By Kabir Helminski
20/01/2016
A kind Rabbi, interested in building
bridges between Islam and Judaism, recently wrote to me and suggested that I
would be destroying my credibility by "trying to whitewash Islam." I
thanked him for taking the time to write and for offering his opinion. I get
where he's coming from, and it will be helpful as I go forward to keep his
critique in mind. I have no intention of ignoring the abuses and crimes done in
the name of Islam, but neither is it my intention to concentrate on those
distortions.
My purpose here is to make the case that
intrinsic Qur'anic values are not some barbaric medieval system of dogma and
rigid rules, but that these values are fundamentally harmonious with the best
of Western Civilization. Some may disagree that the Qur'an could ever be the
basis for such humane and uplifting values, but I feel it is important for
people to hear what the Qur'an has to say about the fundamental issues.
If someone were to be so ambitious as to
write a series on the "Highest Values of Western Civilization," one
could also see it as a whitewash of history, as well as an unrealistic and
problematic undertaking. What I hope to show, however, is the beneficence and
justice coherently expressed in the Qur'an, and to make the case that these
Qur'anic values can contribute to social justice and harmony among human
communities.
Islamic Ecumenicism
Of all the distortions and misconceptions
about Islam one of the most important to dispel is the idea that Islam claims
to be the one true religion and rejects the truth of other religions. The
Qur'an bears witness to a history of prophetic revelations that have come to
humanity, bringing essentially the same truth: the beneficence of God. It would
be incorrect to say that Islam claims to be the only religion acceptable to
God. What the Qur'an does claim is this: it confirms what still remains of the
truth of other religions and offers a critique of how the original message of
these Prophets has, to some extent, been distorted and corrupted by human
beings.
The two most significant ways that the
original "Message" is distorted, according to many examples in the
Qur'an, is through the granting of special power and privilege to religious
authorities and the proliferation of legal prescriptions leading to an
oppressive and complex religious law (sound familiar?). Consider, for instance,
this: Say: "Have you ever considered all the means of sustenance which God
has bestowed upon you from on high - and which you thereupon divide into
'things forbidden' (Haram) and 'things lawful' (Halal)?" Say: "Has
God given you permission - or do you, perchance, attribute your own guesswork
to God?" But what will they think - they who attribute their own lying
inventions to God -on the Day of Resurrection? Behold, God is indeed limitless
in His bounty unto human beings - but most of them are ungrateful. (Quran:
10:59)
Islamophobes and narrow-minded Muslims may
both quote a verse that says "The only religion in the sight of God is
Islam" (Qur'an 3:19). What is overlooked, however, is that the word Islam
here applies to a relationship with the Divine, "submission" or
"consent," not a religion as is commonly understood. At the time this
verse was revealed the practice and beliefs of the community of Muhammad were
very rudimentary -- a simple Abrahamic monotheism. Furthermore, Jews and
Christians of former times were also referred to as "Muslim," and not
only the followers of these religions, but also the circling stars and all of
nature are described as "muslim" (note the lower case "m")!
Is It True That Islam Was Spread By
Military Conquest?
No. True Islam cannot be spread by force or
coercion. While it is true that during the early period of its expansion its
adherents established an empire and civilization that stretched from Spain,
North Africa, the Middle East, and all the way to India, Islamic Law also
granted self-determination to Christians, Jews, and other religions. The
establishment of Islamic rule was not synonymous with the imposition of the
Islamic religion on the people within its domain. Many Christian sects, for
instance, received greater freedom under Islamic rule than they had known under
Byzantine Christian rule. These non-Muslim communities received the status of "protected
peoples" and exemption from military service in exchange for a small tax
(Jizya).
We can still read today a copy of a letter
written by the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, to the Monastery of Saint
Catherine in the Sinai Desert of Egypt, granting protection and privilege to
this monastic community even while monasticism was not a part of Islamic
practice. (Islam prefers that its most spiritual members be integrated into
everyday life and not remove themselves fro the gene pool.)
Does Islam permit forced conversion?
No, the acceptance of Islam must be an act
of free will. Conversion by any kind of coercion was universally condemned by
Islamic scholars. Obviously, a coerced conversion would have little value to
the converted and no value in the eyes of God.
Is It True That Apostasy From Islam Is
Punishable By Death?
The idea that apostasy may be punishable by
death stems from a time in the early days of Islam when a tribe that had
voluntarily embraced Islam and established a treaty, renounced that treaty and
in so doing took the side of forces that were attacking the nascent Islamic
community. In such a case leaving Islam really amounted to sedition and
violation of a treaty.
In actual practice the application of
capital punishment for apostasy has been rare. Moreover, there is no sanction
for such a punishment in the Qur'an. It is known that during the lifetime of
the Prophet, when certain people left Islam after initially converting, he did
not prescribe a punishment.
Finally, I would hope that Muslims in all
lands would unequivocally defend the right of people to follow their conscience
in matters of faith.
Source:
huffingtonpost.com/kabir-helminski/islam-and-human-values-pa_b_8810288.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in
URL: http://www.newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/kabir-helminski/does-the-qur-an-deny-the-truth-of-other-religions?/d/106057