Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Islamic thought

Lead Research Organisation: University of Exeter
Department Name: Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies

Abstract

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Description The primary findings of the Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Islamic Thought project (known as LIVIT) relate to the analysis of violence in Islamic thought, and how early and classical approaches to when and how violence is justified have persisted in the discourse of contemporary Islamist movement. The historical pedigree of these forms of argumentation provides researchers with an framework by which they can determine what is original and what is inherited in the ideological positions of Muslim intellectuals through history. Islamic thought is thought of broadly, including not only explicitly religious or philosophical writings, but also poetry, historical narrative, art and architecture. The argumentation techniques by which violence is justified in Islamic thought (through history) include both literalist and non-literalist readings of scripture, rhetorical techniques of pathos, desensitizing violence through the use of the past (where violence was supposedly "normalised") and the willful suspension of the established ethical schema in favour of a more "authentic" schema.

The three-part series of books on Violence in Islamic Thought are to be published by EUP (the first is already with the printers, the other two are are due for release in 2015). These three works bring together some of the major international experts on Islamic thought, with their analyses of violence in different areas of Islamic culture and thought. In addition to these resources produced by the project, Istvan Kristo-Nagy, the project's research fellow, and now Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, has produced a major study of the early Muslim thinker Ibn al-Muqaffa' and his views on governance, violence and heresy in early Islam. Robert Gleave, the Principal Investigator, published a monograph on literalism as a scriptural hermeneutic technique in Islamic law, since this is often a popular method employed by those legitimizing violence. His findings complicate the supposedly simple proposition of following the text literally, demonstrating that there is no such thing as a simple, plain or literal reading of scripture in Islamic thought. This, along with some particular studies of elements of Islamic thought (including martyrdom, jihad and the role of the Intellectual in Islamic society) constitute the primary findings and outputs from the project.

In the popular discourse around Islam, there is a constant connection between violence and the tradition of Islam and the various Muslim communities. How this has come about is not difficult to analyse - it is more challenging to examine Islamic thought itself, its history and its intellectual development. This requires advanced linguistic skills and historical training; skills which are unavailable to most commentators. The LIVIT project aimed to harness those skills to produce a deeper analysis of the question of how and when violence has been legitimised in the Muslim intellectual tradition.
Exploitation Route Within academia, we hope that the three-part book series published by EUP entitled Violence in Islamic Thought will influence how violence is treated in the field. There has been a tendency to view religious writings as separate from other cultural outputs, and to view the treatment of violence within those writings as definitive. This position we aim to undermine with a broader approach, revealing contours and dynamics missed by so many commentators in the past.

Outside of academia, our engagement with government departments and voluntary bodies has proved particularly productive and this will be deepened further as the Impact of the project continues through additional research in related projects. One sees the need for a deeper understanding of the ambivalent role of violence in Islamic thought in law enforcement (particularly related to terrorism), community relations (focusing on HMG's priorities for improving social cohesion) and foreign policy (with both non-Muslim and Muslim majority countries). Raising the level of public debate around Islam and the place of violence within its intellectual tradition is a major priority, and one to which the project, long-term, hopes it has made a contribution.
Sectors Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
URL http://www.livitproject.net
 
Description Funded as part of the Global Uncertainties project, the Legitimate and Illegitimate Violence in Islamic Thought (LIVIT) project was not solely supported by the ESRC, but also by other research councils (particularly the AHRC). Many of the AHRC's criteria are, then, also relevant to the impact created through the LIVIT project. The project team was made up of Robert Gleave (PI), Istvan Kristo-Nagy (RF), Bianka Speidl (Research Student) and Abdelghani Mimouni (research Students). LIVIT impact can be categorised under the following headings: 1. Providing training and awareness to public sector (including the military and security services) and NGO service providers in the field of Islam and the legitimisation of violence. The project team have, together and separately, organised and participated in training public service personnel in both the UK and elsewhere. In the UK this included training days for Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Special Branch, Amnesty International and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In the US, they participated in training events for (amongst others) Virginia Military Academy, United States Naval Academy Annapolis and the US security services in Washington. 2. Contributing to the raising of the level of public debate on Islam and violence, ensuring it is informed by high quality research. The project team developed their own blog on matters in the news relating to Islamic thought and violence - this was posted on the website. Some of these were picked up international media providers (e.g. Kristo-Nagy's piece on the Egyptian revolution reprinted on the Montreal Review). Gleave in particular appeared on various media outlets discussing Islam, violence and sectarianism (including BBC R4 (In Our Time) on three occasions discussing matters relating to sectarianism, Islamic law and Iran). As part of the Global Uncertainties team of fellows, Gleave also participated in school debates, visiting both secondary and primary schools in the South West to promote a more nuanced understanding of matters relating to Islam amongst school-age children. 3. Providing expert advice to policy makers and practitioners in the field and on specific cases. Within the UK, Gleave has acted as advisor to police forces across the country (in particular Manchester, Devon and Cornwall and South Yorkshire), providing expert advice on material relating not only to terrorism but also domestic violence and Islam. He has also part of the Advice Group on Non-violent Extremism in the Department of Communities and Local Government in the Home Office, which met regularly during the life of the project. Gleave was also provided expert advice to two defence teams related to terrorism offences, examining allegedly "terrorist" material and documentation. 4. Developing a network of policy makers, practitioners and academics working in the area, such that knowledge transfer might be more easily facilitated. The LIVIT conferences and workshops provided excellent opportunities for researchers to meet with invited practitioners and research users. The conferences (four in all) happened annually in Exeter during the life of the project, and there were thre workshops on specific themes, and one major international conference on Islam in Central Asia, convened jointly with the Arab Media and Research Institute in Cairo. Participants included not only expert academics but also members of CID Special Branch of three national police forces, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, think-tanks and campaigning groups (such as Cage and Chatham House), counter-terrorism research units (on the a European and UK national level) and solicitors and legal researchers in the area of Islam-related terrorism offences. The conferences not only provided practitioners with access to the latest research by leading figures in the field, but also provided opportunities for new research partnerships to be developed between researchers and practitioners attending. We know of a number of substantial subsequent practitioner-researcher partnerships which developed out of the conferences and workshops. These would not have happened without the project providing the forum in which such partnerships could develop.
Sector Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
Impact Types Cultural,Societal