The Islamic Roots of Liberation, Justice, and Peace

An Anthropocentric Analysis of the Concept of Tawhid

Abstract

Using the concept of Tawhid—a cardinal Islamic belief, as a point of departure and as a theoretical framework, this paper examines the Islamic roots and theological foundations for the ideas and practices of liberation, peacebuilding, justice, and nonviolence within Islam. It argues that the notions of pacification, equality, freedom, and fairness hold a central place in Islam because such ideas are deeply rooted in the concept of tawhid. Unlike most studies that tend to put emphasis merely on analyses of tawhid through theological and eschatological explanations (theocentric framework), this paper examines it from the lens of anthropocentrism by understanding and interpreting it as a “principle of unity” for liberation, justice, and peace, while still acknowledging its theocentric dimension. In short, this article lays emphasis on analysis of tawhid as an “anthropocentric theism.” In the concept of tawhid, this paper underlines the significance of the unity of God, the unity of the many streams of revelation, the unity of humanity, and ultimately the unity of existence (Wahdat al-Wujud), principles on which freedom, conciliation, egalitarianism, and nonviolence are grounded.