**5. Conclusions**

This research does not respond to the modern challenges with a "yes" or "no", in the juridical logic of *h. alal¯* or *h. aram¯* , permissible or forbidden. Instead, it fits into a different kind of reasoning: the human conscience makes decisions in difficult and complex situations after long deliberation. The text nourishes the ethical conscience but does not replace it. The believing conscience starts from the text to listen to history and respond to the needs of the time. The hermeneutics of the text is not separate from the interpretation of the signs of the times. Islamic nonviolence theology is a reading oriented towards the higher finalities of the Qur" an. It touches the heart of religious reform, which can only be interreligious and ¯ interdisciplinary.

Inclusive and universal peace, the project of radical nonviolence, is found in many religions as a messianic dream, postponed until the end of history and then to Paradise. It is often seen as a meta-historical and eschatological hope. Today, the prevailing opinion is the theory of a just or defensive war, which many religions consider a challenge to be overcome. We sometimes also see a regression back to a preventive and offensive warfare theory. The theory of permanent warfare is not yet dead, and it is found in the form of great or lesser powers that do not even recognize the minimum moral conditions of war. The debate is still open, but the awareness of nonviolence as a fundamental solution to the tragedies of conflict, killings and displacements has begun to crystallize and present itself as an alternative and a new horizon. Can humanity overcome war and violence in the same way as it has overcome slavery? We need to redefine religion and engage in radical reform or a nonviolent spiritual revolution in order to concretize this hope. At the same time, we need to rethink modernity and the economic and political systems that produce violence. Violence and nonviolence today are questions of life and death concerning the survival of humanity and the planet. This urgency forces us to face our historical and collective responsibility: it is not a dream but a roadmap that we should construct together since there are no separate destinies or ways to salvation.

**Funding:** This research was funded by the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose (FSCIRE), 90137 Palermo, Italy.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.
