Violence in Islamic Thought from the Qurʾan to the Mongols

From Its Earliest Times, Islam Has Had An Ambivalent Relationship With Violence. For Many Early Muslim Authors, Violence Was A Simple Fact Of Life. In The Qur'an And In The Later Muslim Tradition, Some Forms Of Violence Are Condemned, While Some, Including The Waging Of Holy Warfare, Are Extolled. What Is Clear From The Early Islamic Period Is That There Is No Single Muslim Attitude Towards Violence. Instead, There Were Many Different Portrayals And Evaluations Of Violence In Theology, Law, Poetry And Prose. In This Collection, You Will Find Out How Muslims Processed Violence As A Social Fact And How They Interpreted Its Role In The Early Muslim Community. This Background Is Essential To Understanding Current Muslim Thinking About When Violence Is, And Is Not, Justified. Introduction / Istvan T. Kristo-nagy And Robert Gleave; Part I. Jihaad And Conquest: Attitudes To Violence Against The External Enemies Of The Muslim Community. The Question Of Divine Help In The Jihad / Dominique Urvoy -- Reading The Qur'an On Jihad: Two Early Exegetical Texts / Andrew Rippin -- Ibn Al-mubarak's Kitab Al-jihad And Early Renunciant Literature / Christopher Melchert -- Shaping Memory Of The Conquests: The Case Of Tustar / Sarah Bowen Savant -- Part Ii. The Challenged Establishment: Attitudes To Violence Against The State And In Its Defence Within The Muslim Community. Who Instigated Violence: A Rebelling Devil Or A Vengeful God? / Istvan T. Kristo-nagy -- Attitudes To The Use Of Fire In Executions In Late Antiquity And Early Islam: The Burning Of Heretics And Rebels In Late Umayyad Iraq / Andrew Marsham -- 'abbasid State Violence And The Execution Of Ibn 'a'isha / John A. Nawas -- The Sultan And The Defiant Prince In Hunting Competition: Questions Of Legitimacy In Hunting Episodes Of Ṭabaristan / Miklos Sarkozy -- Part Iii. Lust And Flesh: Attitudes To Violence Against The Defenceless, Intra-communitarian Violence By Non-state Actors -- Violence Against Women In Andalusi Historical Sources (third/ninth-seventh/thirteenth Centuries) / Maribel Fierro -- Sexual Violence In Verse: The Case Of Ji'thin, Al-farazdaq's Sister / Geert Jan Van Gelder -- Bandits, Michael Cooperson -- Eating People Is Wrong: Some Eyewitness Accounts Of Cannibalism In Arabic Sources / Zoltan Szombathy -- Animals Would Follow Shafi'ismz; Legitimate And Illegitimate Violence To Animals In Medieval Islamic Thought / Sarra Tlili. Edited By Robert Gleave And István T. Kristó-nagy. 'the Legitimate And Illegitimate Violence In Islamic Thought Project (www.livitproject.net) Funded By The Rcuk Global Uncertainties Programme, Administerd Through The Economic And Social Research Council' (title-page). Includes Bibliographical References (pages 245-271) And Indexes. Text In English With Quotations In Arabic, Accompanied By English Translations.