Ambivalent Universalism? Jus ad Bellum in Modern Islamic Legal Discourse

Jihad in a World of Sovereigns: Law, Violence, and Islam in the Bosnia Crisis

“…To the extent major scholars of Islamic law engage jihad, it is mostly at a theoretical level and largely an exercise in reinterpreting the doctrine to render it broadly consistent with the existing state system (Hashmi 2012, 338; Samour 2012, 553–54). Even self‐proclaimed Islamic states such as Iran and Saudi Arabia do not conduct military operations within the juridical framework of jihad, even if they occasionally reference jihad as a rhetorical flourish to provide broad legitimization of their actions (March and Modirzadeh 2013, 369). Given the state reconstitution of Islamic law and the deepening of governmental power over many Muslim scholars, it is unsurprising that theorization of jihad in recent decades has often taken place outside the major schools of Islamic jurisprudence.…”

“… 3 Compatibility, of course, is often framed as a one‐way relationship, in which only Islamic law is the object of reform. “There seems to be a sense underlying much contemporary scholarship that any acknowledgement of incompatibility [with international law] immediately signifies a failure on the part of Islam” (March and Modirzadeh 2013, 387). …”

Faith inspiration in a secular world: An Islamic perspective on humanitarian principles

“…This reality is reflected in comments by some working on relating IHL and Islamic jurisprudence which acknowledge that "[s]ome of it is very instrumentalist", where actors are looking for specific verses to assist them with specific scenarios (being kidnapped, for example), 101 and that Islamic law does not simply "unlock the door" to particular outcomes. 102 Humanitarian agencies providing large-scale assistance continue to be viewed, for the time being, as coming predominantly from the global North, and the options for using approaches that do not instrumentalize religion to support existing approaches will remain limited by this. For those actors that emerge from Muslim communities, their ability to shape the narrative remains restricted by the bulk of their donor funds also coming from the same system that remains close to a secular ideology.…”

Islam and the Islamic State's Magazine,Dabiq

“…Other verses of the Qur'an (also translated in Table 4) that are often considered to be essential accompaniments to the martial passages set out in Table 3 include, amongst others, an-Nisa : 94 (highlighted in March and Modirzadeh (2013, 375) and a sh-Shura : 40 which Naveed Sheikh cites as demonstrating “the moral superiority of patient forbearance and forgiveness” (2015, 290). Commentaries on the Qur'an have also frequently pointed to the importance of al-Baqara: 190 (Amjad-Ali 2009, 246).…”