Religiously based nonviolence varies in motive intent and interpretation. John Howard Yoder
outlines a variety of religious nonviolence in his book Nevertheless.Muslim nonviolence is not
addressed in the book. Identifying a distinctly Muslim understanding of nonviolence requires an
appreciation of aspects of peace building that are emphasized in Islam. Muhammad Abu-Nimer has
formed a framework for identifying and encouraging nonviolence and peace building in an Islamic
context. By applying the basic outlines formulated by Yoder and the framework developed by
Abu-Nimer to three cases of Muslim movements of nonviolence this paper identifies distinct
variations of religious nonviolence and peace building that have been developed and practiced
by Muslims. The first case is historic the Khudai Khudmatgar sought independence from Great
Britain through nonviolent demonstrations and civil disobedienced.
