Islam & Conflict (Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B) : Revision Note

The Nature and Causes of Conflict

What is the nature of conflict?

• Conflict is a serious disagreement between people regarding a particular issue

• Conflict can happen on any scale: on a small scale between individuals or on a large scale between nations, which can lead to war

The causes of conflict

• Factors that can cause war include:

  • Resources - one country desires the resources another country possesses, such as oil

  • Politics and ideology - different views about what set of policies or ideologies a nation should be governed by

  • Religion - differences in religion can lead to war

  • Nationalism and ethnicity - believing one ethnic group is superior to another, or even thinking that an ethnic group should be removed from a country completely

  • History - unresolved events of the past can cause ongoing conflict today

Problems caused by conflict

• Problems caused by war include

  • Casualties - death and injury is the most obvious problem, with many innocent civilian victims

  • Displacement - the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) reports that at the end of 2023, there were 43.4 million refugees globally

    • This figure has tripled over the last decade

  • Expense - war costs countries vast amounts of money and resources and this causes economic problems for the nations involved and the nations where the refugees end up

Problems caused by conflict in society

• Conflict within society has negative effects on communities and can cause a spiral that reinforces the issues:

  • It can cause disunity and distrust between groups from different backgrounds, especially where there has been discrimination

  • Groups are then unwilling to integrate, and some groups feel isolated and left out, which causes unnecessary divides

  • It can be difficult to get people from different groups to talk together or live in peace

  • This can lead to poor treatment, discrimination and violence, which then leads to further conflict

Muslim Responses to the Problems Caused by Conflict

• Islam is a religion of peace and therefore Muslims ought to seek peace and avoid conflict

• However, most Muslims believe that if all efforts to seek peace have failed and war is just, then a Muslim must fight

• The Qur’an teaches 

• The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) set the example for Muslims in this by fighting in wars of self-defence himself

• The conditions for war are strict

  • Muslims should not be the first to attack

  • Any conflict in which they could be classed as the aggressor could not be fought by a faithful Muslim.

  • So Muslims could never be involved in a conflict which:

    • Takes resources from someone else

    • Forces another country or people to become Muslim

    • Changes the political leadership or ideology of another country

    • Changes the culture of a country

  • Any response must be proportionate and must not go beyond the action required to stop the conflict

Islam and Non-religious Attitudes About the Role of Religion in Conflict

• Humanists are often pacifists because:

  • they believe human life is special and should be protected and seek to lead good lives without harming others

  • they believe that all humans should live together in harmony

  • they think people should use reason and experience to make wise decisions and find peaceful solutions to reduce conflict and remove its causes

• Most Humanists believe that religion is at the root of many conflicts and would argue that if there were no longer any religions, there would be fewer wars

  • Therefore a good solution to reduce conflict would be to get rid of religion

• The British Humanist Association says that no war should ever be fought based on belief in a supernatural being who instructs believers to kill others

• It also points out the incompatibility of an all-powerful and loving God with the huge destruction caused by conflict

• Many non-religious people, including atheists, would agree that while some political conflict is unavoidable, wars based on religion can never be justified

Muslim Responses to Non-religious Attitudes About Conflict

• Muslims would respond to the non-religious views by saying that many wars, even those fought by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) are fought in self-defence and to establish peace

• They would say that it is unfair to blame God for the bloodshed caused by war because it is a consequence of humans using their free will to make bad choices

• They would say that many of the wars fought throughout history have had nothing to do with religious beliefs

The use of situation ethics

• Many Muslims and Humanists apply situation ethics to issues of conflict

• This means that they do not believe that all conflict is morally unacceptable

• Instead, they will consider the causes and effects of each situation and make a decision based on what will produce the most loving outcome:

  • If a country has been invaded and its people are being ethnically cleansed, the most loving and useful action might be to fight against the invaders

  • However, if the war will result in the use of excessive force, such as chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, it would never be acceptable