|
submit
articles |
| Islam And Pluralism 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 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 the 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 verse 5:48 in this respect: 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 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 emphasized 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 Waliullah and Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad have described 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 honorable (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 thus 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: 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 their 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. Institute of Islamic Studies, |