Different Muslim movements through history had linkedpacifism withMuslim theology.[1][2][3] However,warfare has been an integral part of Islamic history both for the defense and thespread of the faith since the time ofMuhammad.[4][5][6][7]
The teachings in theQur'an andHadith allow for wars to be fought if they can be justified.[8] According to James Turner Johnson, there is no normative tradition of pacifism in Islam.[9]
Prior to theHijra travel Muhammad struggled non-violently against his opposition in Mecca.[10] It was not until after the exile that theQuranic revelations began to adopt a moreoffensive perspective.[11] Fighting in self-defense is not only legitimate but considered obligatory upon Muslims, according to the Qur'an. The Qur'an, however, says that should the enemy's hostile behavior cease, then the reason for engaging the enemy also lapses.[12]
Prior to theHijra travel,Muhammad strugglednon-violently against his opposition in Mecca,[10] providing a basis for Islamic pacifist schools of thought such as someSufi orders and theAhmadiyya movement.[14]Warfare in defense of the faith has also been part ofMuslim history since the time of Muhammad,[9] withviolence mentioned inQuranic revelations after their exile from Mecca.[15]
In the 13th century,Salim Suwari, a philosopher in Islam, came up with a peaceful approach to Islam known as theSuwarian tradition.[1][2]
The Senegalese sufi sheykhAmadou Bamba (1850–1927) spearheaded a non-violent resistance movement against French colonialism in West Africa. Amadou Bamba repeatedly rejected calls for jihad against the Europeans, preaching hard work, piety and education as the best means to resist the oppression and exploitation of his people.
The earliest massive non-violent implementation ofcivil disobedience was brought about byEgyptians against British occupation in theEgyptian Revolution of 1919.[16]Zaghloul Pasha, considered the mastermind behind this massive civil disobedience, was a native middle-class,Azhar graduate, political activist, judge, parliamentary and ex-Cabinet Minister whose leadership brought Muslim and Christian communities together as well as women into the massive protests. Along with his companions ofWafd Party, who started campaigning in 1914, they have achieved independence of Egypt and a first constitution in 1923.
According to Margaret Chatterjee,Mahatma Gandhi was influenced bySufi Islam. She states that Gandhi was acquainted with the SufiChishti Order, whoseKhanqah gatherings he attended, and was influenced by Sufi values such as humility, selfless devotion, identification with the poor, belief in human brotherhood, the oneness of God, and the concept ofFana.[17] David Hardiman notes that Gandhi's garb was similar that of Sufipirs andfakirs, which was also noted byWinston Churchill when he compared Gandhi to a fakir.[18] According to Amitabh Pal, Gandhi followed a strand of Hinduism that bore similarities to Sufi Islam.[19] During theIndian independence movement, several Muslim organizations played a key role in nonviolent resistance against British colonial rule, including Khān Abdul Ghaffār Khān and his followers, as well as theAll-India Muslim League led byMuhammad Ali Jinnah.
Khān Abdul Ghaffār Khān (6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988) (Pashto:خان عبدالغفار خان), nicknamed Bāchā Khān (Pashto:باچا خان, lit. "king ofchiefs") or Pāchā Khān (پاچا خان), was aPashtunindependence activist against the rule of theBritish Raj. He was a political and spiritual leader known for hisnonviolent opposition, and a lifelongpacifist and devoutMuslim.[20] A close friend ofMohandas Gandhi, Bacha Khan was nicknamed the "Frontier Gandhi" inBritish India.[21] Bacha Khan founded theKhudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God") movement in 1929, whose success triggered a harsh crackdown by the colonial authorities against him and his supporters, and they experienced some of the most severe repression of all Indian independence activists.[22] Khan strongly opposed theAll-India Muslim League's demand for thepartition of India.[23][24] When theIndian National Congress declared its acceptance of the partition plan without consulting the Khudai Khidmatgar leaders, he felt very sad and told the Congress "you have thrown us to the wolves."[25] After partition, Badshah Khan pledged allegiance toPakistan and demanded an autonomous "Pashtunistan" administrative unit within the country, but he was frequently arrested by the Pakistani government between 1948 and 1954. In 1956, he was again arrested for his opposition to theOne Unit program, under which the government announced to merge the former provinces ofWest Punjab,Sindh,North-West Frontier Province,Chief Commissioner's Province of Balochistan, andBaluchistan States Union into one single polity ofWest Pakistan. Badshah Khan also spent much of the 1960s and 1970s either in jail or in exile. Upon his death in 1988 inPeshawar under house arrest, following his will, he was buried at his house inJalalabad,Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of mourners attended his funeral, marching through theKhyber Pass from Peshawar to Jalalabad, although it was marred by two bomb explosions killing 15 people. Despite the heavy fighting at the time, both sides of theSoviet–Afghan War, thecommunist army and themujahideen, declared a ceasefire to allow his burial.[26]
The Palestinian activistNafez Assaily has been notable for hisbookmobile service inHebron dubbed "Library on Wheels for Nonviolence and Peace",[27] and hailed as a "creative Muslim exponent of non-violent activism".[28]
TheFirst Intifada began in 1987 initially as a nonviolentcivil disobedience movement.[29][30] It consisted ofgeneral strikes,boycotts ofIsraeli Civil Administration institutions in theGaza Strip and theWest Bank, an economicboycott consisting of refusal to work inIsraeli settlements on Israeli products, refusal to pay taxes, refusal to drive Palestinian cars with Israeli licenses,graffiti, andbarricading.[31][32] Pearlman attributes the non-violent character of the uprising to the movement's internal organization and its capillary outreach to neighborhood committees that ensured that lethal revenge would not be the response even in the face of Israeli state repression.[33]
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