ABSTRACT
When violent interreligious conflict erupted in Kaduna, Nigeria, in 1992, Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye were drawn into the fighting, trying to kill each other in the name of religion. After the violence had stopped, the two religious leaders reluctantly agreed to meet. This chapter provides an orientation on some of the specific characteristics and contributions—both formal and material—associated with religious actors in conflict resolution. While religious actors have no magic wand to solve conflicts and while their role must not be overstated, it is clear that they bring significant resources to the field that no one genuinely interested in conflict resolution can afford to ignore. The impact of religious peacemaking and conflict resolution is also more and more being taken into consideration at the international policy-making level. While keeping the plurality of religious actors in mind, we can still point to certain characteristics and contributions common to many of these actors.
