War, Peace and International Relations in Islam: Muslim Scholars on Peace Accords with Israel - Softcover

Reiter, Dr. Yitzhak

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1502566990 ISBN 13: 9781502566997

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

The book presents and analyses fatwas - rulings of Islamic law, issued by religious sages and clerics on issues of war and peace in regard to the actual or future possibility of a peace agreement between Muslim states and Israel. The analysis provides an understanding of a number of phenomena that characterize the Muslim world today: Islamic law’s adaptation to changing political realities; the place of Muslim religious law in general and of the legal opinion (fatwa), regarding timely matters, in particular; the split between two major religious currents – one radical and one pragmatic, and the mechanisms for interpretation that each uses; the tensions between tradition and modernity; the relationship between religious decisions and interpretations of religious law on the one hand and ideological challenges, national and military, on the other hand; the role of the fatwa as an instrument of propaganda or publicity in an age of mass media; the gap between religious leaders (muftis) associated with the authorities and those who are independent, or between those who identify with the regime and those with the opposition.

An examination of the political fatwas sheds light on the dividing lines of ideological and religious disagreement in modern-day Muslim society and on the changing concept of relations between the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world, from the classic doctrine of jihad to a pragmatic approach of adapting the legal interpretation of the shari`a to the modern model of international relations.

About this title

Review:

"The rulings of Islamic law cited in this book serve as a textual and intellectual basis for the public discourse on peace between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab states. The book is a must for every scholar and student of the Middle East as well as for Israeli and Arab statesmen who deal with the question of peace on a daily basis." --Efraim Halevy, head of the Shasha Center for Strategic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and former head of the Mossad, Israel's national intelligence service

The rulings of Islamic law cited in this book serve as a textual and intellectual basis for the public discourse on peace between Israel and the Palestinians and Arab states. The book is a must for every scholar and student of the Middle East as well as for Israeli and Arab statesmen who deal with the question of peace on a daily basis. Efraim Halevy, head of the Shasha Center for Strategic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and former head of the Mossad, Israel s national intelligence service"

About the Author:

Yitzhak Reiter teaches in the Department of Political Science of Ashkelon Academic College and at the Conflict Studies Program of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Between 1978 and 1986 he served as the Deputy Advisor on Arab Affairs to three Israeli Prime Ministers. He participated in a number of Track 2 diplomacy teams with Palestinians and has been a visiting scholar throughout the world. He has published extensively, most recently War, Peace and International Relations: Muslim Scholars on Peace Accords with Israel.

About this edition

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1502566990
• ISBN 13: 9781502566997
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 206