War and Peace in Islam

Conference Reports War and Peace in Islam The 45Th Annual Conference of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS), cosponsored by the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (October 8, 2016), focused on “War and Peace in Islam.” The Conference ProgramChair,TarekMasoud,ProfessorofPublicPolicyandSultanofOman Chair in International Relations at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, opened the session by expressing the Department’s excitementinhostingthisconference.Inherintroductoryremarks,NAAIMS Board of Director Treasurer, Maria R. Volpe (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY), welcomed the guests on behalf of NAAIMS President, Jon Mandaville (Portland State University, OR) who was not able to attend. FourpanelsessionsanalyzedcriticalaspectsofwarandpeaceinIslam.The first panel session, “Muslims as Religious Minorities: Canada, China and the US,” was moderated by the chair, Maria R. Volpe (John Jay of Criminal Justice, CUNY), with Kevin Caffrey (Harvard University, Cambridge, MA) serving as the panel discussant. The first presentation on “Muslim New Yorkers: Everyday Life in an Era of Counterterorism and Surveillance,” by Nazreen S. Bacchus (Queens College, City University of New York, NY), focused on how Muslims, ethnically and racially diverse, are being “categorized [in a post-911 climate] in ways that have transformed their religious identity into a racialized group.” Bacchus applied an ethnographic approach and migration theory in studying how American Muslims in New York City are reacting to Islamophobia, and 112  Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies, Vol. 1.2 ultimately, reshaping the cultural environment of the City. She examined how Muslims “are resisting Islamophobia through civic engagement, grassroots organizing and community building.” She explained how Muslims in the City manage “religious identities” to help develop a sense of belonging in American society. The presentation by Uzma Jamil (McGill University, Montreal, Canada) on “The Securitization of Muslims in the War on Terror” examined Canadian legislation on violent extremism and counterterrorism. Jamil explained how the Canadian government’s strategy in fighting radicalization of Muslims contributed to the perception of “being under siege.” She concluded that the government’s initiatives have reinforced Islamophobia and made social activities of Muslims appear “suspicious” and “markers of radicalization.” The presentation by Alexander B. Stewart (University of California, San Diego, CA) on “The Inward Jihad: Pious Salafism among China’s Hui Muslims” was based on his interviews and eleven months of participant observation of the Hui community. Stewart explained that Salafism is considered a methodology in China, rather than a sect, and that Hui Salafis are seen as “bad Muslims.” He concluded that although Salafis joined the Communist party for practical reasons, “transnational educational networks have contributed to the political and economic integration of Hui Muslims and the development of Salafism, which focused on individual piety, rather than radical politics.” According to the discussant, Kevin Caffrey, these three presentations provided “ethnographic material and phenomena that added significant issues to the study of Muslims in society with arguments that hinge on what ‘identity’ really means.” The second panel session, “The Evolution of Religious Authority in Islam,” which was moderated by the chair, Natana J. DeLong-Bas (Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA) included Aisha Y. Musa (Colgate University, Hamilton, NY) as the panel discussant. In her presentation, “Umma (Wasat): A Constant Struggle for Justice,” Katrin Jomaa (University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI) examined “justice” as a theological concept in the Qur’an. She argued that “justice” as represented by the “mean” in Aristotelian thought mirrors the concept of wasat in the Qur’an, and concluded that “the term wasaṭ indicates a balance between people and political authorities that needs to be maintained for justice to be sustained.” She added that “the status of wasaṭ can only be achieved through the umma as a whole which is less susceptible to error than the sole individual.” According to the discussant, Aisha Y. Musa, the presentation clearly highlighted that justice in the Qur’an is not confined to a specific privileged or elite group, religious or political, in charge of executing the law. The discussant added that Jomaa’s use of “Aristotle as a framework for understanding the Sein / War and Peace in Islam   113 Qur’anic concept of umma wasat is particularly useful and demonstrates that the Qur’an and Western...