section 4

• wars can have many causes

  • religion
  • self-defence
  • tribalism- fight for independence
  • honour
  • greed/economics
  • retaliation
• just wars

  • conditions for a war to be necessary:
  • good reason
  • all other options have been tried- peaceful
  • started by a proper authority
  • reasonable chance of success
  • not bard harm caused by fighting the war
  • conditions for fighting a war justly:
  • discrimination- no targeted people
  • proportionality- no harm to people
  • religious and non-religious people- situation ethics- to decide if a war is just and peace
• be peaceful- islam

  • qur'an- respect others that don't respect you- judgement day- allah sees everything
  • bring about peace- prayer, campaigns or by working with people from other religions to create peace in the community
  • muslims disagree with pacifism- war justified in the qur'an- fight in self-defence- only do what's absolutely necessary
  • some are against all war and violence
  • islam teaches people to protest against injustice, but not in violent ways
• just war- military jihad:

  • jihad- striving, struggle
  • lesser jihad- struggle to improve the world- war should only be used as a last resort
  • qur'an- people can fight
  • harb al-maqadis- holy war- defends islam- justified by God
  • sunni and shi'a muslims similar views
  • shi'a- one of the ten obligatory acts
  • jihad allowed for defensive purposes
• military jihad- just war theory- conditions

  • brings freedom
  • restores peace
  • combats oppression or right injustice
  • must be in the name of allah, according to his well, declared by a religious leader
  • if an islamic country has been assualted, then war is justified
  • many muslims believe jihad must not be used to colonise, suppress or impose islam on non-believers
• just war- military jihad

  • conditions for battle- no women, children, elderly, people killed and no trees or inhabited places destroyed
  • muslims must accept if opposition wants to end war
  • fight for allah- rewarded in afterlife
  • muslims believe just wars can no longer exist
  • muslims don't consider islamic terrorists, who use jihad to be justified, to be real muslims
• weapons of mass destruction

  • can destroy large areas of land and/or lots of people all at once
  • indiscriminate
  • chemical and biological weapons- banned by international law- war crime
• for possessing nuclear weapons

  • deterrent to ensure peace
  • utilitarian perspective- brings best balance of positive and negative results
  • usa bombed hiroshima and nagasaki in japan in ww2- thought they saved the most lives overall and ended the war faster
  • defence
• against possessing nuclear weapons

  • costly- funds could be better spent
  • sanctity of life- the widespread suffering
  • just war theory- argues that indiscriminate nature is not just
  • earth is god's creation- destroy what god trusted humans to take care of
• weapons of mass destruction

  • for- athiests- don't believe their actions will be judged
  • against- athiests- people only live one life on earth
  • humanists- against- huge numbers of people suffer
• religious believers- against wmds

  • don't follow the conditions of lesser jihad- innocent people would get hurt of killed
  • pakistan (a muslim country) has nuclear weapons, but other muslim countries have come out against possessing wmds
• working for peace

  • must act to create peace
  • working for organisations- offer relief to war-torn areas
  • religious charities campaign for help for groups in conflict to rebuild their relationship
  • create peace indirectly- donating money to charitable causes, protests and demonstrations against conflicts
  • ensure equal human rights- helps avoid conflict
• forgiveness- muhammad did

  • maintaining justice to be a part of their role as 'khalifah'-vice-regents for allah's creations
  • allah and the prophet muhammad are forgiving
  • work to restore peace
  • reconcile fractured relationships- prophet muhammad did
• world peace

  peace is the absence of conflict and violence
• peace

  everyone in the world lives in harmony- no conflict
• islam means

  peace
• organisations like united nations (UN)- WW2 


  work to find peaceful solutions to disputes- to end all wars, all over the world
• islam

  encourages believers to work towards achieving peace in the world
• pacifist

  someone who has strongly held beliefs that war and physical violence are wrong and believe that all disputes should be settled peacefully
• pacifists in britain

  • who refused to fight in world wars
  • conscientious objectors
  • went to prison rather than go against their beliefs
  • prisoners of conscience
  • suffered humiliation in prison, and after they'd been released
• different degrees of pacifism

  • people are against violence under any circumstances
  • others may disagree with violence- understand that sometimes violence is the least horrible option
• protests

  should be peaceful
• violence has many different forms

  • crime
  • protests
  • terrorism
  • war
• crime is a source of violence

  assault or murder
• violence can occur during protests

  many protests occur peacefully, some protests become violent if protesters don't feel their views are being heard
• protest

  when a group of people join together to campaign for a cause they support
• terrorism

  when a person or group deliberately seeks to cause fear and inflict suffering on other people through violence, sometimes for political reasons
• attack on the world trade center

  • terrorist organisation- al Qaeda in new york in september 2001
  • worst terrorist attack in history
• war 


  when two or more groups or countries fight one another
• war

  usually decided by governments
• war and terrorism have caused many deaths

  • religious people believe in the sanctity of life argument- life is given by god and is sacred, so war and terrorism are in direction conflict with this
  • terrorism- death
• peacemaking

  finding peace and resolving conflicts is important to muslims
• justice, forgiveness and reconciliation

  are key to peacemaking
• justice

  idea of each person getting what they deserve- maintaining what's right
• justice- peacemaking

  • god is just
  • treats and judges people fairly
  • he created everyone equally
  • leads to a fairer society
  • people feel they're treated equally- more chance of peace
• forgiveness 


  when a person stops feeling hurt by something another person has done to them
• forgiveness- peacemaking

  • another one of god's characteristics is that he is merciful
  • he forgives people for the things they've done wrong
  • as god is merciful towards them, believers feel that they should forgive other people, and that forgiveness is the only way true peace can be achieved
• reconciliation

  bringing people together that previously were in conflict to make peace
• muslims can give money to support peacemaking

  • muslims believe it's important to try to create a peaceful world- it is a part of their role as khalifah
• individuals can help to make the world more equal through zakah

  • 2.5% of their yearly savings should be given to the needy, no matter how rich or poor they are
  • zakah could be donated to a number of different charities which are involved in peacemaking and supporting victims of war