Islam and Peace

Vordiplomarbeit aus dem Jahr 2005 im Fachbereich Politik - Thema: Frieden und Konflikte, Sicherheit, Note: gut, FernUniversität Hagen (Frieden und Demokratie), Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: There is not one Islam. There is one holy book, the Quran, which causes many different effects, peaceful and bellicose ones. Obviously and consensual Al-Qaida and despotic political regimes do not contribute to world peace. On the other hand we have very peaceful Muslim individuals and states like Malasya. Apparently it will not be possible to conclude definitely whether Islam is peaceful or bellicose, or anything between. This essay rather tries to analise the capacity for peace of Islam. Due to the actual spread between peaceful and bellicose Muslim unities (individuals and groups or states) and the fact that history influenced and influences Islam, this study aims to analise at the roots of Islam. Therefore three main sources, unaffected by historical or other influences, are used: the Quran, the Sunna1 and the constitution of Medina. Accepting the Islamic principle that the Prophet Mohammed get revelation directly from God and therefore can not be wrong one can assume that all his actions and sayings were purely Islamic. After an overview what God in Islamic perception is and if and how Islamic sources can be interpreted we will analise the peacefulness of Islam by comparing Islamic values and principles to the civilising hexagon from Dieter Senghaas.