Islam and Religious Pluralism

The paper argues on the use of esotericism through which religious pluralism is comprehended as a feasible philosophy for understanding the existence of plural religions. Yet, Ibn ÑArabÊ’s connection to the philosophy however is debatable. The issues at hand are; what is esotericism, and what is/are its special character/s? Why did Ibn ÑArabÊ choose esotericism over other approaches? How has IbnÑArabÊ’s esoteric approach been instrumental in supporting the philosophy of religious pluralism? Considering the unique and exclusive nature of esotericism, would religious pluralism be a compatible philosophy to resolve an exoteric problem posed by the existence of plural and diverse forms of religions? Above all, by taking his voluminous works into account how do we rightly understand Ibn ÑArabÊ and underscore his contributions in providing an alternative for comprehending the diversity of religions.

"The purpose of this article is to determine the extent, if any, of schismatic Christian influences on the Qur’an’s misunderstanding about the nature of Christ. It will identify the dissonant Christian groups present in Arabia at the time of Muhammad, as well as discuss their Christological views, the probability of Muhammad’s contact with them, and the likelihood that Muhammad borrowed from these groups in creating the Qur’anic view of Jesus. In the end, it is probable that the Qur’an partially, though not consistently, reflects some of the competing Christologies among Christian schismatics in Arabia at the time of Muhammad" (taken from the introduction).

This article considers the traditional Islamic narrative in the light of the theory of religion espoused by John Hick (1922–2012). We see how the Islamic narrative changes on a Hickean understanding of religion, particularly in the light of the ‘bottom-up’ approach and trans-personal conception of the religious ultimate that it espouses. Where the two readings of Islam appear to conflict, I suggest how they can be reconciled. I argue that if Hick’s theory is incompatible with Islamic belief, then this incompatibility does not manifest itself at the level of belief in the narrative.

This study explores the practices of the Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to establish a peaceful and diverse society with special reference to Methāq-e-Madīnah and its significance and application in contemporary socio-political context. Theoretically, the effort and dream to establish a peaceful and diverse society have been a matter of concern for the humanity from the ancient times. But it has become the most significant and burning issue of the contemporary global scenario. Ultimately, the human intellectual and physical development is based upon peace and peaceful coexistence. Therefore, a number of religious and socio-political scholars have been tried to establish a peaceful and diverse society in different phases of the human history. Practically, the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) has made a unique and distinct contribution towards developing a peaceful and diverse society for 1,400 years ago, though he led or had been the part of multiethnic society of different faiths in the state of Madīnah. In order to establish a peaceful and pleasant relationship between Muslims and other communities of Madīnah, an agreement was signed which was titled Methāq-e-Madīnah. The Charter of Madīnah contained certain principles and regulations that are mandatory for a peaceful living in a diverse state or society. This charter is an excellent model for peace, prosperity, religious freedom, and human rights in the human history. According to this charter, all groups were free to exercise their religious beliefs and social and economic interests. According to this agreement, Madīnah was declared a federal capital of the state. This agreement had provided equal rights, religious autonomy, and socio-cultural freedom to all other groups of the Madīnah (Jews, Christians, and polytheists). Therefore, it is perceived that the Charter of Madīnah may become a preamble for peaceful coexistence in this multicultural and multifaith world of the contemporary era. In this study, analytical research methodology has been adopted with qualitative approach.
prophet approach, peaceful and diverse society, Methāq-e-Madīnah, modern era

This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by the Religious Matters in an Entangled World program, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Public manifestations of Islam remain fiercely contested across the Global West. Studies to date have focused on the visual presence of Islam – the construction of mosques or the veiling of Muslim women. Amplifying Islam in the European Soundscape is the first book to add a sonic dimension to analyses of the politics of Islamic aesthetics in Europe.

Sound does not respect public/private boundaries, and people experience sound viscerally. As such, the public amplification of the azan, the call to prayer, offers a unique opportunity to understand what is at stake in debates over religious toleration and secularism. The Netherlands were among the first European countries to allow the amplification of the azan in the 1980s, and Pooyan Tamimi Arab explores this as a case study embedded in a broader history of Dutch religious pluralism.

The book offers a pointed critique of social theories that regard secularism as all-encompassing. While cultural forms of secularism exclude Muslim rights to public worship, Amplifying Islam in the European Soundscape argues that political and constitutional secularism also enables Muslim demands for amplifying calls to prayer. It traces how these exclusions and inclusions are effected through proposals for mosques, media debates, law and policy, but also in negotiations on the ground between residents, municipalities and mosques.

In Late Antiquity, ethno-religious diversity emerged as a defining feature of the Mediterranean, a region set at the conjunction of Europe, Africa and Western Asia, and home to Hellenism and the Abrahamic religions. As a consequence of environmental, geographic, and historical factors, societies developed in which an array of dominations of Muslims, Christians and Jews lived together. While ideological currents mitigated for the marginalization and segregation of minorities, pragmatism demanded flexibility in ethno-religious relations. In the common Mediterranean environment minority and majority groups in both Christian and Islamic developed similar strategies and approaches vis-à-vis ethno-religious, and whereas repression and violence against minorities occurred in certain circumstances, generally accommodation of subject out-groups was the rule. These conditions persisted into the early Modern Period, when the emergence of notions of race and national identity provoked a reconfiguration of ethno-religious relations through much of the region.

Current social, economic, cultural and political conditions have made pluralism a positive value today. Since religion continues to be an important political and social force, there is the need for discussing the role of religious communities in fostering religious pluralism in the global context.  While the discussion may have bearing on different religious communities, the focus of the paper is on Ismaili Muslim community. Religious education has been a very imp site for the debates concerning social cohesion in a pluralist society. Using qualitative research methods this empirical study examined the impact of an international religious teacher education programme offered by the Ismaili Muslim community in London on Ismaili Muslim students’ attitude towards religious diversity. Findings indicate that the Ismaili Muslim students were ‘selective pluralists’. At the beginning of the programme the participants viewed religious diversity positively on theological, humanistic and instrumental grounds but were selective about how they embraced it. After a year into the programme their attitudes seemed to be informed of academic perspectives resulting in increased understanding of and openness towards religious diversity, while strengthening their identity as the Ismaili Muslims. As a minority within Islam they continued to demonstrate selective pluralism characterized by ambivalence and instrumentalism.

Buck, Christopher. “The Constitutionality of Teaching Islam: The University of North Carolina Qur’an Controversy.” Essay VIII. Observing the Observer: The State of Islamic Studies in American Universities. Edited by Mumtaz Ahmad, Zahid H. Bukhari and Sulayman S. Nyang. Herndon, VA: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2012. Pp. 137–177.

Review: The editors describe Christopher Buck’s essay as the first comprehensive treatment of the 2002 University of North Carolina controversy, characterized by Michael Sells as “suing the Koran on behalf of the Bible” (pp. xxiii and 138). This narrative-cum-analytic essay by an attorney and independent scholar documents an important post-9/11 controversy at a major university and demonstrates that even the academic study of Islam is not safe from what some observers have called the “Islamophobia industry.” (Usaama al-Azami, Review of Observing the Observer: The State of Islamic Studies in American Universities (2012). The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 30:3 (2013): 94–97 [96].)

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The article explores the changes experienced by the native Christians of Jerusalem (and environs) from the end of the First Crusader Kingdom in 1187 to the  occupation of the region by the Egyptian Mamluks in 1260. The communities covered at the Melkites, Syrian Jacobites, Georgians, and Armenians.  The article describes the reasons why and how the monophysite Jacobites benefited most from the  transition to Muslim under Saladin and his successors, and why the Melkites were unable to gain much advantage, and why the Latin Church (in Acre) hesitated to return officially to Jerusalem. Military and religious politics provide many of the explanations for these shifts.
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Buku ini membahas tentang pemikiran Syeikh Nawawi Banten tentang penganut agama lain, khususnya Yahudi dan Kristen. Untuk mengungkap gagasan ulama terkenal dari Banten ini, Asep Muhamad Iqbal memfokuskan analisisnya atas karya terpenting Nawawi Banten, yakni tafsir berbahasa Arab setebal dua jilid yang dinamakannya Marāh Labīd (terbit pertama kali di Mekah sekitar tahun 1884). Tafsir ini menempati tempat yang penting dalam sejarah tafsir Al-Quran di dunia Melayu-Indonesia setelah Tarjumān al-Mustafīd karya Abdul Rauf Singkil (ditulis sekitar tahun 1675). Sejauh ini, ia merupakan tafsir berbahasa Arab pertama yang pernah ditulis oleh ulama Nusantara. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan tematik dan analisis filologis-kesejarahan, penulis buku ini berhasil mempersembahkan dalam suatu kategorisasi yang menarik pemikiran Syeikh Nawawi Banten seputar penganut Yahudi dan Kristen sebagaimana terrefleksikan dalam tafsirnya. Buku ini penting dalam beberapa. Pertama, dalam perspektif yang lebih luas, ia merupakan upaya berharga untuk menjelaskan pemikiran ulama Nusantara yang terlibat dalam jaringan ulama internasional, khususnya ulama Nusantara di Mekah pada abad sembilan belas, yang selama ini dirasakan kurang memperoleh perhatian memadai dari sarjana keislaman. Kedua, buku ini memberi sumbangan berharga terhadap kajian pemikiran Syeikh Nawawi Banten, ulama yang besar peranannya bagi perkembangan wacana keislaman di dunia pesantren wilayah Melayu-Indonesia sampai sekarang. Ketiga, pembahasan buku ini tentang perspektif Muslim atas penganut Yahudi dan Kristen secara jelas berhasil mengungkapkan pandangan ulama Nusantara abad sembilan belas tersebut tentang penganut agama-agama lain dan sekaligus kontribusi bagi wacana dialog antaragama yang sedang dipromosikan dalam dekade-dekade terakhir ini. Singkat kata, kehadiran buku ini merupakan sumbangan bagi kajian warisan keislaman Nusantara abad sembilan belas dan menambah jajaran karya tentang sambutan bagi wacana dialog antaragama dalam perspektif Muslim.

Reset Dialogues in partnership with the King Abdul-Aziz Al Saoud Foundation for Islamic Studies and Human Sciences and the Granada Institute for Higher Education and Research, are pleased to present this international symposium that was made possible also thanks to the support of Henry Luce Foundation’s Initiative on Religion in International Affairs, Nomis Foundation and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As a global religion, Islam and its jurisprudence have offered heterogeneous responses to a range of questions facing different faiths and communities. Modernity imposed new questions upon religious scholars, theologians and philosophers, demanding of them a new version of pluralism in the theological and political arenas. While doctrinal or philosophical exclusivism rejects “the other” in theory — and frequently in practice, too — inclusivism connotes the accommodation and toleration of difference. But if that means the reluctant acceptance of difference within a hierarchy of worldviews, inclusion may not be enough to create more egalitarianism within modern multicultural societies. Modern pluralism might come to mean, instead, a robust appreciation of human diversity and values.

My English translation of an excerpt from Al-Islah al-Islami al-Mu'asir: Qira'at Manhajiyyah Ijtima'iyyah (Cairo: IIIT, 2011) by AbdulHamid AbuSulayman. A complement to the work above by Taha Jabir Alwani, this essay sets out to correct common misconceptions, held by Muslims and non-Muslims alike, about the Islamic teaching concerning those who leave Islam due to a change of personal doctrinal belief. I do not subscribe to all the author says, but his work is an important and much needed corrective to the ongoing exchange of information in our day of growing global interdependence on all levels.

قضية التعددية الدينية وبناء التسامح بين الأديان
محمد أديب فؤادي نورز

ملخص
أصبحت التعددية الدينية في القرن المعاصر قضية رئيسية في بناء التسامح الديني بين الأمة المتدينة وفي خلق الانسجام وسط المجتمع والدولة. وكان ظهور صراع بين الأديان في المجتمع لتصبح أمرا مهما بالنسبة للأشخاص حتى الزعماء الدينيين كما دعا الأكاديميين لتقديم فكرة لحل المشكلة. وظهور فكرة "التعددية الدينية"  تعد كالفكرة البديلة في بناء التسامح الديني. ولكن من الأسف أن التعددية الدينية يتضمن مشكلة عقدية واجتماعية وقد انتقد العلماء المسلمون على هذه الفكرة الخطيرة. إن هذه الدراسة هي دراسة مكتبية باستخدام المنهج الوصفي والتحليل النقدي. وجد الباحث أن التعددية الدينية بالإضافة إلى احتواء المشكلة في المعنى وإنها مخلاف للاهوت الأديان، هي أيضا ليست في خط واحد مع بناء التسامح الدين. التعددية الدينية حقيقتها عقيدة المساواة بين الأديان مبدؤها من الفلسفة النسبية وهدفها هي القضاء على الحقيقة الدينية. لذلك، هذا المذهب هو مخالف لمفهوم التسامح الديني. وعلى النقيض من المفهوم الإسلامي للتسامح الديني، يرى الإسلام التنوع الديني والثقافة والثقافة كسنة وقوانين من الله عزّ وجلّ، وتشجع الإسلام أمته على احترام الأديان الأخرى وعطاء الحقوق والحرية الدينية، وبناء حياة السلام بين الأديان المختلفة. ويؤكد هذا البحث أن مفهوم التسامح في الإسلام يمكن أن تكون بمثابة نموذج لبناء التسامح بين الأديان.
كلمة السر: التعددية، الأديان، التسامح الديني

"Che effetto fa la tolleranza? L’Islam e il pluralismo religioso. Tavola rotonda con la partecipazione di Nibras Breigheche, Erminia Camassa, Massimo Campanini, Adel Jabbar", in Paolo Costa (a cura di), "Tolleranza e riconoscimento", Edizioni Dehoniane, Bologna 2014, pp. 177-182 e 200-202

نویسنده‌ی مقاله معتقد‌است که تقویت هویت مذهبی افغانستان که عالمان دین میانه‌رو حنفی نقش حیاتی در آن دارند، می‌تواند زمینه‌ی شکل‌گیری یک هویت ملی را در این کشور، که امروز توافق کامل بر سر موجودیت آن نیست، فراهم کند. ترور عالمان دین میانه‌رو در افغانستان در کنار تضعیف تلاش‌ها برای تقویت هویت مذهبی افغانستان آهنگ مبارزه با تندروی و قرائت خشونت‌طلبانه از دین را، که این کشور به شدت نیازمند ادامه آن است، کند می‌سازد. دکتر محمد ایاز نیازی، خطیب نامدار مسجد جامع وزیراکبرخان واستاد دانشگاه کابل، تنها عالم دین میانه‌رو حنفی نیست که به شکل فجیعی در انفجاری درداخل مسجد کشته می‌شود و آخرین هم نخواهد بود. با توجه به مخاطبان و شنوندگان بی‌شماری که  او داشت، نویسنده مقاله که هم‌دانشگاهی او بوده، به این باوراست که این دانش‌آموخته‌ی دانشگاه الازهر از طریق محراب و منبر، دانشگاه و تلویزیون بیشتر از هر عالم‌دین حنفی میانه‌رو دیگری در راستای نشر تعالیم مذهب حنفی در افغانستان کوشید. او دوم ماه جون ۲۰۲۰ ترور شد.

Tulisan ini bertajuk 'Muslim yang Tersadarkan' (diterjemahkan ulang dari artikel berbahasa Inggris, Muslim Conscientization, dipresentasikan oleh penulis di CAIS-ANU). Tulisan ini memotret ekspresi para sarjana yang mengajukan gagasan mengenai Ummah yang kosmopolitan namun juga pluralis, progresif dan ijtihadis. Para sarjana dan gagasannya yang dibicarakan adalah James Piscatori, Amin Saikal, Bernard Lewis, Olivier Roy dan Asef Bayat.

Pluralisme agama, di negeri ini, merupakan realitas empirik yang tidak bisa dipungkiri. Pluralisme, karena itu, sejak dulu dikenal sebagai potensi berbangsa dan bernegara, sehingga founding fathers menetapkan negara ini bukan menjadi negara agama atau negara sekuler. Pilihannya berada tepat di tengah-tengah antara keduanya. Pilihan untuk menjadi negara non-agama waktu itu memang memberikan dasar-dasar yang kuat bagi bangsa ini untuk bersikap toleran, menghargai kepelbagaian dan menjunjung tinggi perbedaan itu. Sedangkan pilihan untuk tidak menjadi negara sekuler, jelas membuktikan bahwa negeri ini rakyatnya bisa dibilang religious society, masyarakat yang ber-Tuhan, bukan anti Tuhan. Kecermatan dan kecerdasan founding fathers merumuskan dengan apik apa yang menjadi kebutuhan bersama seperti itu ternyata dibabat habis oleh lahirnya sebuah rezim otoriter yang berkuasa selama kurang lebih 32 tahun. Oleh sebab itu, bolehlah dikatakan bahwa rezim Orde Baru memang berhasil dalam menjadikan agama sebagai ideologi massa, bukan sebagai agen transformasi masyarakat. Dengan situasi seperti itu, agama yang diharapkan memiliki peran strategis dalam merespons masalah-masalah sosial-kemanusiaan yang terjadi di masyarakat akhirnya mandul. Keadaan semacam itu, di samping memang didikan rezim Orde Baru, juga dikukuhkan oleh pendidikan di sekolah-sekolah, terutama pendidikan agama yang membekali para siswa dan mahasiswa dengan mental yang amat kerdil dan berpikiran negatif terhadap orang lain. Pendidikan di sekolah, baik pendidikan sejarah, geografi, pancasila (kewarganegaraan) hingga pendidikan agama itu sendiri, menciptakan siswa maupun mahasiswa yang hanya berpikiran searah, tidak memungkinkan alternatif-alternatif yang lebih baik, apalagi progresif. Pendidikan agama di sekolah-sekolah adalah pendidikan agama yang bersifat ideologis-otoriter. Tidak ada nuansa dialog di sana. Pendidikan agama diajarkan secara literer, formalistik, sehingga wawasan pluralisme yang menjadi realitas masyarakat kita tidak tampak sama sekali. Di sinilah, pentingnya kita " gugat " pendidikan agama model lama tersebut, untuk kemudian dirumuskan semacam kerangka baru, sehingga pendidikan agama memang masih penting dibicarakan di negeri pluralis ini. Masalah pluralisme agama yang pada awalnya biasa saja, akhirnya menjadi masalah yang sangat dilematik dan problematik. Pluralisme agama yang mula-mula hanya " fakta sosiologis " berubah menjadi masalah teologis sejak zaman Nabi, dan sekarang menjadi masalah oleh sebagian kelompok di bangsa ini. Sehingga muncullah fatwa MUI yang mengharamkan pluralisme, sekularisme dan liberalisme agama. Maraknya konflik kekerasan akhir-akhir ini, mendorong para agamawan mempertanyakan kembali bagaimana konsep tentang pluralisme agama, dan 1 Tulisan dibuat 2008 untuk konferensi nasional JARIK di Jakarta

Sufism is often presented as the tolerant face of Islam, and Sufis as being more open to religious pluralism than non-Sufi Muslims. In this context, the works of Ibn ‘Arabī (d. 1240) are regularly cited as a model, in both western academic scholarship and modern Islamic reformist thought. This article seeks to test the validity of the notion that the Ibn ‘Arabian Sufi tradition adopts a more benevolent, tolerant, or pluralistic view of other religions. To this end, it takes as a case study the late 14th, early-15th century, Yemen-based Ibn ‘Arabian Sufi ‘Abd al-Karīm al-Jīlī’s treatment of other religions – particularly Judaism and Christianity – in his major work, 'al-Insān al-kāmil fī ma‘rifat al-awākhir wa-al-awā’il'. It suggests that while al-Jīlī’s Ibn ‘Arabian Sufi metaphysics leads him to adopt what can be called a more benevolent view of other religions than that found in more orthodox Islamic thought in the pre-modern period, at the same time al-Jīlī's view of other religions does not constitute an unlimited religious pluralism, for he was a committed Muslim who believed in the superiority of Islam over other religions.