Sufi Commentaries on a Quranic Peace Verse

• Published in: Journal of Pacifism and Nonviolence 2024-08, Vol.2 (2), p.213-232
• Main Author: Cole, Juan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2772-7874; 2772-7882
• DOI: 10.1163/27727882-bja00024

Abstract Qur'ān 41:33–35 instructs that believers should return the greater or greatest good for acts of evil, and the commentators recognize that it is a counsel to nonviolence on the part of individuals. It is one of a series of peace verses in the Muslim scripture. The place of these ethical commandments in Muslim traditions has been little studied in the Western academy. This article focuses on prominent thinkers of Nishapur and Shiraz who laid the foundations for classical Sufism. The indigenous Muslim roots of Sufism and its tie to formal Islamic texts are increasingly underlined by scholars. All three of the figures on which we concentrate authored substantial commentaries on the Qur'ān, and all three found this passage important for their ethical frameworks. For medieval Sufi thinkers Qur'ān 41:33–35 opened up the possibility of peace and reconciliation after conflict in society, whether within Sufi study circles or in wider urban environments, including both elite strata and that of urban artisans and youth.