ethics of w ar in muslim cultures a critical and comparative perspective

325 Pages·2006·12.28 MB·English

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ETHICS OF W AR IN MUSLIM CULTURES
A CRITICAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE
DOCTORAL THESIS
PREPARED BY:
MOHAMMAD JAFAR MAHALLATI
REQUIRED FOR DOCTORAL DEGREE
FROM:
THE INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
MCGILL UNIVERSITY
Final Copy
July 19,2006
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ABSTRACT
Rules of engagement, ethics of war, and codes of chivalry are all phrases which remind
one of human attempts to rein in and regulate what is perhaps the most anarchic and
illogical of aH human activities: organized war. The role of the great religions of the
world both in propagating war through crusades and jihads as well as their attempts at
transcending its savagery through images of miles Christianus or the pious ghiïzl has
also been much discussed. The aim of this thesis is to study the ethics of war in the
context of Islamic societies in the Early Middle Ages from several complementary
perspectives. Our sources for the period vary greatly from decade to decade and from
region to region. This has often led historians of ideas and mentalities to concentrate on
one aspect to the exclusion of others. This is particularly so in the case of ethics of war
where most of the argument seems to concentrate on a few passages from the Qur'an,
supplemented by sorne quotations from manuals of l].adith and commentaries on them in
the legal textbooks of the different religious schools. That all these are crucial for an
understanding of Muslim attitudes and reactions to war throughout centuries is beyond
dispute. But it remains, nevertheless, a lop-sided view: neglecting large areas of debate
and speculation in literature, philosophy, and mystical meditations, presented as fully
fledged arguments or as occasional remarks and observations embedded in the extant
texts from the period. By evaluating these scattered sources and listening to the
different voices heard through them, l hope to show sorne of the different attitudes and
responses to the ethics of war and avoid the monolithic and doggedly timeless approach
which, at its worst and most extreme, envisages a non-existing consensus among the
Muslims from the rise of Islam to the beginning of this new century and neglects the
evidence of regional traditions and innovative thinkers by relying solely on a handful of
quotes.
ABSTRACT(FRENCH)
Les règles du combat, l'éthique de la guerre, les codes chevaleresques - autant
d'expressions révélatrices des efforts de 1' Homme pour maîtriser et réglementer celle qui,
de toutes ses actions, est sans doute la plus anarchique et la plus illogique: la guerre
organisée. On a ainsi pu démontrer le rôle des grandes religions du monde dans la
propagation de la guerre par le biais des croisades ou jihiids s'efforçant de sublimer la
sauvagerie de la guerre par la création d'images telle que celle du miles Christianus ou
encore celle du ghiizl pieux. Le but de notre propos est d'examiner l'éthique de la guerre
replacée dans le contexte des sociétés islamiques du début du Moyen Age, en adoptant
diverses approches qui se complètent les unes les autres. Les sources dont nous disposons
pour cette période varient considérablement d'une décennie et d'une région à l'autre. Ces
variations ont souvent amené les historiens des idées et des mentalités à se concentrer sur
un seul aspect, à l'exclusion de tous les autres. C'est tout particulièrement le cas en ce qui
concerne l'éthique de la guerre, où l'essentiel de l'argumentation employée paraît se
fonder uniquement sur quelques passages choisis du Coran, complétés par des citations
des manuels de i}amth et les commentaires sur ces derniers que l'on trouve dans les
manuels légaux des diverses écoles religieuses. Il est certes essentiel de prendre en
compte ces dernières sources pour comprendre les attitudes des Musulmans et leurs
réactions face à la guerre à travers les siècles. Mais cela n'en est pas moins une optique
partiale qui ne montre qu'un seul aspect des faits. Elle choisit en effet d'ignorer de vastes
domaines qui laisse la place au débat et à la conjecture, tant dans la littérature et la
philosophie que dans les méditations de mystiques, qui se présentent sous la forme soit
d'arguments pleinement développés, soit d'observations passagères, insérées dans des
textes de l'époque qui nous sont parvenus dans leur entièreté. C'est en évaluant ces
sources éparpillées et en écoutant les diverses voix que l'on peut y percevoir que ce
travail se propose d'examiner ces attitudes et réponses diverses et variées à la question de
l'éthique de la guerre, afin d'éviter l'optique monolithique qui s'est obstinément
perpétuée à travers les temps et qui, à son pire et dans les cas les plus extrêmes, envisage
ii
l'existence d'un soi-disant consensus - en réalité entièrement fictif - parmi les
Musulmans, depuis la naissance de l'Islam jusqu'au début de notre siècle, et choisit
d'ignorer totalement la présence bien attestée de traditions régionales et de penseurs fort
innovateurs.
iii
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...........................................................................x
TRANSLITERATION TABLE .................................................................. xi
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... .1
The Nature of the Problem
Organization
Methodology
1. PROPHETIC W ARS, PURPOSES AND CHARACTERS ................................. 8
The Cause or Causes of Early Muslim Wars
War and Prejudice
Rules of Engagement
A Mirror of the Moral Shift: Revenge and Pardon
Ethics and Laws: Models ofRight Conduct
Khïïlid Ibn al-Walid or 'God's Sword'
War and the Epical Tragedy
'Umar and Abu Bakr: Different Personalities, Different Rulings
Strict Precedence or Tactical Ruling
Honey and Stone at War
Conclusions
II. W AR ETHICS IN THE QUR' AN ............................................................. 31
Qur'ïïnic Exegeses: Moralist versus Legalist Approaches
iv
The Sufi Exegesis: The Prime War is Against the Self
Breach of Contract: The Prime Cause for the inter-faith and Intra-faith Conflicts
The Ethics of Debating does not Support war for Disbelief
Worst than Killing: al-fitn a
Against Inquisition
Notions of Deterrence
Sources of God's Hostility in the Qur'an
Same Verse, Opposite Interpretations
Contemporary Commentaries on the Classical Exegeses
War within the Qur' anic Ethical Structure
God' s Treatment of His Archenemy
The Moral Mode of Mercy
The Qur'anic Context of Jihad, I:Iarb and Qital
Conclusions
III. SHI '1 W AR ETHICS: A CRITICAL REVIEW ......................................... 60
The Mammoth Empire and Ethical Insensitivity
The Balance of Human Life and Arabism
'Ali Ibn Abi Talib: The Lion and the Dust
Jamal and Siffin: Two Benchmark Battles for Shi'! Ethics ofWar
Moral Norms ofBattle: Siffin
Banning Inhuman Retaliation and Taking Personal Risk
The Impersonality ofWar
The Sanctity ofContract and Treatment of the Non-Combatants
v
Karbala': AI-I:Iusayn's Call for Ethics of Liberality
The Moral Impact of Karbala'
Jihad in the Mirror of ShI'! I:Iadith
Modem ShI'! Jurists on War: Between Apology and Critique
Taba!aba'l: Against the Early Caliphal Conquest
Mutahhar1: The Theorist of Liberating Jihad or Moral Interventionism
Iskandar1: Retaliation (qi$a$), The Prime Cause ofWar in Islam
M04aqqiq-Damad: The Immunity ofNoncombatant, Nonbeliever
Kadivar: Against Discrimination in the Traditional Law
Sali41-Najafiibadi: A Critique ofWhen Theology Rewrites History
The Jurist's Tragic War Game: The Letter/Spirit Dichotomy
Conclusions
IV. THEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY AND MYSTICISM ..................................... 111
The Relations between Ethics and Law
Islamic Theology, Ethics, and War
The Fallacy of Deterministic Moral Progress
The Intellectual Legacy ofthe Mu'tazilites
The Objective Justice and its Implications for War
Theology and War in Broader Perspective
Philosophical Ethics, War and al-FarabI
Ibn Miskawayh, the Philosopher of Intimacy (uns)
Al-Ghazali, a Dual Approach to 'Others'
Na~lr al-Dln al-Tusl, and Political Ethics
vi
~ufism: Against War for Belief
Ibn al-'Arab1: The Primaey ofPeaee
Rum1: The Essential Inner War
Conclusions
V. WARETHICS IN ADABAND EPIC LITERATURE .................................. 154
The Signifieance of Adab for Ethies
War Ethies and Heroism
Shiihniimeh of Ferdowsl, The Paradigm ofPersian Epies
Sources of Ethieal Norms in Persian Epie Literatures
Dadestan-e Menog-l Xrad
The Avesta
Yadegar-e Zarlran
Heroes and Anti-Heroes in the Shahnameh
On the Primaey of Diplomaey: The Anti-War Leopards and Mountains
Jus in Bello in Ferdowsl's Shahnameh
Ferdowsi's Objective Ethies and Norms of Javiinmardi
Justice and Jus ad Bellum in the Shahnameh
Ferdowsl's Definition ofInfidelity (kufT)
Heroes in Confliet: A Moral Dilemma
A Medieval War Ethics Manual
The Causes and Conduet ofWar in Manuals
War Ethies in the Saljuq Literature
Sa'di: On Enmity and Tolerance
vii
Conclusions
VI. THEORIES OF W AR ETHICS: A COMP ARA TIVE PERSPECTIVE ......... 193
Western Theories of War Ethics
Pacifist Theories
Hebraic, Roman, and Christian Contributions to the Just War Theory
The Realist Schools
The Proliferation of Theories and Vague Conceptual Boundaries
War Ethics in Islamic Traditions
The Questions of 'Militant Ethos' and 'Total Community'
Militants and Texts at War
Jurists' Approach to the 'Self and to the 'Other'
The Ethics of the Siyar Literature
Jurists' Theoretical Clashes over War and Peace
The Islamic Just War Theories
Theory of Just-Defense
Theory of Moral-Interventionism
Theory of Total-Islamization
Common Factors in Western and Islamic War Ethics
Against Religious Ethics: A Critique
Horizontal and Vertical Moral Structures
Conclusions
VII. W AR ETHICS AND PARA-ST AT AL MILITIA ...................................... .236
Faith, the Military, and Questions ofState Control
viii