The Philosophy of Mediation: Questions and Responses from Diverse Parts of the World and Especially from the Islamic Tradition
Keywords: Islam, Muslim community, mediation, dispute resolution
Abstact: In this paper, the author highlights the fact that the concept of mediation exists in many cultures and traditions in the world and that, unfortunately, its centrality as a dispute resolution mechanism in Islam is obfuscated by a negative image of the faith shaped largely by media images internationally. Through a series of mediation training programmes developed for a Muslim community and implemented globally, the author raises a number of questions which are relevant to the global discourse in the field of mediation today.
This is an edited version of a paper presented at the 3rd European Conference on Mediation “Mediation and Civil Society in Europe – Towards a new mindset” at Bourg la Reine, France in 2010.
Author
Dr Mohamed Keshavjee
Course Director
Mohamed M. Keshavjee is a South African born-lawyer called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn in 1969. He completed his LLM at London University and his PhD at SOAS with a focus on Islamic Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). He has practised law in Kenya, Canada and the United Kingdom.
His first book, Islam, Sharia and Alternative Dispute Resolution deals with how Muslims engage with sharia, customary practices and the laws of the United Kingdom. He has spoken on ADR at conferences in Europe, North America and Asia, and has trained family mediators in the EU countries and imams and pastors in mosque and church conflicts in the UK and the USA, respectively.
In 2016, he was awarded the Gandhi, King, Ikeda Peace Award by the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia, for his work on peace and human rights education.
