Toward an Islamic Theology of Nonviolence: In Dialogue with René Girard PDF
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Toward an Islamic Theology of Nonviolence studies in violence, mimesis, and culture SERIES EDITOR William A. Johnsen The Studies in Violence, Mimesis, and Culture Series examines issues related to the nexus of violence and religion in the genesis and maintenance of culture. It furthers the agenda of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion, an international association that draws inspiration from René Girard’s mimetic hypothesis on the relationship between violence and religion, elaborated in a stunning series of books he has written over the last forty years. Readers interested in this area of research can also look to the association’s journal, Contagion: Journal of Violence, Mimesis, and Culture. ADVISORY BOARD René Girard†, Stanford University Raymund Schwager†, University of Innsbruck Andrew McKenna, Loyola University of Chicago James Williams, Syracuse University EDITORIAL BOARD Rebecca Adams, Independent Scholar Sandor Goodhart, Purdue University Jeremiah L. Alberg, International Christian Robert Hamerton-Kelly†, Stanford University University, Tokyo, Japan Hans Jensen, Aarhus University, Denmark Mark Anspach, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Mark Juergensmeyer, University of California, Sociales, Paris Santa Barbara Pierpaolo Antonello, University of Cambridge Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Shaw University Ann Astell, University of Notre Dame Michael Kirwan, SJ, Heythrop College, University Cesáreo Bandera, University of North Carolina of London Maria Stella Barberi, Università di Messina Paisley Livingston, Lingnan University, Alexei Bodrov, St. Andrew’s Biblical Theological Hong Kong Institute, Moscow Charles Mabee, Ecumenical Theological Seminary, João Cezar de Castro Rocha, Universidade Detroit do Estado do Rio de Janeiro Józef Niewiadomski, Universität Innsbruck Benoît Chantre, L’Association Recherches Wolfgang Palaver, Universität Innsbruck Mimétiques Ángel Jorge Barahona Plaza, Universidad Francisco Diana Culbertson, Kent State University de Vitoria Paul Dumouchel, Ritsumeikan University Martha Reineke, University of Northern Iowa Jean-Pierre Dupuy, Stanford University, École Tobin Siebers†, University of Michigan Polytechnique Thee Smith, Emory University Giuseppe Fornari, Università degli studi di Verona Mark Wallace, Swarthmore College Eric Gans, University of California, Los Angeles Eugene Webb, University of Washington Toward an Islamic Theology of Nonviolence In Dialogue with René Girard Adnane Mokrani Michigan State University Press · East Lansing Copyright © 2022 Adnane Mokrani p Michigan State University Press East Lansing, Michigan 48823-5245 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Muqrānī, ʻAdnān, author. | Palaver, Wolfgang, 1958– other. Title: Toward an Islamic theology of nonviolence : in dialogue with René Girard / Adnane Mokrani. Description: First. | East Lansing : Michigan State University Press, 2022. | Series: Studies in violence, mimesis, and culture | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021052840 | ISBN 9781611864304 (paperback) | ISBN 9781609176990 | ISBN 9781628954678 | ISBN 9781628964615 Subjects: LCSH: Nonviolence—Religious aspects—Islam | Violence—Religious aspects—Islam | Violence in the Qurʼan. | Girard, René, 1923–2015. Violence et le sacré. Classification: LCC BP190.5.V56 M86 2022 | DDC 297.5/697—dc23/eng/20220113 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021052840 Cover design by David Drummond, Salamander Design, www.salamanderhill.com. Cover art: Salaman and Absal repose on the happy isle, folio from a Haft awrang (Seven thrones) by Jami (d. 1492) probably Mashad, Khurasan, Iran, Safavid dynasty, 1556–1565 (ink, opaque watercolour and gold on paper). Bridgeman Images, used with permission. Visit Michigan State University Press at www.msupress.org To Paolo Dall’Oglio Contents ix Foreword, by Wolfgang Palaver xix Introduction. Interpreting Girard’s Silence 1 chapter 1. Theory and Principles 43 chapter 2. The Qurʾānic Narratives 73 chapter 3. The Historical Narratives 93 Notes 107 Bibliography 115 Index Foreword Wolfgang Palaver The French American cultural anthropologist René Girard has claimed a universal significance for his mimetic theory and stated sometimes, too, that it also represents a universal theory of religion. Following the Swiss Jesuit Raymund Schwager who was one of my teachers in Catholic theology in Innsbruck and one of the first theologians who collaborated with Girard, I have focused over many years on the relationship between violence and religion. When suddenly the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred in 2001, I felt that my research focus would need to shift in light of this event. Islam, for instance, was not a religion that we studied in those days in groups influenced by Girard. A first step was provided by Girard himself when he claimed in an interview two months after the terrorist attacks that they mainly resulted from an increased planetary competition and were not caused by Islam as such.1 Nevertheless, the question of how Islam may be understood from the view- point of mimetic theory has since remained with me and many other scholars dedicated to mimetic theory. There were some Girardians who started to claim that Islam is an archaic religion and is therefore more prone to violence than Christianity because it is rooted, like all early religions, in a scapegoat mechanism. I was not convinced and did not follow this interpretation, even when Girard himself sometimes leaned toward this side of the debate. My first ix
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