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. ----- 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). ---- 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 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism