A 1998 CHOICE Outstanding Academic BookA comparison of the
religious and cultural traditions of Islam and the Christian West
on the meaning of war for religion."An impressive work, which
contributes to the needed dialogue between these two cultures and
religions. Highly recommended." ChoiceIn this book James Turner
Johnson explores the cultural traditions of the Christian West and
Islam, in an effort to encourage a constructive dialogue on the
nature of war for religion. No other issue highlights the
difference between these two cultures more clearly or with more
relevance for their interrelations throughout history and in the
contemporary world. In the West, war for religion is most often
dismissed as a relic of the past, belonging to a time less rational
and less civilized than our own. From this perspective, Muslims who
advocate holy war are seen as religious fanatics who are supporting
criminal and terrorist activity. By contrast, war for religion has
an honored place in the Islamic world, associated with a perennial
religious requirement: striving in the path of faith by heart,
tongue, and hands. This striving is designated by the now familiar
term jihad. In fact, striving by the sword is the "lesser" jihad,
and many Muslims themselves are troubled by reductionistic appeals
to jihad to justify terrorism, revolution, and anti-western
activity. According to Johnson, for there to be any dialogue
between Islam and the West we must understand that in the West
religion and politics are placed in separate spheres, while
normative Islam regards religion as properly integral to the
political order. From this perspective religious concerns should
have a place in statecraft, including the useof military
force.Three questions form the heart of Johnsons inquiry: Is there
a legitimate justification for war for religion? What authority is
required? What is the proper conduct in such wars? In each case, he
asks the question by comparing religious wars with other kinds of
wars. The picture that emerges is of war for religion not as an
expression of fanatical excess but as a controlled, purposeful
activity. With an eye to the present day, Johnson examines cases in
history where distinctive models of war for religion were
implemented by rulers. This in turn sets the stage for critical
judgment on contemporary appeals to the idea of jihad in relation
to political aims.Well known for his work on peace and just war,
Johnson draws upon a wide base of historical and comparative
scholarship. While the book is anchored primarily on the past, on
the roots and historical development of the two traditions, his aim
throughout is to shed light on contemporary attitudes, ideals, and
behaviors, especially as they bear on real problems that affect
relations between Western and Islamic cultures in the world today.
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