Islam and Peace Education in Pakistan

Abstract

AbstractPeace education is an emerging field in the context of contemporary issues in mainstream education. It focuses on students learning the concepts of peace at the school level. These concepts can include conflict resolution, conflict transformation, and values of dialogue, tolerance, respect, and inclusivity. However, there is inadequate literature on religious concepts of peace education, especially from an Islamic perspective. Islam is a religion followed by a population of more than one billion around the world. In major religious conflicts in the contemporary world, Muslims are represented as conservative, radical, and extremist in their thoughts and actions. This representation of Muslims embodies their religion as devoid of peace education. This study analyses the Qur’anic scriptures of peace learning. These scriptures have been interpreted in the textbook ‘Islam and Peace Education,’ which is the initiative for madrasa—Islamic religious schools—curricula in Pakistan. The initiative was introduced by the Peace and Education Foundation, Pakistan. The study takes evidence from field interviews with the staff of the Peace and Education Foundation together with the contents of the peace textbook. The findings of this chapter suggest that the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an, fosters social diversity, critical thinking, conflict resolution, religious freedom, anti-racism, and nonviolent communication through the interpretation of Quranic texts.KeywordsPeace Education in PakistanQur’an InterpretationMadrasasPakistan: Inter-religious RelationsSunni-shi ‘a Relations in Pakistan