Concerns for the vulnerable, the poor and marginalised, both human and non-human, are central to the Christian and Muslim religions. This special issue focuses on the one hand on Catholic social thought and practice with regard to care for the poor and care for the earth, and on the other hand on historical and contemporary Islamic social thought and practice. In this introduction, we set the context of the dialogue and of this special issue. At a general level, we emphasise the centrality of love of God and love of neighbour in both Christianity and Islam. We then focus on the Catholic and Sunni traditions. We discuss how each understands the relationship between love of God/love of neighbour and the different organisational structures and practices which express this love. We highlight some commonalities and differences between teachings, organisational structures and historical and social contexts. We conclude by outlining some areas of mutual learning with regard to the centrality of care for the poor and for the earth in both religions.
Rethinking Religious Engagement in a Globalized World: an Islamic Perspective
Training Manual – Child Rights in Islam
This training manual aims to enhance the capacity of religious scholars and FBOs in understanding children’s rights within the framework of Islamic Sharia, Afghan laws, and international laws.
Comparative Review of Muslim Family Laws in the Greater Horn of Africa Region
This report offers a high-level comparative review and analysis of Muslim family laws (MFLs) in seven countries in the Greater Horn of Africa (GHoA) region that was conducted to build the case for legal reform towards justice and equality in Muslim families.
The seven countries include three countries with Muslim-majority populations (Sudan, Somalia, and Somaliland ) and four countries with Muslim-minority populations (Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda).
The analysis examines twelve key areas of concern identified by Musawah in which discrimination often takes place against women and girls. These include:
- Issues related to entry into marriage: equality of spouses, age of marriage, consent, and capacity
- Issues during marriage: polygamy, violence against women, nationality rights
- Issues upon dissolution of marriage: divorce rights, financial rights after dissolution, custody and guardianship of children
- The general issues of inheritance and access to justice
Analysis was conducted on data collected in the form of six country tables and an internal brief on Somaliland, as well as additional data obtained from researchers and other sources on the subject.
Pana’ta: Sara Parmanusiyaan Liyubangsa Ha Islam – Introduction to International Humanitarian Law in Islam)
Mindanao State University-Sulu (MSU-Sulu) partnered together with the ICRC to produce the book’s translation into Tausug, a major language spoken in the Sulu archipelago and Zamboanga, among other places. Pana’ta offers guidance on important topics, such as ways to attend to victims of armed conflict according to Islamic Shariah, the lessons learned from historical battles, and the proper treatment of prisoners of war. It was translated from the original Arabic text, Muqadima fi ‘l-qanun ad-duwali al-insani fi ‘l-Islam, which was written by Dr. Zaid bin Abdul Karim Al-Zaid of Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Saudi Arabia.
The Role of Mosque in Building Resilient Communities
This book:
- Discusses the roles that mosques play in saving lives and reducing losses
- Shows the role of imams’ flexibility to help communities in need
- Presents point of view to see religion differently in a much broader constructive array than portrayed since 9/11
Available here.
Utangulizi wa Sheria ya Kimataifa ya Kibinadamu ya Kiislamu – Introduction to International Humanitarian Law in Islam
The publication explores such important topics such as how to deal with victims of armed conflict in accordance with Islamic Shariah, looks at lessons learnt from the early Islamic battles like Badr, and lays out what Islamic law says about the treatment of Prisoners of War, women, children, dead bodies and the protection of property. It also talks about the protection of those who offer services on the battlefield but are not directly involved in fighting, such as medical personnel and reporters.
Ulinzi kwa Wahanga wa Migogoro ya Kutumia Silaha Katika Sheria ya Kimataifa ya Kibinadamu na Sheria ya Kiislamu – Protection of the Victims of Armed Conflict under IHL and Islamic Shari’a
This important reference work, now available to the many millions of Kiswahili speakers around the world, is divided into four chapters focusing on ways to protect civilians, the wounded, the dead, non-combatants and their property during armed conflict, as well as on how to treat and handle prisoners of war in accordance with Islamic law. It also addresses the protection of those who offer services on the battlefield but are not directly involved in fighting, such as medical personnel and reporters.
Role of faith and belief in environmental engagement and action in MENA region
Almost all religions reflect on the creation of the universe, or universes, in different forms and with varying degrees of clarity or detail. Common across most religions is an agreement that “creation” is an act of God and should be treated as such. This rapid literature review collates evidence on the role of faith and belief in environmental engagement and action in MENA region. The review draws on academic and grey literature and finds an expanding evidence base on the relationship between Islam, Islamic thought and climate change. It also identifies emerging examples of green approaches to pilgrimage and the ‘greening’ of places of worship. Evaluations or assessments of these initiatives are, however, limited and inconclusive and much of the evidence is from a theoretical or philosophical position. Similarly, reflections on the traction of interventions such as the Islamic Declaration on Climate Change are mixed, identifying a lack of traction. The review draws particularly on the work of Skirbekk et al. (2021); Koehrsen (2021) and the UNEP Faith for Earth Initiative.
The evidence base on the connections between religion and climate change is wide ranging, including: social science research into how religious identity figures in attitudes toward climate change; confessional and constructive engagements of religious thought with climate change from various communities and traditions; historical and anthropological analyses of how climate affects religion and religion interprets climate; and theories by which climate change may itself be interpreted as a religious event.
Read the helpdesk report here
Community dialogues – Masculinities, Faith and Peace: Muslim version
Promoting respectful relationships, equitable communities, child spacing and social cohesion
This resource has been adapted for Gender Champions who have been trained using Tearfund’s Transforming Masculinities toolkit and are working with Muslim communities as part of the Masculinities, Faith and Peace (MFP) project.
It is based on the standard Transforming Masculinities set of community dialogues but includes new components on social cohesion and child spacing.
It is designed to be used in parallel with the Christian version which draws out similar messages from Christian holy texts.
The goal of MFP is to see a reduction in sexual and gender-based violence, an increase in the healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies, and improved inter-religious relationships.
View the Transforming Masculinities Training Manual for Gender Champions and Faith Leaders – Muslim version