Islamic Ethics and Conflict Management

Introduction

Islam as a religion is considered a holistic way of life (Dīn) for the believers providing guidelines for every facet of life while conflict management is not an exception. Religion when considered as a principle of life implies an integrated approach to life including both personal and work life through Islamic theology and faith (Imān). Religiosity by its very nature has always been a strong moderator of actions and behaviour from Protestant, Confucius to Islamic work ethics. Although conflict management theories exist in every society, however, usually these focused on the causes, types, nature, and the temporal strategies to conflict management rather than the theological moderators for lasting conflict resolutions. Managers consider conflict as a negative issue that may lead to loss of in productivity if not resolved, which in many instances is true, but Islamic work ethics view conflict as positive and inherent to human makeup.

This chapter will focus on the holistic approach of Islamic work ethics for effective conflict management approaches ranging from parties in the conflict to others surrounding the situation to discharge their responsibilities according to the guiding principles of Islam. Therefore, in Islamic work ethics all disputes are to be filtered through the teachings of al-Qur’ān and Sunnah.