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Islam &
Pluralism
A Contemporary Approach
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Shah
Abdul Halim
Chairman of Islamic Information
Bureau--Bangladesh
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08/05/2003
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Islam:
The Pluralistic Nature and History
If
anybody however takes a penetrating look into the revealed text of
the Quran, the verses related to the creation, the very pluralistic
approach of Allah will be crystal clear. Allah is All Powerful
and He created everything to worship Him alone (Chapter 57:
verse 1-2, Chapter 51: verse 56). He even then tolerated the
rebellion of the Satan and allowed Satan the opportunity to misguide
men and women from the worship of Allah (Chapter 7: verses 11-18).
When Allah tolerates
Satan, how Muslims can be intolerant to some people or powers who do
not subscribe their view and way of life? The Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) was sent as a mercy on humankind and not to force people to
compel (Chapter 3: verse 164, Chapter 21: verse 107, Chapter 50:
verse 45). The very principle of Islam is persuasion and not to
force. There is no compulsion in religion (Chapter 2:verse 256). How
then Muslims can be intolerant and deny other religious communities
the opportunity to live with them peacefully?
Prophet
(pbuh) was considerate and sympathetic in his attitude and behaviour
towards the non-Muslims. Some Jewish families lived in the
neighbourhood of the Prophet’s quarter in Madinah. If some of
their children fell sick, Prophet (pbuh) would visit the sick child.
If funeral passed through the streets of Madinah and Prophet was
around, he would stand up as a mark of respect for the deceased1.
The
scheme of Islam is basically and essentially plural. Humankind is created into many tribes, races and nations.
Humankind speaks many languages and is of many colours and that is
to get know each other.(Chapter 49: verse13, Chapter 30: verse 22).
Every race is different from the other in their physical appearance
and nature which is the reflection of His wisdom. The shariah
(Islamic jurisprudence) is very accommodating and gives only a
priciple outline and leave the matters of details to scholars.
The
essential teaching of Islam is tawheed, unity of Allah. Allah is
alone and there is no partner of Him (Chapter 17: verse 111). Still
then Allah has ordained Muslims not to criticize even the idols
(Chapter 6: verse 108). This precept of Islam has direct bearing to
the life and activities of the Muslims. The Quran played and
continues to play a major role in forming and maintaining values in
Muslim conscience and social system. The Quran shapes Muslim
outlook. The Muslim community is therefore by and large tolerant and
pluralistic.
The
plural nature of Islam can be understood from the fact that Muslims
are permitted to eat food of the Jews and Christians. Accordingly
Muslims can eat the flesh of otherwise lawful animals Jews and
Christians have slaughtered or hunted2.
The Muslim bridegroom can marry Christian and Jew bride without
conversion to Islam. Islam has made the marriage of Jewish or
Christian women lawful for Muslim men for they being the People of
the Book, ahl al kitab3.
And according to Imam Abu Hanifa non-Muslims are not subjected to
Muslim legal punishment (hudud) for committing adultery and theft4.
The
Islamic state guaranteed not only the safety of the lives but also
the honor of the non-Muslims and the protection of their religious
beliefs and rituals but also the protection and maintenance of their
personal laws, institutions and endowments5.
In some cases, the expenses for the maintenance and repair of the
places of worship of the non-Muslims were met from the public
treasury (bayt ul mal). Similarly the salaries of rabbis and priests
were often paid from the state treasury6.
There
was no pressure on Jews or Christians to convert to Islam; Muslims
continued to uphold the old religious pluralism of the Middle East
and learned to coexist with the members of other religions, which
according to Quran, were earlier revelations. Karen Armstrong
rightly pointed out: “In the Islamic empire, Jews, Christians and
Zoroastrians enjoyed religious freedom. This reflected the teaching
of the Quran which is a pluralistic scripture, affirmative of other
traditions. Muslims are commanded by God to respect the People of
the Book, and reminded that they share the same belief and the same
God”7.
If
we fall back to the history we find that Arab
Muslims-Christians-Jews were living together peacefully during the
Muslim rule in Jerusalem. The conquest of Jerusalem (637 AD) “put
an to the centuries of instability, religious persecution and
colonial rule once by the Egyptians, another by the Greeks, a third
by the Persians and a fourth by the Romans. … To the natives of Palestine, the Muslims were a new breed of
humans, different from all those who conquered their country before.
… For both Jewish and
Christian inhabitants of the conquered lands, Islamic rule signaled
the start of the golden age. The territories under Muslim rule
became the safe havens to which many Jews and Christians fled to
escape persecution in their own homelands. It was in Muslim
metropolis that many Christians and Jews found the opportunity to
acquire learning and to excel in various fields of knowledge and
expertise. Many of them had become historic figures who benefited
from as well as contributed greatly to the Arab Muslim
civilization”8.
Prof.
T. W. Arnold in his book ’The Preaching of Islam’ wrote :
“When the Muslim army reached the valley of the Jordan and Abu
Ubaidah pitched his camp at Fhil, the Christian inhabitants of the
country wrote to the Arabs saying: ‘O Muslims, we prefer you to
the Byzantines, though they are of our own faith, because you keep
better faith with us, and your rule over us is better than theirs,
for they have robbed us of our goods and hour homes’. The people
of Amessa closed the gates of their city against the army of
Heracles and told the Muslims that they preferred their government
and justice to the injustice and oppression of the Greeks”9.
Commenting
on the visit of Omar bin el-Khattab to Jerusalem, Prof. T. W. Arnold
wrote: “In company with the Patriarch, Omar visited the holy
places, and it is said while they were in the Church of the
Resurrection, as it was the appointed hour of prayer, the Patriarch
bade the Caliph offer his prayers there, but he thoughtfully
refused, saying that if he were to do so, his followers might
afterwards claim it as a place of Muslim worship”10.
This was the attitude of the Muslims and noble example of Muslim’s
tolerance towards non-Muslims.
History
is the testimony that Christians and Jews in Andalusia, Spain under
Muslim rule lived very peacefully and therefore non-Muslims could
survive in Spain even after 700 years (around 800 to the late 15th
century) of Muslim rule. It was however when the Muslim caliphate
became weak and the Muslim rule ended that Muslims were
systematically killed and massacred. “King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella drove the Moor Muslims out of Spain, forced everybody to
embrace Catholic Christianity or be killed, and promoted the
exquisite Christian tortures of the Inquisitions. Under Muslim rule,
Christian and Jewish communities generally flourished from Spain to
Iraq. On the other hand, until recent times, Christian intolerance
prevailed throughout Europe”11.
We
also can see that: “to be a foreigner in the Abbasid court was not
really a drawback since the culture encouraged diversity and
rewarded people for speaking many languages and bringing the
richness of their backgrounds. In fact during that time scholars,
artists, poets and litterateurs
came from a variety of ethnic backgrounds (speaking Aramaic,
Arabic, Persian and Turkish), colours (white, black and mulatto),
and creeds (Muslim, Christian, Jew, Sabian and Magian).It was this
cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism of Baghdad that made for its
enduring strength as a great centre of culture”12.
It is therefore evident that today’s multiculturalism and
pluralism has its roots in the 7th and 8th century Umayyad and
Abbasid caliphates.
The
Muslims ruled India for nearly 800 years. Even then Hindus always
remained the majority in the old quarters of Delhi, the seat of
Mogul dynasty, all through history. The Hindus held prominent
position in Mogul courts, from Emperor Babur to Awrangzib and
thrived in all fields of knowledge, from music to military craft.
Awrangzib punished the grandson of his Prime Minister Azad Khan,
Mirza Tafakhur who outraged the modesty of a non-Muslim woman.
Awrangzib wrote: “It is my duty to prevent oppression on the
people who are a trust from the Creator”13.
During
Prophet Muhammad’s life time (pbuh), he concluded many
treaties with the Jews and Christians and the community of the
believers lived peacefully with the Christians and Jews as long as
the concluding parties remained faithful to the terms of the
treaties which are the reflection of the plural nature of Islam and
its capacity to live with other communities peacefully and its
tolerant attitude. Some misunderstandings have however arisen
regarding verses 3-16 of Chapter 9 of Al Quran is “entirely
devoted to treaty-breakers”14.
Westerners have however inferred on the basis of Surat At Tauba
(Chapter 9) that “Islam teaches the destruction of the
non-Muslims”15.
The Westerners, the Christian and Jews particularly took exception
to: “… slay those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God
wherever you may come upon them, and take them captive, and besiege
them, and lie in wait for them at every conceivable place. Yet if
they repent, and take to prayer, and render the purifying dues, let
them go their way: for, behold, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser
of grace” (Chapter 9: verse 5).
Muhammad Asad (formerly Leopold Weiss from Polish/Austria and
brought up in a Jewish family) in his monumental commentary of the
Quran pointing to this verse observed: “Every verse of the Quran
must be read and interpreted against the background of the Quran as
a whole. The above verse, which speaks of a possible conversion to
Islam on the part of “those who ascribe divinity to aught beside
God” with whom the believers are at war, must, therefore, be
considered in conjunction with several fundamental Quranic
ordinances. One of them, “There shall be no coercion in the matter
of faith” (Chapter 2: 256) lays down categorically that any
attempt at a forcible conversion of unbelievers is prohibited –
which precludes the possibility of the Muslims’ demanding or
expecting that a defeated enemy should embrace Islam as the price of
immunity. Secondly, the Quran ordains, “Fight in God’s cause
against those who wage war against you; but do not commit
aggression, for, verily, God does not love aggressors” (Chapter 2:
verse 190); and, “if they do not let you be, and do not offer you
peace, and do not stay their hands, seize them and slay them
whenever you come upon them: and it is against these that We have
clearly empowered you (to make war)” (Chapter 4: verse 91). Thus,
war is permissible only in self-defense, with the further proviso
that “if they desist – behold, God is much-forgiving, a
dispenser of grace” (Chapter 2: verse 192), and “if they desist,
then all hostility shall cease” (Chapter 2: verse 193). Now on
the enemy’s conversion to Islam – it is expressed in:
“if they repent, and take to prayer (lit., “establish prayer”)
and render the purifying dues (zakat)” – is no more than one,
and by no means the only, way of their “desisting from
hostility”; and the reference to it in verses 5 and 11 of this
surah (Chapter) certainly does not imply an alternative of
“conversion or death”, as some unfriendly critics of Islam
choose to assume. Verses 4 and 6 give a further elucidation of the
attitude which the believers are enjoined to adopt towards such of
the unbelievers as are not hostile to them”. (In connection to
this see also Chapter 60: verses 8-9)16.
Eminent
Egyptian scholar Sayyid Qutub commenting on the verse “Fight in
God’s cause against those who wage war against you; but do not
commit aggression, for, verily, God does not love aggressors”
(Chapter 2: verse:190) quoted above pointed out: “War should not
be pursued for glory or dominance, nor for material aggrandizement,
nor to gain new markets or control raw materials. It should not be
pursued to give one class, race or nation of people dominance over
another”17.
The need of the hour is
to identify the real enemies of the tension and conflict and
sincerely work to eliminate the existing bitterness – thus
rekindling hope among the peace loving people and making this world
a safer and happier abode for all of humankind. This would require
adopting new policies that would pave the way for a healthy exchange
of ideas and creating opportunities for dialogue between
civilizations. This calls for the construction of a New World Order
where different civilizations could coexist peacefully without
resorting to war and mutual destruction.
1-
Momin, Abdur Rahman.
‘Pluralism and Multiculturalism: An Islamic Perspective’.
American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences. IIIT. US. Vol. 18, No.
2, Spring 2001, p. 134.
2-
Dr.Yusuf Al Qaradawi.
‘The Lawful And The Prohibited In Islam’. American Trust
Publications: USA, p 59.
3-
Ibid., p. 183.
4-
Dr. AbdulHamid AbuSulayman. ‘Towards an Islamic Theory of
International Relations’. IIIT: US, 1994, p 10.
5-
Majid Khadduri.
‘The Islamic Law of Nations: Shaybanbi’s Siya’r. Johns
Hopkins Press: Baltimore. MD. 1996. Also, Dr. Ismail Raji al Faruqi
and Dr. Lois Lamya al Faruqi. ‘The
Cultural Atlas of Islam’. Macmillan Publishing Company: New York,
1986., p 199.
6-
Abdur Rahman Momin.
‘Pluralism and Multiculturalism: An Islamic Perspective’.
American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences. IIIT. US. Vol. 18. No
2. Spring 2001. p 135.
7-
Karen Armstrong. ‘The
Curse of the Infidel’. The Guardian. 20 June 2002.
8-
Azzam Tamimi.
‘Jerusalem During Muslim Rule’. Al Aqsa Journal. Vol.1. No. 2.
April 1999.
9-
T. W. Arnold. ‘The
Preaching of Islam’. p 55. Quoted in ‘Fanaticism, Intolerance
and Islam’. Dr. Khurshid Ahmad. Islamic Publications Ltd.: Lahore.
1960. p 44.
10-
Ibid., p 52.
11-
Available at gleupp@tufts.edu.
12-
Fatima Mernissi.
‘Scheherezade Goes West: Different Cultures-Different Harems’.
Washington Square Press. 2001. p. 124.
13-
Sarkar. Anecdotes of
Awrangzib. pp 109-111. Quoted in Fanaticism, Intolerance and Islam
by Dr. Khurshid Ahmed. Lahore. 1960. p 43.
14-
G. F. Haddad.
‘Standard Missionary Islamphobia’. Available in Qasyoun@ziplip.com
15-
Jerry Vines. Pastor of
First Baptist Church. Jacksonville, Fla. Available in www.bpnews.net.
16-
Muhammad Asad. ‘The
Message of The Quran’. Dar Al Andalus. Gibralter.1980. pp 255-256
17-
In ‘The Shade of the
Quran’. Fi Zilal al Quran. The Islamic Foundation: UK, Vol. I,
1999. p 209.
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