An Introduction to Diversity and Pluralism in the Quran
By
V.A. Mohamad Ashrof, New Age Islam
12 July
2022
Quran
Envisages Establishing A Non-Autocratic, Consultative Method Of Governance; And
Institutionalizing Mercy And Compassion In Social Interactions
Main
Points:
1. Mistranslation
of technical terms such as 'Jihad' and 'Kafir' is the major misinformation and
disinformation in understanding and perceiving Islam.
2. Social
justice does not get its due recognition in the Muslim world.
3. We should
promote the values of equality, justice, freedom, compassion, human rights and
the rule of law.
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It is a
proclaimed Quranic theme that Prophet Muhammad did not bring anything new or
different in terms of faith from the previous prophets. The Quran repeats its
major claim that it is “confirming what was before it” or “that which is with
you” numerous times. 1 It repeatedly affirms and confirms preceding scriptures
and prophets. 2 Thus the Quran refers to previous prophets as Muslims,
submitters to the will of God. 3
Prophets
are not, themselves, religious partisans. However, their messages later served
as the basis for religions. 4 Differences arise from people interpreting the
message differently, failing to understand the essential spirit of the message,
mistranslations, 5 or from cynical people exploiting religion for their own
selfish gain etc. 6 However, this diversity of beliefs is ultimately part of
the Divine plan and a function of His will. 7 Since, “Nothing has been said to
you [Muhammad], which was not said, to the Messengers before you"8, the
essential message of all religions will be the same barring human accretions
crept into them throughout historical times. Despite problems in preservation
of sacred texts or other discontinuities in various traditions, what is
remarkable is that core esoteric truths pathways and virtues conducive to
felicity remain intact. The core message is simple: conduct an ethical life of
doing goodness by believing in God and Hereafter.
All human
beings have the same breath of God in our being. 9 All people are born with an
innate intuition about the divine. 10 Every human being has a spiritual compass
and dignity granted by God. 11 In recognition of this, God granted humankind
the intellect and ability to discern between right and wrong. 12 The Quran emphasizes
that all people are created by God in the “best of molds”.13 As vicegerents on
earth, all people carry the same responsibility, 14 and they are equally
rewarded for their good deeds in the afterlife.15 The moral values that Islam
emphasizes are universal. It is significant that the Quran refers to “the good”
(al-Maruf), namely what is recognized and accepted by human nature and
common sense, and calls “the evil” (al-Munkar) or what is rejected by
human nature and common sense. 16
The Quran
calls upon different religious traditions to “compete with each other in
righteousness” and the Quran calls upon different religious traditions to defer
their differences to the ultimate judgment of God. 17 This proposal of the
Quran is known as irja or “postponement;” namely, deferring religious
differences to Judgment Day. The major role of a spiritual man is constructing
a global world of peaceful coexistence, dialogue, bridge building, and
cooperation among all faiths and people for the common good of humanity. Too
often people seemed more focused on divisions and misperceptions, than
acknowledging areas of convergence, parallel values, and points of shared
belief between faiths. Muslim and Christian televangelists played a great role
for this negative method of highlighting differences.
The Quranic
concept of ‘People of the Book’ enabled healthy bridge-building. The privilege
of Ahlal Al-Kitab, granted by God in the Quran to the Jews, Christians and
Sabaeans, was extended by the Muslims to the Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists
and adherents of other religions as they came into contact with them.18
Freedom of
thought and expression, democracy, secularism, discursive power,
self-determination, personal autonomy, pluralism, gender equity etc. are not
only compatible but also derivable from the Divine Texts like Injeel, Torah,
Zabur and the Quran. More than that in order to be relevant,
religious interpretation should be in consonance with divine values of liberty,
equality and fraternity as Dr. BR Ambedkar has correctly underlined: “Whether
you do that or you do not, you must give a new doctrinal basis to your
Religion—a basis that will be in consonance with Liberty, Equality and
Fraternity; in short, with Democracy. I am no authority on the subject. But I
am told that for such religious principles as will be in consonance with
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, it may not be necessary for you to borrow
from foreign sources and that you could draw for such principles on the
Upanishads.” 19
Both
Islamophobes and Muslim fanatics are bent on promoting hate by cherry-pick the
perceived ‘violent’ verses from the Quran; ignoring what was stated in the
preceding and proceeding verses as well as its well-grounded pluralist ethos.
The late Samuel Huntington claimed that “Western ideas of . . . equality,
liberty, [and] rule of law . . . have little resonance with Islamic . . .
cultures.”20 While such antagonism and sweeping statement generally find little
support among scholars specializing in Islam, the idea that political freedom
is somehow un-Islamic or that Islam is opposed to or ambivalent about freedom
is hardly foreign to the study of Islam—not just in previous times but in our
own. A great deal of what is justified nowadays on the basis of the Quran from
autocracy to theocracy, suppression of freedom of expression, obscene
accumulation of wealth to gross inequity, oppression of women to the denial of
rights of minorities, exclusive ownership of truth to suicide bombing has no
relationship to the Sacred Text whatsoever. 21
Mistranslation
of technical terms such as 'Jihad' and 'Kafir' is the major
misinformation and disinformation in understanding and perceiving Islam.
‘Jihad’ is a struggle against all forms of oppression and exploitation. 22 The
real ‘Kafir’ is someone who does an aggression against humanitarianism;
who denies and hides the truth despite their knowledge of it. 23 ‘Kafir’
hesitates to spend wealth for the welfare of the poor and becomes participant
in the process of oppressing the weak. 24 The basic meaning of ‘Kafir’
is ‘ungrateful.’ 25 ‘Kafir’ does not have the meaning of “unbeliever.”
Islam, at
its core, is a system of ethics. Justice is the most emphasized absolute value
in the Quran. 26 The Quran has a strong egalitarian overtone as it urges the
more wealthy sections of people in society to share their wealth and income
with their poor and disadvantaged fellow beings. 27 The Quran states there is
no piety without sacrificing money and caring for the under-privileged. 28 The
Quran has always advocated equality, justice, pluralism, and human rights.
However,
social justice does not get its due recognition in the Muslim world. The big
challenge before Muslims today is to rediscover the compassionate, pluralistic
and tolerant traditions within Islam, the Islam which the bigots and the
extremists seek to destroy. We should promote the values of equality, justice,
freedom, compassion, human rights and the rule of law. Equality (al-Musawat),
freedom (al-Hurriyya), and justice (al-‘Adl), for example, have
long been cardinal Islamic doctrines and have received throughout history
different formulations and suffered various abuses. The Quran envisages
establishing a non-autocratic, consultative method of governance; and
institutionalizing mercy and compassion in social interactions. 29
1. (Q.2:41, 2:89, 2:91, 2:97, and 2:101;
3:3, 3:81, 4:47, 5:48, 6:92, 10:37; 35:31; 37:37)
2. (Q.2:83-87, 2:89, 2:91, 2:97, 2:136,
2:140, 3:2-3:3, 3:50, 3:81, 3:84, 3:119, 4:47, 4:136, 4:163, 5:46-47, 5:66, 5:68-69,
6:91-92, 6:154, 10:37, 10:94, 16:43, 17:55, 19:30, 21:7, 21:105, 35:51, 42:3,
57:27, 61:6)
3. (Q.2:128 and 3:67, cf. 40:78; 42:13).
4. (3:64–69, 24:55)
5. (6:105–108, 6:159, 10:57–60, 66–70)
6. (2:213, 3:7, 3:78, 6:144)
7. (2:106, 5:48)
8. (Q.41:43)
9. (Q.15:24, 15:29; 32:9; 38:72)
10. (7:171, 30:30)
11. (Q.17:70)
12. (Q.6:104, 95:4)
13. (Q.95:4)
14. (Q.2:30)
15. (Q.2:281; 33:35; 36:54)
16. (Q.3:104, 3:110, 3:114; 7:157; 9:71,
9:112; 22:41; 31:17)
17. (Q.5:48, 2:148)
18. (Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, ‘Islam in Great
Asian Religions, NY: Macmillan, 1975, p. 329)
19. (Ambedkar BR, The Annihilation of
Caste-with an Introduction of Arundhati Roy, NY: Verso, 2014, p.255)
20. (Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of
Civilizations?” Foreign Affairs, Summer 1993: 22–49, p.40).
21. (Ziauddin Sardar, Reading the Quran,
London: Hurst & Company, 2011, p.370-371)
22. (Q.22:40, 2:193, 4:75, 2:208, 25:52,
29:69, 5:8, 60:9-10)
23. (Q.2:109; 47:25).
24. (Q.2:254, 3:179, 9:34-35, 4:168, 14:13,
5:79).
25. (Toshihiko Izutsu, God and Man in the
Koran, Tokyo: Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Society, 1964, p.54)
26. (Q.5:8; 4:58, 4:135; 16:90; 57:25; 7:29;
11:85).
27. (Q.2:177; 76:8-9; 92:20-21; 107:1-7;
etc.).
28. (Q.92:18; 9:103; 3:92; 107:1–7)
29. (Q.6:12, 6:54, 21:107, 27:77, 29:51,
45:20).
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V.A.
Mohamad Ashrof is an independent Islamic humanist scholar from India who
regularly publishers articles and papers in Islam and contemporary affairs.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-pluralism/diversity-pluralism-quran/d/127463
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