Pluralism in Islamic Contexts - Ethics, Politics and Modern Challenges (Philosophy and Politics - Critical Explorations, 16)

This book brings together international scholars of Islamic philosophy, theology and politics to examine these current major questions: What is the place of pluralism in the Islamic founding texts? How have sacred and prophetic texts been interpreted throughout major Islamic intellectual history by the Sunnis and Shia? How does contemporary Islamic thought treat religious and political diversity in modern nation states and in societies in transition? How is pluralism dealt with in modern major and minor Islamic contexts? How does modern political Islam deal with pluralism in the public sphere? And what are the major internal and external challenges to pluralism in Islamic contexts? These questions that have become of paramount relevance in religious studies especially during the last three-four decades are answered as critically highlighted in Islamic founding sources, the formative classical sources and how it has been lived and practiced in past and present Islamic majority societies and communities around the world. Case studies cover Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, and Thailand, besides various internal references to other contexts --Publisher MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Notes on Transliteration and Style 7 Consonants 7 Short Vowels 8 Long vowels 8 Diphthongs 8 Acknowledgements 9 Contents 11 Contributors 13 About the Contributors 14 Chapter 1: Introduction: Islam, Muslims, and Religious Pluralism: Concepts, Scope and Limits 18 1.1 Introduction 19 1.2 Comparative Religions in Classical Islamic Scholarship 20 1.3 Cumulated Traditions and the Challenge of Modern Pluralism 23 1.4 Concepts: Islam, Islamic, Muslim; Plurality, Pluralism, Pluralization 28 1.5 Pluralism in Contemporary Islamic Thought 32 1.6 Book Content 41 References 48 Part I: Pluralism in Classical Islamic Thought and Politics 50 Chapter 2: Valorizing Religious Dialogue and Pluralism Within the Islamic Tradition 51 2.1 Introduction 51 2.2 Knowledge of One Another 52 2.3 The Commonality of Human Beings 55 2.4 “Reconciliation of Hearts” 60 2.4.1 The Concept of Reconciliation 60 2.4.2 The Praxis of Reconciliation 60 References 61 Chapter 3: The Qur’an and Pluralism: A Skeptical View 62 3.1 Introduction 62 3.2 The Qur’an and Difference 64 3.3 The Limits of Acceptable Interpretation 65 3.4 Back to the Qur’an 67 3.5 The Qur’an as a Guide to Morality 68 3.6 Stuck on Principles 69 3.7 The Return of Difference 70 3.8 The Perils of Tradition 71 3.9 Concluding Remarks: Living Without Principles 72 References 73 Chapter 4: Theories of Ethics in Islamic Thought and the Question of Moral Pluralism 74 4.1 Introduction 74 4.2 Religious Vs. Moral Pluralism 76 4.3 Moral Pluralism 81 4.4 Moral Pluralism Vs. Ethical Relativism 82 4.5 Pluralism from a Muslim Perspective 83 4.6 Conclusion 86 References 86 Chapter 5: Genealogies of Pluralism in Islamic Thought: Shi‘a Perspective 89 5.1 Introduction 90 5.1.1 Genealogies of Pluralism 90 5.1.2 Shi‘ite Islam 91 5.2 Section 1: The Problem of Abrogating Pluralist Qur’anic Verses 94 5.2.1 The Principle of Abrogation of Liberal Verses 95 5.2.2 The First Argumentation on the Impossibility of Abrogation: Declarative Verses 96 5.2.3 The Approach of ‘Many Exegetes’ of the Qur’an: The Abrogation of Liberal Verses 97 5.2.4 Four Sword Verses Abrogated All Liberal Verses and Covenants with Non-believers 98 5.2.5 Conditional Denial of Abrogation: The ‘Forgotten’ (insā’) Formula 98 5.2.6 The Second Argumentation on the Impossibility of Liberal Verses: ‘ikrāh’ Meanings 99 5.2.7 Third Argumentation on the Impossibility of Liberal Verses: Cause and Effect 100 5.2.8 The Fourth Argumentation on the Impossibility of Abrogation of Liberal Verses: Dīn and Sharāyi‘ 101 5.2.9 Abrogation of Liberal Verses Between Sunni and Shi‘ite Scholarship 102 5.2.10 Concluding Remarks on the Abrogation of Liberal Verses 103 5.3 Section 2: The Teachings of ‘Ali bin abi Tālib, a Rich Source of Political Ethics 104 5.4 Section 3: Reason (‘aql) – The Foundation of Pluralism 106 5.5 Conclusion 108 References 108 English 108 Arabic 110 Persian 111 Chapter 6: Taḥkīm as an Islamic Democratic Precedent? Towards a New Look at One of Islam’s Formative Episodes 112 6.1 Introduction 113 6.2 Background 114 6.3 Multiple Lines of Polarization 117 6.4 The Battle and Its Aftermath 118 6.5 Taḥkīm 119 6.6 Arbitration Fiasco 123 6.7 A New Look at Taḥkīm 124 6.8 Conclusion 125 References 126 Chapter 7: Universalism and Cosmopolitanism in Islam: The Idea of the Caliphate 127 7.1 Universalism 128 7.2 Cosmopolitanism 133 7.3 After the Caliphate 136 7.4 Concluding Note 138 References 139 Chapter 8: Reading the Rival’s Scripture in Open Societies: Christians Encountering the Qur’an 141 8.1 Introduction 142 8.2 The Non/Reception of the Qur’an 143 8.3 Externalization: Islam Is a False Faith 145 8.4 Rejection: Islam Is from the Devil 146 8.5 Paternalism 148 8.5.1 The Case of Kenneth Cragg and Samuel Zwemer 148 8.5.2 The Case of Mark Robert Anderson 151 8.6 Qur’an’s Alleged Misunderstanding of Christian Dogmas 152 8.7 Radical Skepticism: the Origins of Islam Are Dubious 153 8.8 “The Qur’an Got It Half-Right” 155 8.9 “The Qur’an Is Unoriginal” 156 8.10 “Muhammad: a Prophet for the Arabs Only” 157 8.11 Concluding Notes 158 References 158 Part II: Pluralism in Modern Islamic Thought and Politics 159 Chapter 9: Pluralism in Contemporary Islamic Thought: The Case of Mohammed Arkoun, Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd and Abdolkarim Soroush 160 9.1 Introduction 161 9.2 A New Phase in the Fragmentation of Islamic Intellectual Authority: Arkoun, Abu Zayd and Soroush 162 9.3 From an Ontological to an Epistemological Approach to Islam 165 9.4 The Discussion of Religious Pluralism 171 9.5 Conclusions 177 References 178 Chapter 10: Divine Unity and Human Plurality in Turkish Muslim Thought 181 10.1 Introduction 181 10.2 Contemporary Turkish Theology (Dis-)/Engagements with Religious Pluralism 183 10.3 Tawḥīd (Divine Unity) as the Foundation of Pluralism 188 10.4 The Case of Şaban Ali Düzgün: The Plurality of Tawḥīd 190 10.5 Conclusion 196 References 197 Chapter 11: Nurcholish Madjid and Religious Pluralism in Indonesian Islam 199 11.1 Introduction 199 11.2 Broadening the Horizon: Negotiating Islam and Nationalism 201 11.3 Protecting Progressive Values in the Face of Islamist Populism 204 11.4 Concluding Remarks 207 References 208 Chapter 12: Islamic Theology of Religious Pluralism: Building Islam-Buddhism Understanding 210 12.1 Introduction 210 12.2 Islamic Theology of Religions – The Meaning of “Muslim” 212 12.3 The Qur’an on Religious Diversity 213 12.4 Religious Pluralism in the Qur’an 215 12.4.1 Everyone Who Believes in Ultimate Reality and Does Good Is Guaranteed Salvation 216 12.4.2 Allah and Other Definitions of Ultimate Reality Are Identical 217 12.4.3 Diversity of Religions Is a Part of God’s Plan and Will Last as Long as the World Lasts 217 12.4.4 Muslims Must Be Tolerant and Respectful Towards Other Religions 217 12.4.5 Islam Is Not a New Religion But a Re-Confirmation of Truth Revealed Before 218 12.5 Buddhism and Islam – A Historical Sketch of Relations 219 12.5.1 Buddhism as Non-theistic Religion 222 12.5.2 Buddha and Muhammad – The Prophetic Dimension 222 12.6 Conclusion 226 References 227 Chapter 13: Sufism and Politics 229 13.1 Introduction: The Health of Democracy in Muslim Majority States 229 13.2 On Analyzing the Democracy Deficit in Muslim Majority States 231 13.3 Sufism as a Factor in Nurturing Pluralism and Democracy 232 13.4 The Top Five Ranked Muslim Majority Democracies 235 13.4.1 Malaysia 235 13.4.2 Indonesia 235 13.4.3 Tunisia 237 13.4.4 Senegal 239 13.4.5 Bangladesh 239 13.4.6 Albania 240 13.5 Turkey, Egypt and Pakistan: Challenging the Thesis that Sufi Activism Trends Toward Democracy 241 13.6 Conclusion 243 References 243 Chapter 14: Rawlsian Liberal Pluralism and Political Islam: Friends or Foes? 246 14.1 Introduction 246 14.2 The Modernist Conception of Political Islam and Justice as Fairness 248 14.3 Rawls’ Conception of Reasonability and Political Legitimacy in Medieval Islamic Philosophy 252 14.4 Medieval Islamic Philosophy to the Rescue 256 14.5 Conclusion 258 References 259 Index 261