How Violence Shapes Religion

Reviews / Votes

'Ziya Meral challenges our assumptions about religious violence, drawing from a broad range of scholarship and grounding it all on a deep analysis of case studies in Nigeria and Egypt. The result is a fascinating reminder of how narratives promoted particularly in the West impact local conflicts and narrow our understanding of the relationship between religion and violence in human history.' Reza Aslan, author of Zealot and God: A Human History 'Ziya Meral has written an eye-opening study that explains how religion and violence interact in conflicts, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. It challenges the reader to think beyond common arguments that either make religion the cause of violence or brush away the role played by religion in violent conflicts. It is a must-read for anyone who seeks a deeper understanding of this complex topic.' Hassan Hassan, co-author of ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror 'A fascinating book which highlights the need for the West to recognize the critical relevance of religion in the twenty-first-centuary world. Ziya argues that religion permeates and resonates with profound significance across the world view of billions of people, shapes our understanding of an uncertain world, with alternately constructive and highly destructive narratives. We should never be surprised by the human capacity to tend towards violence. It is in our fallen human nature. But the true beauty of this book lies in the account that, through networks and the communities of the faithful, extraordinary stories of forgiveness, truth and reconciliation can be found, yielding the very foundations for re-building broken lives.' Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury 'In How Violence Shapes Religion, Ziya Meral turns conventional assumptions about the relationship between religion and militancy on their head. His careful and thorough case studies demonstrate that the question - indeed, the very direction - of causality between faith and violence is anything but straightforward. This is a must-read for anyone - scholars, students, policymakers - wishing to understand the complex sociology of religion and violence in the contemporary world.' Peter Mandaville, George Mason University, Virginia