Monday Quarterbacking
Justice, Jihad and the Just War
By: Mobolaji E. Aluko, PhD
Burtonsville, MD, USA
November 19, 2001
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Dear Reader:
With this piece, I depart briefly from the format of my usual Quarterbackings.
The September 11 event and the ongoing war in Afghanistan are causing tremendous public introspection within the Islamic and Christian Worlds in ways not imaginable - outside cloistered academic environments and religious communes - even three months ago.
Examples are the two memos below by Dr. M.A. Muqtedar Khan of Adrian College (Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy), USA, and addressed to Americans and Muslims in America. Following them are two pieces that have to do with discussions on the Christian Just War.
Their contents are of enough universal appeal for me to bring them to the attention of Nigerians in general. This is in light of the tensions, real and imagined, between Muslims and non-Muslims, particularly Christians, in our country and the tendency to equate
(anti-)Americanism with (anti-)Christianity and vice-versa. For Islam means Peace, why are so many adherents involved in war? And if Christians are expected to turn the other cheek and forgive their enemies, under what conditions, under the Christian faith, must these
pacifist stance be violated?
Coupled with the case of Ms. Sufiya Tungar-Tudu's UNJUST and UNCONSTITUTIONAL death sentence for adultery in Sokoto State - ably dissected by Muslims Abdusalami Ajetunmobi and Sanusi Lamido Sanusi - these memos should enable Muslims and Christians who seek religious amity in Nigeria in particular to join in the reflections on these issues of Justice, Jihad and the Just War.
So, today - I give over my Monday Quarterbackings to others with the intention of promoting Christian/Muslim dialogue.
'Bolaji Aluko
Burtonsville, MD, USA
November 19, 2001
A Memo to American Muslims
M. A. Muqtedar Khan
[excerpt] In the name of Allah, the most Benevolent and the Most Merciful. May this memo find you in the shade of Islam enjoying the mercy, the protection and the grace of Allah.
I am writing this memo to you all with the explicit purpose of inviting you to lead the American Muslim community in soul searching, reflection and reassessment.
What happened on September 11th in New York and Washington DC will forever remain a horrible scar on the history of Islam and humanity. No matter how much we condemn it, and point to the Quran and the Sunnah to argue that Islam forbids the killing of innocent people, the fact remains that the perpetrators of this crime against humanity have indicated that their actions are sanctioned by Islamic values. >>> read more
- BreakPoint - A BreakPoint Fact Sheet
[excerpt]What is just war theory?
The Christian just war theory is a 1600-year-old attempt to answer the questions "When is it permissible to wage war" (jus in bello), and "What are the limitations on the ways we wage war?" (jus ad bellum).
Where did just war theory originate?
The first Christian thinker to write extensively about the subject was St. Augustine of Hippo. For Augustine, war was a logical extension of the act of governance. And governance itself was, as St. Paul wrote in Romans 13.1-7, ordained by God. >>> read more
- Catholic Church Debates 'Just War'
Religion: Leaders, including the Vatican, give mixed signals about how far a U.S. response should go.
By RICHARD BOUDREAUX and TERESA WATANABE, Times Staff Writers
[excerpt] ROME -- In the 16 centuries since St. Augustine spelled out the concept of the "just war," the Roman Catholic Church has often assumed the role of its custodian, trying to guide the use of force according to Christian ethics. Last week, as the United States mobilized for war on terrorists, the Vatican weighed in with two distinct voices.
Pope John Paul II told an audience of Muslims and Christians in Kazakhstan that the terror attack on America, which has been blamed on Islamic extremists, must not lead to "a deepening of divisions" between the two faiths. "I beg God to keep the world in peace," he added. >>> read more
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Published with the permission of Dr. Bolaji Aluko
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