Theological Foundations of Peace and War in Alavi Tradition

Among different approaches toward investigating peace and war in Alavi Tradition (including social, historical, legal and jurisprudential approaches), the theological approach has a critical importance. The current research has adopted an analytical view and relied on historical documents and sources to investigate the theological roots and foundations of peace and war in Alavi tradition. The findings revealed that most important theological foundations of peace and war in this tradition are divine mercy, introducing monotheism, contrast between truth and false (right and wrong), contrast between guidance and deviation and defending Islamic doctrines, prophetic tradition and divine order based upon confronting the reneger.  It is concluded that these principles show the priority of peace over war in Alavi tradition, where war is only permitted only under necessity.