The Qur’anic monotheism and its opportunities for building empathy and peace

علوم قرآن و حدیث

Article 3, Volume 50, Issue 1 - Serial Number 100, September 2018, Pages 115-143   

Document Type: Research

DOI: 10.22067/naqhs.v50i1.27585

Authors

Rasool Akbari; Mahdi Hasanzadeh^*

Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

Abstract

The Qur’an has been examined as a relevant resource in the extensive literature regarding notions of violence, peace, and conflict resolution. It has often been suggested that the Qur’anic tradition can be applicable in building theoretical foundations for acts of peacebuilding and nonviolence. However, researchers have frequently referred to certain challenges of integration as regards the relationship between Islamic and Western realizations of peace. As a response, many scholars have underlined the necessity to utilize indigenous processes and opportunities of peacebuilding in Muslim culture. We know that monotheism (Tawhīd) is the most fundamental theme of the Qur’an and functions as the basis of all Islamic life. Hence, the present paper aims at extracting the monotheistic opportunities of the Qur’an for building empathy as an important concept in peace studies. Application of contemporary theories of peace in order to understand the Qur’anic opportunities suggested that monotheistic teachings tend to encourage some sense of integrity within human community necessary for developing harmonious relationships in the global milieu. In addition, a triangular pattern of human commonality was reproduced based on the monotheistic doctrines. This model seems to shape the Qur’anic geometry needed for building empathy and peace in human community.

Keywords

the Qur’an; Monotheism; empathy; Peace

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