion in peacebuilding. In the face of relentless terrorism and propaganda from radical groups in Muslim-majority communities and unfettered headlines regularly portraying Islam as a violent tradition, this book examines diverse ways in which local Muslim peacebuilders design and implement programs based on nonviolence, reconciliation, community healing, and forging acceptance of others through peace education and their creative moral imagination. Huda’s challenge to the now-dominant peacebuilding field contributes in a rich and positive way to the ongoing pursuit of a more just, sustainable and peaceful world. The book explores many dimensions of Islamic peacebuilding’s essential contributions to the work for peace in a troubled world. Whether you're an activist, policymaker, or thought leader, Qamar-ul Huda's book delivers unmatched depth and richness, revolutionizing old peacebuilding tactics with spiritually rooted Islamic peacemaking solutions. This well-researched and insightful book is an essential guide that presents the timeless wisdom of the ages to resolve world conflicts using an enduring peace framework. This is a significant contribution to peace and methods of conflict resolution as recorded in the classical sources of Islam. Huda’s work explores the relevance of these Islamic methods and approaches to peacebuilding in contemporary circumstances where there are many misperceptions. This work is a bold vision to help readers understand peacebuilding from the perspectives of Islam. Qamar-ul Huda’s work is a must-read for the international affairs and donor community. There is often a mismatch between peacebuilding and conflict resolution educational endeavors and the reality on the ground in Muslim-majority societies. This engaging and astute analysis unpacks this conundrum and provides an alternate conceptual and practical framework. Reenvisioning Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution in Islam is a tour de force that will reshape the contours of peace studies. This meticulously researched and thought-provoking work challenges established narratives, offering a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted dimensions of Islamic peacebuilding. Huda, a master of the art of peace and diplomacy, skillfully blends scholarship, passion, and practicality to offer fresh perspectives on conflict resolution and peacebuilding, as demonstrated in this timely and captivating book. This book fills a crucial and needed gap in understanding the varieties of and complex dynamics of peacebuilding in Muslim countries. Huda successfully demonstrates the wide misconceptions often raised by Western scholars about the compatibility of religious diplomacy and peacebuilding with a paradigm of liberal objectivism toward creating equitable societies. This book is a comprehensive and insightful exploration of the role of religion in peacebuilding, with a focus on Islam and its diverse traditions. It combines rigorous scholarship with inspiring vision and deserves to be widely read and discussed by all who care about the constructive role of religion in the future of humanity.