The Qur'an on Religious Pluralism 192921815X, 9781929218158

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Copyright 1999 by the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs, Georgetown University. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or part, in any form (except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publisher.

Occasional Paper Series

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

Abdulaziz Sachedina Professor of Islamic Studies

University of Virginia

The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 20057

The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs was established in 1993 by Georgetown University and the Fondation pour 1’Entente entre Chretiens et Musulmans, Geneva, to promote dialogue between the two great religions. The Center focuses on the historical, theological, political and cultural encounter of Islam and Christianity, the Muslim world and the West. Located in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, the Center combines teaching, research and public affairs.

The establishment of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown flows from the role of religion in the contemporary international system. Both Georgetown’s Catholic Jesuit heritage and its location in Washington have shaped the University’s abiding interest in the study of religion and international affairs. Islam is one of the great spiritual and social forces in the world today; its influence

and significance will extend

and

develop in the twenty-first century. Thus, the study of Islam at Georgetown encompasses its religious content, its cultural significance and role in international affairs as well as the Christian experience in the Muslim world.

The focus of the Center’s activities, both national and international in scope, is achieved through teaching, symposia, international conferences and extensive media coverage. Center faculty and visiting faculty offer courses on Islam and the history of Muslim Christian relations for undergraduate and graduate students at the University. A broad array of public affairs activities and publications seek to interpret the interaction of the Muslim world and the West

for diverse

communities:

government,

academia,

media, religious communities, and the corporate world.

the

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abdulaziz Sachedina is Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Virginia. He taught as a visiting professor at the University

of Waterloo,

Wilfrid

Laurier,

Haverford

College,

University of Jordan, and McGill University. He has lectured in many parts of the world; presented scholarly papers at various conferences, and published several studies on Islamic Theology and Law. Professor Sachedina received a BA in Islamic Studies at Aligrah Muslim University; a B.A. Honors in Persian Language and Literature

at

Mashhad

University,

Iran;

Education in Jurisprudence and Theology under several prominent teachers at the Milani and Ayatullah Hakim. He received Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the Canada.

Islamic

Traditional

in Mashhad and Najaf seminary of Ayatullah his M.A. and Ph.D. in University of Toronto,

His publications include: The Just Ruler in Twelver Shi’ism: The Comprehensive Authority of the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence; Human Rights and the Conflict of Cultures: Western and Islamic Perspectives on Religious Religion Liberty; and Islamic Messianism: The Idea of the Mahdi in Twelver Shi’ism. Professor Sachedina is currently working on Islamic Medical Ethics and Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism. He is Senior Associate, Preventive Diplomacy, Center for Strategic and International Studies - a key contributor to the program’s efforts to link religion to universal human needs and values in the service of peace-building.

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The Qur'an on Religious Pluralism’

Abdulaziz Sachedina University of Virginia

Religious Pluralism and Communal Identity

The term pluralism has become one of the catch words of the new world order. It is being hailed as the reality of the world we live in. The world that is composed of diverse cultures, systems of

belief, and different standards of morality. The world that can be destroyed if irreducible and irreconcilable claims to exclusive truth do not learn to coexist. Evocation of pluralism of all sorts indicates the urgency with which the citizens of the world are exhorted to come to terms with diversity that characterizes human life on earth. The endless conflicts between Christians and Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, Tamils and Buddhists, and the atrocities committed against

innocent civilians, has rendered the recognition of the dignity of human being regardless of his/her religious, ethnic, and cultural affiliations imperative.

Perhaps what has triggered the need to understand religious, cultural and moral outlooks of the ‘other’ today is the inescapable awareness of the plurality that the developments in international relations, transportation and communication technology have revealed. Until recently nations existed in relative isolation from each other. However, the encounters in diversity have not always been friendly. In fact, as many conflicts around the world indicate diversity can become a main source of dehumanizing the ‘other.’ Each tradition with its own system of comprehending the religious truth, instead of learning to coexist with other radically different position, is engaged in laying an exclusive claim to the same space in the salvific realm. Recognition of religious pluralism within a community of faithful promises to advance the practical principle of inclusiveness in which existence of competing claims to the religious truth need not precipitate conflict within religiously and culturally heterogenous societies. Quite to the contrary, such an inclusiveness should lead to a sense of multiple and unique possibilities for enriching human quest for spiritual and moral well being in other than their own religious tradition. Is the promise of pluralistic religiosity peculiar to the modern world of increasing interdependence brought about by the phenomenal technological advancement that has changed the way we think about the ‘other’?

about their diverse faiths and cultures?

Or, is it

part of the human heritage preserved in classical religious discourse which had to come to terms with comparable and competing claims of exclusive salvation both in relation to other faiths and within the community of the faithful? In dealing with pluralism in Islamic tradition I intend to demonstrate that as the youngest of the Abrahamic faiths Islamic

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

3

revelation had actually found expression in the pluralistic world of religions which it acknowledged and evaluated critically, but never rejected as false. In fact, the spiritual space of the Qur'an, as I shall demonstrate,

was

shared by other monotheistic

religions.

The

major task confronting the early Muslim community was to secure identity for its follower within the God-centered world view on which different groups had claims. How could the community provide necessary instruments of integration and legitimation without denying other religious groups their due share in God-centered religious identity? Could it build its ideal just public order without creating an inclusive theology to deal with the broad range of problems arising from the encounter of Muslims with other religions? other human beings? "The People are One Community" To find answer to the above questions I turned to and discovered the oft-repeated reference to humankind community and that God reserved the power to unite become one community . In the following citation of the read:

the Qur'an being one people to Qur'an we

The people were one community (umma); then God sent

forth the Prophets, good tidings to bear and warning, and He sent down with them the Book with the truth, that He might decide the people touching their differences. (Q 2:213) Three facts emerge from the above verse: the unity of humankind under One God ; the particularity of religions brought by the prophets; and, the role of revelation (‘the Book’) in resolving the differences that touch communities of faith. I regard all these

three declarative statements fundamental to the Quranic conception of religious pluralism, which, on the one hand, does not deny the specificity of each religion and the contradictions that might exist among them in matters touching correct belief and practice; and, on

the other, it emphasizes the need to recognize the oneness of humanity in creation and to work towards better understanding among peoples of faith. The major argument for religious pluralism in the Qur'an is based on the relationship between private faith and its public projection in Islamic polity. Whereas in the matters of private faith the position of the Qur'an is ‘non-interventionist', that is human authority in any form needs to defer to the individuals’ acting on their own internal convictions; in the public projection of that faith, the Qur'anic stance is based on the principle of coexistence, that is, the willingness of a dominant community to recognize self-governing communities free to run their internal affairs and coexist with Muslims. Islam, with its program of organizing its own public order, defined its goals in terms of a comprehensive religious and socialpolitical system, requiring its adherents to devote exclusively to the well being of the community of the believers, on the one hand, and

to defend its social system, on the other. Such compulsive loyalty to one's religion has been the reason for the survival of many nascent religious movements. Yet, such loyalty has also been the source of intolerant behavior towards those who do not share its exclusive claims and its concern for living right according to the true religion.

The record of Islam, as a religion and a civilization,

reveals the tension between the Qur'anic recognition of pluralistic responses to divine guidance and the freedom of human conscience to negotiate his/her spiritual space, on the one hand; and

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

5

the emerging new social-political order constructed upon unquestionable and exclusive loyalty to the tradition, on the other. The immediate concern of the community was to alleviate this tension by limiting its jurisdiction only to the public projection of human faith, that is, in its commitment to build a just social order.

Islam as a Public Religion Of ethos of is Islam ly goal.

all the Abrahamic religions based on the Old Testament shaping its public culture in accord with the divine will, it that was from its inception the most conscious of its earthIn its conscious commitment to founding an ethical public

order, islam has been accurately described as a faith in the realm of

public . In comparison to the performance of religious-moral duties (takalif al-shar‘iyya), laid down in minute detail in the Shari‘a (the sacred law of the community), official creed plays a secondary role in orienting the faithful to this goal. It is relevant to note that communail identity among Muslims is even today, therefore, defined less in terms of a person's adherence to a particular school of theology, and more in terms of his/her loyalty to one of the officially recognized rites of the Shari‘a. Personal faith is a private matter and, hence, inaccessible to the public for scrutiny. By contrast, the performance of the duties, especially in congregation, makes one's private religious commitment objectively accessible to others in the community. The usil al-din (the fundamental principles of religion) form the private facet of a person's religious expression and hence, it is subjective; whereas the fur‘ al-din (the religious practice derived from one's belief) form the public facet of a person's religious life, both individually as well as collectively, and hence, it iS objective. However, the full scope of Islamic life style relate the private facet of religion to the public in such a way that the private

life is scrutinized from the viewpoint of its impact upon public order in society. The Shari‘a, regulates religious practice with a view to maintain individual's well-being through his/her social well-being. Hence, its comprehensive system deals with the obligations that humans perform as part of their relationship to the Divine Being, that is, 'ibddat (all forms of "service" to God); and the duties they

perform as part of their interpersonal responsibility, that is, mu'‘amalat (transactions). Public order must be maintained in worship, in the market place and all other places where human interaction is possible. The umuir hisbiyya, that is, social transactions based on an ethical standard of conduct in the Shari‘a, deal with

enforcing the law by taking into account only of what appears in the public sphere of human interaction. Though Shari‘a provided prescriptions covering the most private acts, the judiciary in Islamic courts is given jurisdiction only over what is brought to its attention without prying, unless the rights of an innocent party are being infringed. Religious pluralism for the Shari‘a was not simply a matter of accommodation with competing claims over religious truth in the private domain of an individual's faith, where it had to begin anyway. It was and remains inherently a matter of public policy in which a Muslim government had to acknowledge and protect the divinely ordained right of each and every person to determine his/her spiritual destiny without coercion. The recognition of freedom of conscience in matters of faith is the commerstone of the Qur'anic notion of religious pluralism, both at the level of inter-religious as well as intra-religious relations . It is important to keep in mind that without the Qur'anic endorsement of the essential principle that directs religiously

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

td

pluralistic society, namely, the acknowledgment of salvific value in other religions, the story of Muslim treatment of its religious minorities throughout history would not have been any different than what the history of Europe in its treatment of the non-Christian ‘other’ has recorded for us. The state policies of different Muslim dynasties are reflected in the legal decisions that were made by the Muslim jurists to allow for maximum individual as well as group autonomy in adhering to a particular religious tradition. However, political situation of Muslim societies had far-reaching consequences for the ways in which the Qur'anic teachings about pluralism were side-stepped to gain control over the conquered peoples. The active engagement of the contemporary ‘fundamentalist’ leaders with the violent precedents that were set at those dark moments of Muslim history points to the tension that exits between the Qur'anic principles of justice and fair treatment of the ‘other’ and the demands of maintaining the classical vision of ever expanding ddr al-islam (the territory over which Muslims ruled). There is little doubt that in the Muslim world the struggle is for the shape of the public culture, for the style of life that is visible in the public square. Respect for the ‘other’ is a key element in the principle of coexistence among. peoples of diverse faiths and cultures. It is for this reason that in my search for Islamic roots of democratic pluralism I begin with religious pluralism in the Qur'an so that I can underline its significance in the development of a political society that would reflect the pluralistic attitude in dealing with the ‘other.’

Religious Pluralism in the Revelation Before turning to the problem of religious pluralism, I need to reiterate my total reliance on the Qur'an as the normative source in

extracting the theology of inclusiveness. There is no other text than the Qur'an that occupies the unquestionable and absolute position of authority for Muslims. The Qur'an is regarded by Muslims as most authoritative source of Islamic beliefs and praxis. Hence, I treat it as the principle source to locate and understand Islamic notion of religious pluralism. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is constitutive of a universal imperative which all humans ought to fulfil. The knowledge about this imperative is given at birth to all humans in the form of a primordial nature (fitra) with the necessary cognition and volition to fulfil the goals of humanity and be in witness to God. It is the responsibility of each and every individual to discern what it means to be in witness to God and what it means to serve humanity. However, it is not easy to grasp the full ramifications of the Qur'anic world view by merely studying its apparent meanings. To begin with, the text of the Qur'an is neither a systematic exposition of this world view nor a chronologically arranged revelation to allow a reader to go systematically through its declarative, indicative and imperative statements to understand different moments in the life of the Prophet Muhammad as he organized his community. In other words, by merely identifying the chapters as being Mekkan or Medinan we are not in a position to trace, for instance, different

moments of Muslim encounters with other religions and their adherents. Moreover, its theology of religious tolerance cannot be ascribed to the earlier Mekkan period of the revelation when Muslims lived as a minority in the midst of a hostile majority of the unbelievers, as some modern Muslim apologetes have tried to argue . While it is true that the Mekkan conditions were unfavorable to the Muslims and conducive to theological inclusiveness based upon the view that religions need to co-exit (‘To you your

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

9

religion, and to me my religion!’ Q. 109:5), it is in Medina where the real issues dealing with coexistence among the 'peoples of the Book' (ahl al-kitab) arose. The Qur'an responded creatively to those formative moments in the development of inter-community relations between Islam and other religions of the Book’ in society. Accordingly, my method of extracting relevant passages that deal with the vision of a universal humanity and interfaith relations treats the entire Qur'an as a unified text, rather than dichotomizing it in its Mekkan or Medinan periods of revelation. Although historically it might be useful to determine the chronology of the Qur'an, I believe, the purport of its apparent meanings in entirety provide ample occasion for extrapolating pluralistic and inclusive theology of religions. Besides the Qur'an, both supplementing and complementing it, I have relied upon other traditional sources, like the commentaries

of the Qur'an and the Tradition (sunna) , recognized by Muslims also as normative. While I acknowledge the problematic of estab-

lishing the reliability of these other sources, especially, the hadithreports attributed to the Prophet, his family and his companions, they reveal the Muslim political and social culture and ethics, which function as the contextual and intertextual dimensions of the Qur'an. The hadith-reports expounding upon the meanings of the Qur'an, when used with necessary intellectual caution and restraint,

provide the investigator with pointers to contextualize the meanings of the revelation in their particular historical as well as linguistic setting. Determining the historical context can provide a frame of reference, allowing for the specific verses of the Qur'an to adapt and express its application, transcending the constantly changing particularities of time and place. The universal message in the Qur'an, without becoming limited and time-bound by its historical and cultural context, can reveal that the revelation accepts religious pluralism

as a given and even necessary, requiring Muslims to continuously negotiate, transform, and even emphasize fundamental unity of humankind in its origin and creation by the Divine Being. With this goal in mind, I do not need to document historical development and transformation of the idea of religious pluralism in Islam throughout Muslim history. The limited scope of this work is to discover the theology of the ‘other’ in the Qur'an which assures humanity about God's commitment to mercy and forgiveness as a prelude to the attainment of peace on earth. Contrary to a number of gloomy predictions about the way religious ideas have been used to promote hatred and destruction in human societies, this work intends to demonstrate that the essential message in the Qur'an about the unity of human beings through God's creation can become a positive source for harmony and cooperation. The principle of positive diversity is the cornerstone of creation narrative in the Qur'an, reminding people that "Surely this community of yours is one community, and I am your Lord; so serve Me." (Q 21:92) Instead of regarding the diversity as a source of inevitable tensions, the Qur'an suggests that such diversity is indispensable for the particular tradition to define its common beliefs, values, and traditions

for its community life: O humankind, We have created you male and female, and

appointed you races and tribes, that you may know one another. Surely the noblest among you in the sight of God is the most godfearing of you. God is All-knowing, AllAware. (Q. 49:14)

Pluralism within the Abrahamic Family Chronologically, Islam is the youngest of the Abrahamic traditions. Its self-understanding since its inception in the seventh

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

11

century has included a critical element of pluralism, namely, its relation to the existing religions. Instead of denying the validity of human experience of the transcendence outside Islam, it recognizes and even confirms its salvific efficacy within the boundaries of monotheistic response to spirituality and morality: Surely they that believe, and those of Jewry, and the Christians, and those Sabaeans, whoso believes in God and

the Last Day, and works righteousness - their wage awaits them with their Lord, and no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow. (Q 2:62)

The Qur'an clearly sees itself as a critical link in the revelatory experience of humankind, a universal path intended for all. In particular, it shares the Biblical ethos of Judaism and Christianity,

with a remarkably inclusive attitude towards the ‘peoples of the Book,’ with whom it is linked through the first man and woman on earth. The unique characteristic of Islam is its conviction that belief in the oneness of God unites the Muslim community with the entire humanity, because God is the Creator of all humans, irrespective of

their affiliation to different faith communities.

The Qur'an declares

that on the Day of Judgement all human beings will be judged, regardless of their membership in a specific community, about their moral performance as citizens of the world community. The verse about "The People are one community" lays down the foundation of a theological pluralism that takes the equivalence and equal rights of human beings as a divinely ordained system. It is significant to note that although the verb in the first sentence can be translated in past tense (‘The people were one community’), in Arabic the verb KANA,

divested of all significations of time, is

often used'as a copula, which links a subject with a predicate complement . ‘Hence, the people are still ‘one nation’ on the basis of the

humanness that they continue to share. The statement also indicates that while this unity is justified theologically within the activity of the divine, it is best sought in the sphere of ethics and its function in sustaining relationship between peoples of faith. The ethical basis is natural part to human creation because it is with the help of this innate ability, the primordial nature (fitra), put by God in all human beings that humanity acquires the ability to deal with each other in fairness and equity. This moral ability allows for the development of a "global ethic" that can provide the pluralistic basis for regulating inter-religious relations among peoples of diverse spiritual commitment to enable them to build the fundamental consensus relating ethical values and goals. Given the historical reality of the dialectical relations among the three ‘peoples of the Book’ under the political dominance of Muslims, I want to persist in presenting my thesis that it is both normatively as well as empirically necessary to make a pluralist argument on the basis of the Qur'an to underscore the relevance of the

normative

for the empirical possibilities of just relationships between the Abrahamic communities today. Religious pluralism calls for active engagement with the ‘religious other’ in order to understand and not merely tolerate. Toleration does not require active engagement with the ‘other.’ It actually stands in the way of removing our ignorance of one another. In a world in which religious differences have been historically manipulated to burn bridges between communities, recognition and understanding of religious differences require us to enter into a relationship with another, even if there are major disagreements between faiths. It is understanding the search for our common undertakings with our particular religious traditions and with our deepest spiritual and moral commitments that can lead the way for

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

13

society as a whole to set an example in coexistence of human beings. Religious pluralism, in my opinion, can function as a working paradigm for a democratic pluralism in which people of diverse religious backgrounds are willing to form into a global community to work together as citizens of the world. More importantly, religious pluralism has specific political implications for the progression of political organization towards contemporary values of democratic practice. The Qur'an, as we elaborated above, presents religious pluralism as a divine mystery that must be accepted as a given to allow for smooth inter-communal relations in the public square. It, moreover, presents its theology of the ‘other’ in the form of an ethical model in developing a workable paradigm for an ideal society. In searching for the guidelines in developing religious pluralism we need to ask whether a faith community can accept the idea that other religions have intrinsic religious value. This is the most challenging aspect of one's religious commitment, because our ability to allow for alternative responses to the presence of divine within Our Own community prepares us to allow for similar diversity in our relationship with other faith communities. It is not merely a matter of being tolerant towards others. It is to want to accept them in fellowship towards the Divine. The essential point to consider is whether

the

(muwahhidin)

believers

in one

God,

that

is the

monotheists

like Christians, Jews and Muslims, are willing to

recognize each other as spiritually equals and entitled to the salvation that their respective traditions offer. This religious recognition has implications for the development of a democratic society in which, if one group acquires ascendancy, its commitment to pluralism will require them not only to refrain from persecuting the others but will.also encourage the flourishing of their way of life.

Pluralism, to recapitulate, means allowing adherents of dif-

ferent religions to ascribe intrinsic value to competing religious ways of life.

In competition, it is natural that beliefs and values

essential to one of them are bound to contradict beliefs and values essential to the other. Here is the potential for conflict and violence, if religious teaching with implications for political organization are not articulated with necessary acumen and practical wisdom.

The Idea of Exclusive Salvation and Religious Pluralism There is no doubt that salvation of individuals or of communities depends on whether one lives correctly, according to the true faith. Also, there can be no doubt that all religions are concerned about salvation. Recognition of other religions therefore imply also a recognition of their claim to impart salvation. Unfortunately, the question whether Islam can recognize all religions possessing equal ways to salvation has become obscured by a theological doctrine of ‘supersession.’ The tension between the Qur'anic religious pluralism and the exclusivist theological and juridical formulations of Muslim theologians is evinced in the fundamental issue confronting the community throughout its history of interreligious relations. The question ‘is whether the Qur'anic revelation supersedes or abrogates all other revelations. Closely related to the question of supersession is the position of the Prophethood of Muhammad in the salvific efficacy of other monotheistic traditions. Religious systems have traditionally claimed absolute devotion and exclusive salvation history for themselves. Such insistence on salvific authenticity and exclusivist claim were regarded as natural and necessary instruments for self-identification of a group

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

15

against other claims of absolute truth. Even within their own community it was by no means always conceded that the direction taken by other schools of thought, for instance, the Shi‘a or Sunni,

could lead to the authentic salvation . The salvific value of the ‘other’ if admitted at all, was considered limited, adequate only to

bring people somewhat closer to the goal on the long road by virtue of a pious and moral life. From the standpoint of social organization, this exclusive claim was found to be effective in providing legitimating and integrative discourse that furnished its members with practical means of asserting their collective communal identity. In addition, the newly fostered communal identity provided equally effective basis for aggression and exploitation of those who did not share this sense of solidarity with the community of the believers. Rationalization of the aggression, characterized in religious terms as a ‘holy war’ made it possible for the believers of a given system to impose their hegemony over the ‘infidels’ in the name of some sacred authority by use of force. To be sure religious legitimation of such hegemonic interests and methods were questionable and hence, had to be justified by means of and sought in the scriptures which appeared to deny any claim to its compulsive devotion and its defense of the prohibitive social and legal structures built upon religious absolutism. It was this intellectual process of legitimation that produced the exegetical devices to extrapolate or even interpolate the revelational sources to provide a convincing statement of exclusive religious claim to absolute truth. More pertinently, exegesis of specific passages of the scripture provided the restrictive definition of soteriological faith in which other religions were systematically excluded as being superseded and, consequently, their ability to lead a believer to salvation ineffective.

16

Some classical Muslim scholars of the Qur'an attempted to separate the salvation history of the community from other Abrahamic faiths by attesting to the superseding validity of the Islamic revelation over Christianity and Judaism . In an attempt to demand unquestioning acceptance of the new faith Muslim theologians had to device terminological as well as methodological stratagem to circumscribe those verses of the Qur'an which tended to underscore its ecumenical thrust by extending salvific authenticity and adequacy to other monotheistic traditions. One of the methods of circumscribing the terms of a verse was to claim its abrogation (naskh) by another verse. In the works of Qur'anic exegesis many verses are said to have been abrogated. Modern scholarship, undertaken by some prominent Muslim jurists, has proved with incontrovertible documentation that of the 137 listed verses that are claimed to have been abrogated, in reality not even one of them has been abrogated . There is an agreement among Muslim scholars that evidently numerous injunctions of the earlier laws were abrogated by the Shari‘a. However, there is a controversy on the issue whether any Qur'anic ordinances were abrogated by other Qur'anic verses, or by an authentic prophetic tradition (hadith), or by the consensus (ijmd‘) of Muslim scholars, or by

reasoning (‘aql). Muslim scholars are in agreement that abrogation cannot be established through a citation of a rare or a weak tradition. The reason is that its being reported by exclusively one source, and not others, is in itself the proof of falsehood or error on the part of the narrator. The major problem facing the modern scholars is to accept the judgement of the past scholars about the abrogated verse : Evidently, in resorting to the principle of abrogation, many commentators and legal scholars have not paid attention to the meaning

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

17

of verses which they have assumed to be inconsistent with each other, and have, as a result, maintained that the chronologically later

verse abrogates the ruling of the earlier one. This attitude is rooted either in poor judgement or in a loose application of the word naskh in accordance with its lexical sense. The application of the generic sense of naskh (‘transformation, ‘substitution’ or ‘elimination’) to the

situations that required application of its technical sense (‘supersession’), has created enormous difficulties in assessing the pluralistic message of the Qur'an. It suffices to underline the pluralism that is being conveyed by the verse Q. 2:213 and which has created inordinate difficulties for

Muslim scholars to extract and accept the moral universalism that underlies this verse. This and other verses that commanded Muslims to build bridges of understanding and cooperation between the once united community has been regarded as abrogated by those verses that require Muslims to fight the unbelievers. There is no doubt that Q. 2:213 introduces a universal discourse relating the entire humanity to the unique and single divine authority, thereby relativizing all the competing claims to the human search for exclusive reality. This universal idiom was based on the principle of tawhid -affirmation of divine unity. Acknowledgement of tawhid signified a transformation of human focus on self to the Self, the ultimate Reality, the Source of all other selves. It affirmed the centrality of God without human mediatorship in negotiating human-God relationship and the spiritual destiny of humankind. Tawhid, moreover, uniquely placed God

as

the source

of revelation

(‘the Book')

communicated

through the prophets. The prophets represented basically one and the same revelation that embodied the divine will at different times.

However, as Islam laid the foundation of its political order,

Muslim leaders sought out particular integrative discourse that furnished the believers with unique identity and practical means of asserting it through the creation of exclusive order based on declaration of faith, the shahada. This development marked a clear shift from the Qur'anic recognition of religious pluralism in the sense of God-centered particular human religiosity (within each instance of historical revelation of the divine reality) and the unity of humankind in the sphere of universal moral-spiritual discourse. The establishment of the first Islamic society was an important

phase in Muslim self-identification as a community endowed with specific salvific efficacy in its tradition. Moreover, in the sectarian milieu of seventh century Arabia early Muslims encountered competing claims to authentic religiosity by other monotheists like the Christians and Jews. This encounter, which produced the inter-religious polemics, in addition to the establishment of Islamic public order where Muslims enjoyed privileged position, led to the notion of independent status of Islam as a unique and perfect version of the original Abrahamic monotheism. The universally accepted notion that emerged from these polemics was the doctrine that the Qur'anic revelation completed the previous revelations which had no more than transitory condition and limited application. Such a notion also led to the doctrine of supersession among some Muslim theologians who argued that neither the Mosaic law intended for exclusively Jewish use, nor the Christian scripture directed towards the Children of Israel had any claim to eternal validity. The apparent contradiction between some passages of the Qur'an recognizing other authentic salvific sources and others declaring Islam as the sole source of salvation had to be resolved for providing a viable system of peaceful co-existence with these

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

19

religions. The Qur'anic pluralism is expressed by promising salvation to, at least, "whoso believes in God and the Last Day" among “those of Jewry, and the Christians, and those Sabaeans." (Q. 2:62)

Whereas Islamic absolutism is asserted in no uncertain terms that “whoso desires another religion than Islam, it shall not be accepted of him; in the next world he shall be among the losers." (Q. 3:85) Hence, the resolution of the absolutist claim on the one hand, and

the recognition of pluralist principle in salvation, on the other, had enormous implications for the community's relations with other religions in general, and the ‘people of the Book’ in particular. There is no doubt that the Qur'an is silent on the question of supersession of the previous Abrahamic revelations through the emergence of Muhammad. There is no statement in the Qur'an, direct or indirect, to suggest that the Qur'an saw itself as the abrogator of the previous scriptures. In fact, as I shall discuss below, even when repudiating the distortions introduced in the divine message by the followers of Moses and Jesus, the Qur'an confirms the validity of these revelations and their central theme, namely, "submis-

sion" founded upon sincere profession of belief in God. However, in the classical exegetical literature the question of chronology of divine revelation and its applicability for the subsequent communities formed an important theological consideration. The principle of chronology provided the theologians with the notion of naskh (abrogation or supersession) to expound various stages of revelation throughout history. Essentially the same revelation was delivered piecemeal, the later revelation completing and thereby abrogating the previous ones. It is important to bear in mind that the Qur'an introduces the idea of abrogation in connection with legal injunctions revealed in particular verses in which one aspect of legal requirement may be said to be abrogated or superseded by

20

another verse. Accordingly, invoking abrogation in connection with Islam's attitude toward former Abrahamic traditions was, to say the least, inconsistent. Even those classical exegetes like Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari (d. 923), who had supported the principle of chronology to argue for the exclusive salvific efficacy of Islam and its role as the abrogator of the previous monotheistic traditions, could not fail to notice the incongruity of extending the notion of abrogation to divine promise of rewarding those who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness (Q. 2:62).

In fact, Tabari regards such abrogation to be.incompatible with the concept of divine justice . Nevertheless, those who accepted the notion of supersession of the pre-Qur'anic revelations depended on a tradition reported in many early commentaries on the verse Q. 3:85 which states that no other religion than Islam would be acceptable to God. The tradition purports to establish that Q. 3:85, which was revealed subsequent to

Q. 2:62, actually abrogated God's promise to those who acted righteously outside Islam in Q. 2:62. Another Sunni commentator, Isma‘il b. ‘Umar ibn Kathir (d. 1373), has no hesitation in main-

taining that based on Q. 3:85 nothing other than Islam was acceptable to God after Muhammad was sent. Although he does not appeal to the concept of abrogation as evidence, his conclusions obviously point to the idea of supersession when he states the salvific state of those who preceded Muhammad's declaration of his mis-

sion. Ibn Kathir maintains that the followers of previous guidance and their submission to a rightly guided life guaranteed their way to

salvation It is tion was otherwise

only before Islamic revelation emerged . clear that the notion of abrogation of the previous revelanot universally maintained even by those exegetes who required, at least in theory, other monotheists to abide by

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

21

the new Shari‘a of Muhammad. It is difficult to gauge the level of Christian influence over Muslim debates about supersession of the previous revelation. It is not far-fetched to suggest that debates about Islam superseding Christianity and Judaism, despite the explicit absence of any reference to it in the Qur'an, must have entered Muslim circles through the most thorough going Christian debates about Christianity having superseded Judaism, more particularly, when Christians claimed to be the legitimate heirs to the same Hebrew Bible that was the source of Jewish law. Muslim community, with its independent source of ethical and religious prescriptions, the Arabic Qur'an, in addition to its control over the

power structure that defined its relationship with others, was in little need of establishing its theory of self-determination from the previous monotheistic traditions with which it never severed its theological connection through Abrahamic salvation history. The Qur'an relates its experience of "submission to God's will" (islam) to Abraham, the ‘unitarian' (muwahhid), who "in truth was not a Jew, neither a Christian; but he was a muslim and one of pure faith;

certainly he was never of the idolaters." (Q. 3:67) This Qur'anic spirit of ecumenism within the Abrahamic traditions always remained the latent potential to be expounded at different times in history as the community negotiated its relationship to the power that dominated its destiny. Depending upon the social and political circumstances of the Muslim community during the colonial and post-colonial era Muslim exegetes have recaptured the Quranic pluralistic thrust in varying degrees. In this regard, theological affiliation of the exegetes has played a significant role. There were essentially two theological positions regarding the moral and spiritual guidance that God provides to humanity in order for it to attain salvation. Those theologians who maintained divine

22

will as all-encompassing and all-omnipotent considered it necessary for humanity to be exposed to revealed guidance through the prophets for its ultimate prosperity. On the other hand, theologians who maintained freedom of human will endowed with necessary cognition to exercise its volition considered the human intellect to be capable of attaining godly life. It is for the most part the latter group, identified among the Sunnites as the Mu’tazilites, and majority of the Shi‘ites, who conceded the continued salvific efficacy of the other monotheistic faiths on the basis of both revealed as well as rational guidance to which the Christians and the Jews were exposed. They regarded the ‘people of the Book' responsible for acting upon their revelation whose substance has remained recognizable despite the neglect and alteration it has suffered. The former group, on the contrary, postulating a theory of chronological revelation, afforded efficacy to these religions as a source of divine guidance, only before the time of Muhammad. After the emergence of Islam they had to accept Muhammad as the Prophet in order to be saved . Majority of the modern exegetes of the Qur'an have maintained the Mu’tazilite theological position regarding the human free will. They believe that human beings are adequately endowed with cognition and volition to pursue their spiritual destiny through the revealed message of God. Thus, Muhammad Rashid Rida (d. 1935), reflecting the Mu'tazilite attitude of his teacher, and a prominent Muslim modernist, Muhammad 'Abduh (d. 1905), maintains

that human responsibility to God is proportionate to the level of his exposure to God's purpose about which he is apprised either through the revelation or reason. The purpose of revelation is to clarify and elucidate matters that are known through the human intellect. The basic beliefs like the existence of God and the Last

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

23

Day are necessarily known through it. Prophets come to confirm what is already inspired to the human intellect. Accordingly, there is an essential unity in the beliefs of "the people of divine religions (ahl al-adyan al-ilahiyya)" who have been exposed to the divine guidance as well as innate disposition to believe in God and the Last Day, and do the good works . Moreover, God's promise applies to all who have this divine religion, regardless of formal religious affiliation, for God's justice does not allow favoring one group while ill-treating another. All peoples who believe in a prophet and in the revelation particular to them "their wages await them with their Lord, and no fear shall there be on them, neither shall they sorrow.” (Q. 2:62) Rashid Rida does not Stipulate belief in the

prophethood of Muhammad for the Jews and Christians desiring to be saved, and hence, he implicitly maintains the salvific validity of

both the Jewish and Christian revelation. Among

the Shi'ite

commentators

Muhammad

Husayn

al-

Tabataba’i (d. 1982), following the well-established Shi'ite opinion

from the classical age, rejected the notion of abrogation of divine promise in Q. 2:62. In fact, he does not support the supersession of pre-Qur'anic revelations even when he regards them distorted and corrupted by their followers. Nevertheless, he regards the ordinances of the Qur'an as abrogating the laws extracted from the two earlier scriptures. Evidently he confines abrogation in its juridical meaning where it signifies "repeal" of an earlier ordinance by a fresh ruling because of its inapplicability in changed circumstances. In connection with those passages that supported ecumenical thrust of the Qur'an, like the verse 2:62, he rebuffed the opinion held by some Muslims that God promises salvation to particular groups because they bear certain names; on the contrary, any one who holds true belief and acts righteously is entitled to God's reward and

24

protection from punishment, as promised in Q. 6:88: "God has promised those of them who believe and do good, forgiveness and a great reward." Some Muslim theologians sought to restrict the pluralist thrust of the universal discourse of the Qur'an that defined a true believer as responding to essentially twofold aspect of Abrahamic religions: belief in God and the Last Day, and the righteous action based on revealed guidance. The requirement to acknowledge the Prophethood of Muhammad was part of the exclusive discourse of the Muslim community. It was this exclusive discourse that led to regard all other religions as having been superseded and their salvific efficacy invalidated. Nevertheless, as required by evident commitment of the Qur'an to the pluralistic vision of human religiosity, even within this emerging exclusivist theological consensus, there were strong and authentic dissenting opinions refusing to limit salvation to Muslims only. Modern commentators

like the Sunni

Rashid Rida and the

Shi‘ite 'Allama Tabataba'l represent the unmistakable Qur'anic spirit of God-centered identity for humanity in which external form of religion is relegated to the inward witness of the divine that defies any exclusive and restrictive identification. In fact, religious pluralism is seen by the Qur'an as fulfilling some divine purpose for humanity. That purpose is the creation of an ethical public order, for attaining of which, before even sending the prophets and the

revelation, God has created an innate disposition in human beings (Q. 9:18) capable of distinguishing the good from evil. This divine gift requires humanity, regardless of its affiliation to particular religious paths, to live with each other and work towards justice and peace in the world. The Qur'an in the following verse admonishes

humankind "to compete with each other in good work”:

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

25

For every one of you [Jews, Christians, Muslims], We have

appointed a path and a way. If God had willed, He would have made you but one community; but that [He has not done so in order that] He may try you in what has come to you. So compete with one another in good works. (Q. 5:48) Religious Pluralism as a Divinely Ordained System There is little doubt that the rulings regulating interreligious relations in the classical juridical texts are not suitable for generalization to cover cases under changed circumstances today. The major problem that faces the jurists today is a confrontation between the hegemonic values of the dominant Muslim power that are thought of as long settled, and the emerging reality of Muslim political conditions that challenge those values. The paradigm rulings that are regarded as the authoritative precedents indicate that they were actually conditioned by time and place. Muslim fundamentalists today reject any hints that the juridical decisions depended upon a variable cultural or historical interpretation of the paradigmatic sources. In other words, they refuse to acknowledge that while the Qur'an remained a fixed text, its meaning was a cultural variable. How far can any re-interpretation of the normative texts for fresh rulings proceed without first relativizing their traditional interpretation? The thesis maintained by the traditional centers of Islamic learning maintain that the Islamic law, as it was formulated by the jurists in the first three centuries of Muslim power, was in strict conformity with the Divine Will expressed in the Qur'an and the Tradition.

Hence, their belief in transhistorical, immutable law of

God, is tantamount to rejecting the fact of interplay between culture, history, and faith. The human need for a truly ideal government can

26

hardly be fulfilled if particular political practices that responded to the demands of intercommunal relations in the past cannot be modified so as to bring them more in line with the present international order. An evaluation of presumptions and intentions that go behind juristic propositional statements could reveal the urgent need for contextualizing the normative juridical tradition in Islam, so that a

fresh thinking about the original Qur'anic theology of interfaith and international relations could become feasible. The task is an internal one, requiring conscientious intelligent Muslims themselves to undertake the decodification of the juridical corpus - a body of legal practice that must account for inherited positive laws and customs. It is Muslims themselves who can retrieve the moral and spiritual resources to uncover the universal and the relative aspects of their tradition by decoding the juridical sources that continue to dominate the exclusivist vision of the Muslim polity. Without such an academic agenda Islam, in spite of its rich pluralistic principles to regulate interhuman relationships, cannot offer an alternative that would take into account the future of all human beings on earth without insisting that others share its religion. My contention is that the Qur'an does have a theology of the ‘other’ that regards interfaith relations based on religious pluralism as a divinely ordained system of human co-existence. Its narrative of sacred history is genuinely inclusive because it begins with the first human couple with whom begins the human saga towards the creation of an ideal society on earth: Humankind, be aware of your duties to Your Lord, who cre-

ated you from a single soul, and from it created its mate, and from the pair of them scattered abroad many men and women. (Q. 4:1)

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

27

But that universal narrative, emphasizing the common destiny of humanity, was severed from its universal roots when the Islamic

conception of a political order based on the restrictive membership of only those who accepted the divine revelation to Muhammad constituted themselves a new community. As the community gained control of its public order and directed its political and military might in order to secure its dominance beyond the ‘sphere of faith’ (ddr al-imdn) to create the 'sphere of submission,’ (ddr alislam) that is, ‘territories administered by the Muslim

state,’ the

jurists formulated the rulings legitimizing the Muslim dominance, and not necessarily the ascendancy of Islamic faith, over the world. Undoubtedly, there exists a tension between the Qur'anic vision of God-centered pluralistic humanity bound together in spiritual and moral awareness through continued divine revelation and legally derived methods of maintaining Muslim political dominance. This tension can be resolved only through the re-examination of-the situational and contextual aspects of the rulings, the propositional statements that indicated the jurists’ beliefs, desires, hopes and fears, that were formulated in the classical age in order to

compare them with the present situation and infer from them the need for fresh equitable and just rulings. The century is coming to a close and very little has been produced in the area of juristic methodology to face the concrete situations of the modern living. Mere "islamization" of existing secular political and socio-economic institutions, as some Muslim intellectuals have realized, cannot alleviate the epistemological crisis. As admitted by Hasan al-Turabi and other fundamentalist leaders, their search for Islamic solutions has increasingly disclosed the incoherences and the inadequacies of the inherited juridical tradition to provide the rational progression in the creation of Islamic

28

public order. But so far no one has seriously undertaken the most challenging task of furnishing solution to the problem of modern Islamic nation-state in a systematic and coherent way. Undoubtedly, this is dependent upon honest and critical examination of the theoretical and conceptual structures of the Islamic juristic method as formulated in the past from the point of revealing its applicability or inadequacy. Without providing an objective explanation of both its applicability and inadequacy it is impossible to create new methodological devices in the field of Islamic Legal Theory which is intrinsically connected with the Fundamentals of Islam, that is, theology. It is ironic that in the modern faculties of Shari‘a in the Sunni world there is very little interest, both among students and teachers, in Islamic theological tradition as preserved in the works of kalam.

In other words, the inherent connection

between the divine purposes discussed in the theological works and the implementation of those purposes in the applied jurisprudence, is ignored to the detriment of developing what I have termed the new theoretical and conceptual structures in the field of Legal Theory.

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29

NOTES This paper is part of the larger study on "Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism," a project of the Preventive Diplomacy, Center for Strategic and International Studies. In addition to Q. 2:213 cited in the beginning of this chapter, see: Q. 5:48, 10:19, 11:118, 16:93, 21:92, 23:52, and 42:8. I have preferred 'commu-

nity’ to ‘nation’ as the translation of the word umma. The reason is that the principle that directs the creation of umma is moral-spiritual affinity rather than birth, which the word ‘nation suggests. Ihave used the translation by A. J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1955), except in some cases where I have added my explanation in brackets, or revised his translation to conform with the original. Muslim commentators have argued about the time when humankind were all one community. Was it the community that lived between Adam and Noah? Were they united until that time and then got divided? Since there is no indication in the Qur'an or the Tradition as to the time of the unity or the time when the first discord occurred in that community, I

take the passage as the matter open for reflection and interpretation. For the views of different commentators in the classical as well as modern times, see: Mahmoud M. Ayoub, The Qur’an and Its Interpreters (Albany: State University of New York, 1984), Vol. 1, 215-16.

Majority of the Muslim commentators believe that the introduction of ‘the Book’ in singular form in spite of the plurality of the prophets suggests the generic nature of the revelation, sharing essential unity and function as a source of spiritual guidance and prescriptive conduct for organizing communities and regulating their inter-communal affairs ‘touching their differences.' See: Baydawi, Anwar al-tanzil, p. 45; Tabataba'l, al-Mizan, Vol. 2, pp. 128-9;

Marshall G. S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam: Conscience and History in a World Civilization (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977), 3 vols., vol. 1, pp. 336. The term ‘rite’ or ‘legal school’ is the translation of madhhab - a system of rules’ that cover all aspects of human spiritual and moral obligations (takalif, plural of taklif) that a Muslim must carry out as a member of the

30

community. Four madhhabs, Maliki, Hanafi, Shafi'i and Hanbali, were ultimately accepted as legitimate by the Sunnis; while the Shi'ites formulated and followed their own rite, known as Ja’fari.

I have treated the matter of freedom of conscience from the Qur'anic point of view in my earlier work: "Liberty of Conscience and Religion in the Qur'an,” in Human Rights and the Conflict of Cultures: Western and Islamic Perspectives on Religious Liberty, co-authored with David Little and John Kelsay (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988), pp. 53-100. ‘Fundamentalism’ in this paper has been used to describe the phenomenon that represents an alternative ideology to different forms of secular modern ideologies, such as communism, socialism, nationalism, and so

on. In describing an activist response to religious impulse in Islam, I have decided to stick to this term than to adopt more ideologically problematic Islamism’ or ‘political Islam,’ which are in no sense more neutral than ‘fundamentalism’ or ‘religious radicalism’ in the works of American social scientists.

Armando

Salvatore, Political Discourse, Part III, p.

117, deconstructs the Western treatment of ‘political Islam' and traces the ideological and hegemonic epistemology and its transition from a monodimensional 'essentialized’ view of Islam, maintained by the orientalists, where the "political is considered derivative of religion” to bidimensional hermeneutics, adopted by social scientists, where the "political acquires the status of an additional and autonomous dimension grounded on a concern of the observer.” 10. Abduliahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and International Law (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1990), on the basis of the thesis propounded by Mahmud Taha, the Sudanese reformer, has argued that it is the Mekkan

sections of the Qur'an that are tolerant and with pluralistic implications because they capture the minority status of the Muslims who had to learn to co-exist with the hostile world around them. Such a view is untenable in the light of a number of important verses in the Medinan sections dealing with the universal humanity within the activity of God in the sphere of ethics and its function in sustaining the world. This moral connection in humanity is underscored in Medina where the first Islamic political society was already in place. See also similar views held by Mohamed Khalil, as reported in Islam and Democracy: Religion, Politics, and Power in the Middle East (Washington, DC: United States Institute of

THE QUR’AN ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

31

Peace Press, 1992), Chapter 2. He too, like An Na'im, uses Taha's thesis for his critique of the so-called Muslim “fundamentalists.” Khalil is,

however, right about the way Muslims have misused the principle of ‘abrogation’ (naskh) to repeal the pluralistic teaching of the Qur'an. But this is not a modern problem connected with the ‘fundamentalists.’ It goes back in history when the legal rulings in the classical sources that justified the early territorial expansionism in the name of jihdd were formulated. jaFS The Qur'an uses the phrase to describe Jews and Christians whose founders had brought the divine message to guide the conduct of their respective communities and prepare them for the Hereafter. However, technically, even Muslims are part of the ‘peoples of the Book.’ See, my article: "Jews, Christians, and Muslims According to the Qur'an,” in The Greek Orthodox Theological Review, Volume 31, Numbers 1-2 (1986), pp. 10-120.

12. I have rendered sunna with capitalized 'T' in the translation for this technical term (‘Tradition’) meaning, all that is reported as having been said (aqwal al-rasul), done (a’mal al-rasil), and silently confirmed (taqrirdat al rasul) by the Prophet; whereas the translation of hadith (the vehicle

of the sunna, through which it is related) is rendered with lower case 't’ (‘tradition’) or simply ‘hadith-report.' The Tradition in the religious sciences is comprised of the major compilations of the hadith-reports which include the six officially recognized collections of the Sihah (‘sound' traditions) among the Sunni Muslims, and the four Kutub

(‘books') among the Shi'a. 13. In the context of the traditional! sources dealing with the prescriptive rulings, indicative of the ways in which the Qur'an and the Tradition are employed to formulate juridical propositions, it is necessary to develop interpretive process that could go beyond the textual and contextual analysis to take into consideration inter-textual dimension of the legal discourse in islam. Issues related to the treatment of religious minorities in Muslim culture need to go beyond the traditional interpretive assumptions based on official texts to include oral transmissions that reflect inter textual negotiations between dominant Muslims and the self-governing minorities in Muslim societies. The need for such an ‘inter-textual’ analysis, without mentioning the word ‘intertext,’ is suggested by Derrida in his Margins of Philosophy. Translated by Alan Bass (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982). For the actual discussion

32

on

‘intertext’

and

Derrida,

see:

Vincent

B. Leitch, Deconstructive

Criticism: An Advanced Introduction (New York: Columbia University Press, 1983), pp. 87-163.

14. Ibn Manzur, Lisan al-‘arab (Beirut: Dar adir, n.d.), 13:365. 15. The concept is used by Hans Kung and described as the fundamental consensus relating to binding values, ultimate standards and basic personal attitudes between the religions that enables them to lead the way for society as a whole with its good example. See: A Global Ethic. The Declaration of the Parliament of the World's Religions, ed. Hans Kung and Karl-Josef Kuschel (London: SCM Press, 1993), p. 21

16. The Arabic term naskh actually means ‘abrogation’ or ‘repeal.’ Although its usage is limited to legal matters, it has been extended to include 'abrogation’ of the pre-Qur'anic revelations. For the full discussion of 'abrogation’ as 'supersession’ see:

Jane D. McAuliffe, Qur’anic Christians: An

Analysis of Classical and Modern Exegesis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991). Ly, Historically, Muslims like other religious groups, have demonstrated far greater intolerant attitude towards dissenters within their own ranks. Muslim history is replete with instances of intra-religious violence, not only between the majoritarian Sunni and the minority Shi'ite communities; but also among the Sunni adherents of different legal rites, such as the Hanafi and the Hanbali schools. See: Christians and Jews in the

Ottoman Empire: The Functioning of a Plural Society, ed. by Benjamin Braude and Bernard Lewis (New York: Holmes and Meier, 1982), pp. 134; G. R. Elton, "Introduction," in Persecution and Toleration, Vol. 21 of Studies in Church History, ed. W. J. Shields (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1984), pp. xiii-xv.

18. McAuliffe, Qur’anic Christians, has done extensive work on the verses dealing with Muslims perceptions of Christians through the exegetical works produced both by the Sunni and the Shi'ite commentators, from

the classical to the modern period. Her study concludes accurately that the issue of the prophethood of Muhammad remained an important element is affording non-Qur'anic ‘peoples of the Book’ a share in the salvation. However, in the midst of this exclusivist soteriology there have been Muslim commentators, more in the modern period of the interfaith hermeneutics, who have regarded the promise in Q. 2:62 as still important in constructing inclusive theology founded upon belief in God, the

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33

Hereafter and the right action as overriding criteria in attaining the salvation.

19. Al-Sayyid Abd al-Qasim al-Mu'sawi al-Khu'i, The Prolegomena to the Quran, trans. with an introduction by Abdulaziz A. Sachedina (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 186-253; also, John Burton,

“Introductory essay ‘The meaning of naskh," in Abt 'Ubaid al-Qasim b. Sallam's K. al-ndsikh wa-l-mansukh. Edited with a Commentary by John Burton. E. J. W. Gibb Memorial Series, New Series, XXX (Suffolk:

St. Edmundsbury Press, 1987).

20. For the classical exegetical formulations that dominate the intolerant and exclusivian attitude towards the ‘peoples of the Book’ based on the notion of ‘abrogation’ of the tolerant Q. 2:62 by the Q. 3:85, see: Tabari, Jami al-baydn, Vol. 2, pp. 155-56, where he cites the exclusivist opinions and then rejects the view that God will exclude those who had lived in faith and acted righteously because he finds it incongruent with the divine promise; Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 1:103, limits the salvation to the ‘people of the Book’ before Muhammad became the prophet; Rashid Rida, Tafsir al-mandar, 6:479, however, grudgingly, does concede the validity

of the salvation for the ‘people of the Book.’

21, Tabari, Jami’ al-baydn, Vol. 2, pp. 155-56. 2h Ibn Kathir, Tafsir 1:103. D5 For the theological problems faced by early Christianity in declaring its originality and working out its relation to Judaism, see: Marcel Simon, Versus Israel: A study of relations between Christians and Jews in the Roman

Empire (AD

135-425) (New York: Oxford University Press,

1986), in particular Chapter 3. 24. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, 1:180, 2:67. 25: Rashid Rida, Tafsir al-qur’adn al-hakim al-shahir bi-tafsir al-mandar (Beirut, n.d.), 1:339.

26. Ibid., 1:336. 2. Tabataba'l, al-Mizan 1:193.

34

Occasional Paper Series

Cardinal Francis Arinze, “Christian-Muslim Relations in the

Twenty-First Century,” 1998. Aziz al-Azmeh, “Reconstituting Islam,” 1996. Ralph Braibanti, “Islam and the West: Common Cause or Clash?,” 1999. David B. Burrell, “Freedom and Creation in the Abrahamic

Tradition,” 1995. John J. Donohue, S.J., “Muslim-Christian Relations: Dialogue

in Lebanon,” 1996.

Majid Fakhry, “Averroes, Aquinas and the Rediscovery of Aristotle in Western Europe,” 1997.

Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, “Islamists and the Challenge of Pluralism,” co-produced with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, 1994. Anwar Ibrahim, “The Need for Civilizational Dialogue,” 1995. Walid Khalidi, “Islam, the West, and Jerusalem,” co-produced

with the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, 1996. Ali Mazrui, “Christianity and Islam in Africa’s Political

Experience: Piety, Passion and Power,” 1996.

10. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Islamic-Christian Dialogue—Problems and Obstacles to be Pondered and Overcome,” 1998.

5 Sari Nusseibeh, “Jerusalem,” 1995. 12: Mohamed Fathi Osman, “The Children of Adam: An Islamic Perspective on Pluralism,” 1996.

13: Samir K.Samir, S.J.,“The Significance of Early Arab-Christian Thought for Muslim-Christian Understanding,” 1997.

14. Jack Shaheen, “Arab and Muslim Stereotypes in American Modern Culture,” 1997.

35

Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs Center Faculty John L. Esposito, Ph.D. Director and Professor of Religion and International Affairs John O. Voll, PhD. Deputy Director and Professor of Islamic History Yvonne Y. Haddad, Ph.D.

Professor of Christian-Muslim Relations Amira El-Azhary Sonbol, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Society, History and Law M. Kamal Hassan, Ph.D.

Malaysia Chair of Islam in Southeast Asia

Visiting Faculty, Research Associates and Fellows Abubaker al Shingeiti, Ph.D., Independent Scholar Avis Allman, Artist and Turkish-Islamic Culture Educator

Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, Ph.D., Georgetown University Robert Crane, Ph.D., Center for Civilizational Renewal, Virginia Carole Dagher, Freelance Writer/Journalist, Beirut, Lebanon

Majid Fakhry, Ph.D., Independent Scholar Magda Gohar-Chrobog, Ph.D. Independent Scholar Hong Qu, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China Lina Molokotos Liederman, Independent Scholar

Ahmad Moussalli, Ph.D., American University of Beirut, Lebanon Monica Ringer, Independent Scholar

Zeki Saritoprak, Ph.D., Independent Scholar Irfan Shahid, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Georgetown University

P. Yusuf Verma, Ph.D., Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

36

The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding: History and International Affairs

Academic Council J. Bryan Hehir, Ph.D., Harvard University (Council Chair) Walid Khalidi, Ph.D., Harvard University (Council Vice Chair) Zafar Ishaq Ansari, Ph.D., Islamic Research Institute, Pakistan Osman Bakar, Ph.D., University of Malaya, Malaysia

Leila Fawaz, Ph.D., Tufts University Robert Haddad, Ph.D. Independent Scholar

Fedwa Malti-Douglas, Ph.D., Indiana University Ali A. Mazrui, Institute of Global Cultural Studies, New York

Thomas Michel, S.J., Ph.D., Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue, The Society of Jesus, Rome

Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Ph.D., George Washington University Sulayman Nyang, Ph.D., Howard University James Piscatori, Ph.D., Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, U.K.

Sponsors Fondation pour |’Entente entre Chr'tiens et Musulmans, Geneva Malaysian Resources Corporation - Malaysia Chair of Islam in

Southeast Asia Sana Sabbagh for the Hasib Sabbagh Wing

Xenel Industries Limited, Saudi Arabia

a Pe at voy oil Ayes

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