Role of religion in peacebuilding and conflict resolution: case study of Islam

Religion is perceived by several scholars as a source of conflict, violence, destruction and cruelty, despite all of these, a lot of people still believe in religion, they regard religion as source of peace, harmony, compassion, love and tolerance. So far as role of Islam in peace building and conflict resolution are concerned, Islam is no different from other religions, it also advocates same virtues as other religions do. But academic discourse on the subject largely identifies Islam with violence and conflict. This study is humble effort to illuminate those social capital that Islam has for establishing peace and resolving conflict, in the same time, this paper also examines Islamic approach toward peace building and conflict resolution by contextualizing Islamic texts as major source on the subject.