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Newsletter for April 2012
Islam And Pluralism
By Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer
Today's world
is fast becoming pluralist with variety of religions, languages
and cultures in one country particularly due to fast developing
processes of modernization, liberalisation and globalisation.
Also, feudal socio-economic and socio-political structures have
either crumbled or crumbling very fast in the third world also
of course with certain exceptions. In the past there was no
concept of civil society at all and the state was all powerful.
The subjects people did not enjoy any rights, they had to
discharge only duties towards the state. The modern democratic
state, on the other hand, has to concede well defined rights to
the citizens. The civil society has its own autonomy in a
democratic set up and the notion of human rights has acquired
great significance.
The notion of
human rights is quite fundamental to a society which is
pluralistic. All religious, linguistic and cultural groups
should enjoy well defined rights and should not live at the
mercy of the state or the majority community. Thus it will be
seen that the notion of civil society is very fundamental to the
modern pluralist society. It is unfortunate that the Islamic
world is yet to cope up with the notion of civil society. Most
of the Islamic countries do not have full fledged democracy and
there is no respect for human rights in these countries. In fact
most of the rulers condemn human rights as a western notion and
some, even 'un-Islamic'.
Here it is
important to examine, from theological perspective, what is
attitude of Islam towards pluralism? Does Islam approve of
pluralism or promotes a monolithic society? Also, when we talk
of pluralism, are we referring to political pluralism or
religious and cultural pluralism? As far as this paper goes we
are referring to religious and cultural pluralism though
political pluralism has its own importance, it is very seminal
for religious and cultural pluralism.
If one goes by
the Qur'anic pronouncements Islam not only accepts the
legitimacy of religious pluralism but considers it quite central
to its system of beliefs. There are very clear statements to
this effect. First we will refer to the verse 5:48 in this
respect. The verse goes as follows:" Unto every one of you We
have appointed a (different) law and way of life. And if Allah
had so willed, He could surely have made you all one single
community: but (He willed it otherwise) in order to test you by
means of what He has given you. Vie, then, with one another in
doing good works! Unto Allah you all must return; and then He
will make you truly understand all that on which you were wont
to differ."
This is very
seminal statement in favour of religious and legal pluralism
which Muslims, specially the Muslim regimes, have not considered
seriously. Many classical as well as modern commentators have
commented on this significant verse. The most significant and
operative part of this verse is "Unto every one of you have We
appointed a (different) law and way of life. The term `every one
of you' obviously denotes different communities. Every community
- obviously religious or religio-cultural community - has its
own law (shir`atan) and its own way of life (minhaj) and i
attains its spiritual growth in keeping with this law and way of
life of its own. The term shir`ah or shari`ah signifies,
literally, "the way to a watering place" (from which men and
animals derive the element indispensable to their life), and in
the Qur'an to denote a system of law necessary for a community's
social and spiritual welfare. The term minhaj on the other hand,
denotes an `open road' that is a way of life. (See Muhammad Asad,
The Message of the Qur'an, Gibraltar, 1980, PP-153)
Thus it will be
seen that the prophets of Allah sent to different communities (ummah)
gave laws and indicated way of life to their people in keeping
with their genius and that which could ensure their spiritual
and material growth. This is further emphasised in the next part
of the verse i.e. "And if Allah had so willed, He could surely
have made you all one single community'. It was not difficult
for Allah to make entire mankind one community. But Allah graced
us with pluralism as it adds richness and variety to life. Each
community has its own unique way of life, its own customs and
tradition, its own law. But these laws or way of life should be
such as to ensure growth and enriching of life, howsoever
different and unique they might be. Allah does not want to
impose one law on all and creates communities rather than
community.
Allah has
created different communities on purpose: to try and test human
beings in what has been given to them (i.e. different
scriptures, laws and ways of life). And that test is to live in
peace and harmony with each other which is the will of Allah.
The differences of laws and ways of life should not become cause
of disharmony and differences. What is desirable for human
beings is to live with these differences and vie with one
another in good deeds.
In the last
part of the verse Allah says that unto Him all will return and
it is He who "will make you truly understand all that on which
you were wont to differ." Thus it is not for human beings to
decide for themselves who is right and who is wrong. It will
lead to disturbances and breach of peace. Thus it should be left
to Allah to decide when they return unto Him. The human beings
should only vie one with the other in good deeds. I think the
Qur'an is pioneering in this idea. It is the best way to do away
with inter-religious and inter-cultural conflict and to promote
acceptance of the `religious and cultural other' with dignity
and grace.
This verse has
also another important dimension. It leads to what some scholars
like Shah Waliyullah and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad from India have
described as the concept of wahdat-e-Din i.e. unity of religion.
The earlier part of this verse (5:48) says, "And We have
revealed to thee the Book with the truth, verifying that which
is before it of the Book and a guardian (muhayman) over it."
This is also very significant pronouncement and most modern in
its approach. The Qur'an has thus come to vouchsafe for what was
revealed earlier to different communities through their
prophets. The shari`ah, the law and the way of life may be
different as we have discussed above, but the essence of all
religions - Din - is the same. All religions are based on the
revelation from Allah. The Qur'an has come to be guardian of
earlier truth revealed through other scriptures.
This is
inclusive approach and is very vital for acceptance of the
'religious other'. The laws, the ways of life, may differ and
yet din, the divine essence, the divine truth, is the same. It
is reflected in all religions, in all spiritual traditions and
we humans have no right to reject the 'other' as illegitimate,
much less, false. Thus it is our human ego which rejects the
religious other and not the falsity of other faith traditions.
The Qur'an has named several prophets and the list of prophets
in the Qur'an is illustrative, not exhaustive. Thus more faith
traditions could be included in the list of those mentioned by
the Qur'anic commentators. The sufi saints from India were
inclined to include Indian religions also.
The Qur'anic
pluralism finds different expressions in different places. The
Qur'an does not maintain that there could be only one way of
prayer to Allah. There could be more than one. Thus the Qur'an
says: "For each community there is direction in which it turns,
so vie with one another in good works." (2:148) All commentators
from companions of the Prophet down to others interpret this as
a reference to the various religious communities and their
different modes of `turning towards God' in worship. Ibn Kathir,
in his commentary on this verse, stresses its inner
resemblance's to the phrase occurring in 5:48 (discussed above)
"Unto every one of you have We appointed a (different) law and
way of life".
This verse
clearly refers to different directions different religious
communities have adopted whereto they turn for prayer. All of
them, however, submit to God and pray to Him. The Qur'an conveys
that the direction of the prayer, whatever its symbolic value
for a religious community, does not represent the essence of the
prayer or faith. This is further corroborated by the Qur'an in
the verse 2:177.
This verse also
makes a very significant statement: "It is not righteousness
that you turn your faces towards the East and the West, but
righteousness is the one who believes in Allah, and the Last
Day, and the angels and the Book and the prophets, and gives
away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the
orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to these who ask and
to set slaves free and keeps up prayer and pays the poor rate;
and the performers of their promise when they make a promise,
and the patient in distress and affliction and in the time of
conflict; and these are they who keep their duty."
Thus the above
verse proves beyond any doubt that the real aim of the Qur'an is
to produce an ideal human person who is virtuous, is sensitive
to others suffering and hence spends of his wealth on the needy,
on setting slaves free, taking care of orphans, is true to his
word and is patient in times of distress and conflict. And only
such persons are truly muttaqun i.e. God conscious and keepers
of their duty to Allah. This verse too, needless to say, lends
great support to the basic premise of religious pluralism by de-emphasising
a particular way of prayer and extolling the importance of human
conduct and sensitivity to others suffering and ones own
steadfastness in the face of calamities and afflictions.
The Qur'an does
not take narrow sectarian view as many theologians tend to do.
Its view is very broad humanitarian and its emphasis is not on
dogmas but on good deeds. And it strongly condemns evil deeds
which harms the society and humanity at large. In this respect
also it makes no distinction between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Thus the Qur'an says in 4:123: "It will not be in accordance
with your vain desires nor the vain desires of the people of the
Book. Whoever does evil, will be requited for it and will not
find for himself besides Allah a friend or a helper." Thus no
one, Muslim or the people of the Book, can claim any exception
from this iron law of Allah; one who does good will be rewarded
and one who does evil will be punished. Elsewhere the Qur'an
states, "So he who does an atom's weight of good will see it and
he who does an atom's weight of evil will see it." (99:7)
The Qur'an is
very particular about freedom of conscience and freedom of
conscience is key to pluralism. The Qur'an clearly states that
there is no compulsion in religion (2:256) and maintains that
all children of Adam are honourable (17:70). It does admit of
inter-religious dialogue but with decorum: "And argue not with
the People of the Book except by what is best, save such of
them, as act unjustly. And Say: We believe in that which has
been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your
God is One, and to Him we submit." (29:46)
The Qur'an lays
great stress on unity of humankind. It says in 2:213, "Mankind
is a single nation. So Allah raised prophets as bearers of good
news and as warners, and He revealed with them the Book with
truth, that it might judge between people concerning that in
which they differed. And none but the very people who were given
it differed about it after clear arguments had come to them,
envying one another. So Allah has guided by His will those who
believe to the truth about which they differed."
This whole
verse is suffused with the spirit of pluralism and freedom of
belief and conscience. According to this verse entire mankind is
one but different prophets in their given situations come with
revealed scriptures to guide them or warn them and thus,
depending on their specific situation, different ways of life
emerge. But then people start differing from each other and
envying one another instead of respecting each others
specificity and this people get divided. That is not the purpose
of divine guidance. Allah guides those who believe to the truth
about which they differed.
The theme of
oneness of humankind is repeated in the Qur'an in different
ways. We are told that all human beings have been "created of a
single soul" (4:1); again that they are all descended from the
same parents (49:13); still again that they are as it were
dwellers in one home, having the same earth as a resting place
and the same heaven as a canopy.
Apart from
oneness of humankind the Qur'an also lays stress on racial,
linguistic and national identities. These identities are
projected as signs of God. "And of His signs", the Qur'an says,
"And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth
and the diversity of your tongues and colours. Surely there are
signs in this for the learned." (30:22) Thus diversity is
projected by the Qur'an as sign of God and hence to be
respected. Different identities are for recognition and hence
necessary. In the verse 49:13 it is said, "O mankind, surely We
have created you from a male and a female, and made you nations
and tribes that you may know each other." Thus national and
tribal or for that matter other identities are necessary for
knowing each other and it should not lead to any conflict. Thus
different identities are product of national and tribal
diversities and play a useful social role. Thus the Qur'an
clearly accepts the legitimacy of diversity.
It also makes
it clear quite forcefully that all places of worship should be
respected and protected. The Qur'an states, "And if Allah did
not repeal some people by others, cloisters, and churches, and
synagogues, and mosques in which Allah's name is much
remembered, would have been pulled down." (22:40) It is
significant that Qur'an maintains that be it church or synagogue
or mosque, Allah's name is much remembered in these places. No
single religious place is being privileged in this respect. Thus
here too religious pluralism is stressed.
The Prophet of
Islam when he migrated from Mecca to Medina found himself in a
pluralist situation. There was religious as well as tribal
diversity. He not only accepted this diversity but legitimised
it by drawing up an agreement with different religious and
tribal groups and accorded them, through this agreement, a
dignified existence and rights of their own. this agreement is
known in history of Islam as Misaq-i-Madina.
It begins thus:
In the name of
God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!
This is writing
of Muhammad the prophet between the believers and Muslims of
Quraysh and Yathrib (Madina) and those who follow them and are
attached to them and who crusade along with them. They are a
single community distinct from other people."
This agreement
can be called the constitution of Madina and it was definitely a
milestone which sought to lay the foundation of a new political
and religious culture. What is significant to note in this
agreement is that all together - Muslims of Quraysh from Mecca,
Muslims of Madina belonging to the tribes of Aws and Khazraj and
Jews belonging to different tribes - together constituted a
single community - an Ummah. The agreement was also quite
democratic in spirit. The Holy Prophet did not claim to be the
ruler of this community. The emigrants (Muhajirs) were, in fact,
treated as a clan, and the Prophet was their chief, and there
were eight other clans with their chiefs. If the Constitution is
a good evidence at this point, he was only marked off from other
clan chiefs on two counts: firstly that for the group of
believers i.e. Muslims he was a prophet and whatever was
revealed to him was binding on the believers; secondly, the
Constitution states that 'whatever there is anything about which
you differ, it is to be referred to God and to Muhammad'. The
idea seems that the holy Prophet should act as arbitrator
between rival factions and maintain peace in Madina. The Qur'an
also describes as one of the functions of the prophet as an
arbiter. It says: "And for every nation there is a messenger. So
when their messenger comes, the matter is decided between them
with justice , and they are not wronged." (10:48)
It is
interesting to note that the eminent Muslim theologians of India
represented by Jami'at ul-'Ulama-i-Hind had cited this
constitution of Madina drawn up by the holy Prophet in support
of their acceptance of composite nationalism. They opposed
separate nationalism based on religion advocated by the Muslim
League. They argued, citing the Constitution of Madina, that the
Prophet had accepted different religious and tribal groups as
part of a single community - ummah wahidah . The Medinese
society was, thus, a democratic civil society which had tribal,
religious and racial diversity.
The modern
democratic civil society cannot become a strong stable and
prosperous conflict free society unless religious diversity or
pluralism is accepted as legitimate way of life. It is
unfortunate that most of the Muslim countries do not adhere to
this spirit of pluralism and diversity in the Qur'an and sunnah.
The extremists and fundamentalists among the Muslims in these
countries attack the spirit of pluralism and want to create a
monolithic society.
Many
socio-political doctrines which we consider as 'pure Islamic'
and worthy of emulation today developed during medieval age when
mulukiyat (personal and monarchical power structure) had become
all pervasive and the Qur'anic values and Islamic spirit were
hardly practiced. There was of course no question of any concept
of civil society because the ruler was all powerful and followed
his own personal whims or went by compulsions of power rather
than the injunctions of the Qur'an. Also the arrogance of power
and all pervasive authoritarian atmosphere also influenced for
formulation of Islamic political doctrines. These medieval
doctrines can hardly have any validity today.
It is for the
Islamic political theorists of today to develop new political
theories which are in keeping with the Qur'anic injunctions and
sunnah on one hand, and takes the realities of modern world, on
the other. There need not be any sharp contradiction between the
two. The concept of civil society which respects autonomy of a
citizen and his/her religious, cultural and political rights
does not, as shown above, in any way, contradictory to the
Qur'anic injunctions. Human rights respect the dignity and
freedom of conscience of every individual. The Qur'an clearly
states that all children of Adam have been honoured (17:70).
This of course includes right to live with dignity and to
promote ones own religious, cultural and linguistic or ethnic
interests.
We must enter
the 21st century not with the imitative (taqlidi) mind set but
with a creative and critical mind set which, while adhering to
the Qur'anic values, enables us to live freer life and life of
full dignity while, at the same time, accepting the dignity of
the other. The Qur'an, accepted, fourteen hundred years ago, the
Christian other and the Jewish other with full dignity and
respect for their beliefs. It was later accepted to the
Zoroastrians and even Berbers. Many 'ulama and the Sufi saints,
extended it to the Hindus also.
It is
interesting to note that the words 'kafir' and 'mushrik' have
definite historical connotation and should be used with great
caution and restraint. Unfortunately many Muslims use these
terms very loosely and describe every religious other as kafir
or mushrik. These being terms of contempt are resented by
others. Only those who refuse to accept truth in any form and
negate good (ma'ruf) completely and advocate munkar (evil) would
qualify as kafirs and those who refuse oneness of God and
associate partners with Him will qualify as mushrik. And, it is
also important to note, even kafirs and mushriks would have
civil rights as long as they do not cause any disturbances in
society and maintain peace. The Qur'an has given the kuffar also
the right to worship in their own way and have heir own beliefs.
The freedom of conscience cannot be taken away form any human
person, whatever his or her beliefs. Thus it will be seen that
Islam does not come in the way of promoting a pluralist civil
society ensuring dignity and freedom of conscience to all.
But it has yet
to be realised in all Muslim countries. In many Muslim countries
like Turkey and Iraq, let alone non-Muslims, even Muslims of
other nationalities and ethnic origin like the Kurds are
severely persecuted. It is in clear violation of the Qur'anic
injunctions, as pointed out above. An Islamic civil society
should treat all with equal degree of dignity and accord them
equal citizenship rights.
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