The Medina Charter: a historical case of conflict resolution

There are many examples in Islamic history of Muslims coexisting with various religious groups. The Medina Charter, which provided a basis for a city-state between the Muslims and the Jews in the medieval Muslim city of Medina, was the first written constitution in Islam and the first documented cas...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Yildirim, Yetkin 1974- (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge 2009
In: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Year: 2009, Volume: 20, Issue: 4, Pages: 439-450
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Gemeindeordnung von Medina
Further subjects:B Conflict research
B Zivilisationsdifferenzen / Kulturdifferenzen
B Islam
B Conflict
B Mediation / Zivile Konfliktbearbeitung
B peace idea / concept of peace
B civilizational conflict / cultural diversity
B conflict research
B Cease fire / Konfliktbeendigung / Kriegsbeendigung
B Mediation
B end of war / end of conflict / armistice
B Friedensvorstellung
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:There are many examples in Islamic history of Muslims coexisting with various religious groups. The Medina Charter, which provided a basis for a city-state between the Muslims and the Jews in the medieval Muslim city of Medina, was the first written constitution in Islam and the first documented case of constitutional law. It is also a historical example of conflict resolution in Islam. This article examines the methods of conflict resolution in the Medina Charter in comparison with the modern ideas of Western conflict resolution theory—mediation, fractioning, and focusing on goals and interests as opposed to individual religion, and power-balancing. The article also addresses the issues of conflict resolution and culture, outlining the differences between basic Islamic and Western cultural assumptions that in turn shape their different approaches to conflict mediation. However, in its comparison of the two approaches, it finds generic, universal assumptions of conflict resolution that persist despite differing cultural languages. The comparison between the Medina Charter and Western conflict resolution was conducted with the intent to enlighten current efforts towards mediation between Muslim societies and other intercultural communities of the globalized world.
ISSN:0959-6410
Contains:In: Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/09596410903194894