The Legitimacy of Use of Force in Public and Islamic International Law

Mohammad Sabuj

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

Authority to use force has been a subject of contentious debate among academics, politicians, and lawyers. This debate has developed a fundamental question of ‘the legitimacy of the use of force’ by states and armed non-state actors based on Muslim states. In the twenty-first Century most international, non-international armed conflicts have involved Muslim states and these conflicts raised the question of the legitimacy of use of force, namely where does the legitimacy of the use of force lie – Public or Islamic international law? This question is being asked in the context of the use of force against Muslim states and armed non-state actors functioning from those states. The question of the legitimacy of use of force following the 9/11 terrorist attack, invasion of Afghanistan, and Iraq war has turned towards a new direction where Muslim states and armed non-state actors approach this question in the context of the legal-political legacies of the use of force at the domestic and international levels. This book addresses the legitimacy question from the context of the legal and political legacies created by the extraterritorial and internal use of force. Hence it offers a different way of understanding and interpreting the use of force. It examines the legal and political accounts given by state authorities and leaders of armed non-state actors to justify internal and extraterritorial use of force. This examination includes the legal position of the use of force in Public and Islamic international law and the political legacies developed by these potentially two conflicting legal systems. During this examination, this book addresses the necessity of political authority as an argument for the legitimate use of force. It argues that Public international law on the use of force suffers from legitimacy deficits which can be overcome by taking a coherent approach to the use of force in conjunction with Islamic law.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationUnited Kingdom
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Publication statusPublished - 26 Jun 2021

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