“Infuse your heart with mercy, love and kindness for your subjects ... either they are
your brothers in religion or your equals in creation.”
Excerpt from a letter by the Muslim Caliph-imam ‘Ali b. Abi Talib (d. 661) to Malik al-
Ashtar on the latter’s appointment as governor of Egypt
“O humankind, We [God] have created you male and female, and made you into communities and tribes, so that you may know one another. Surely the noblest amongst you in the sight of God is the most God-fearing of you. God is All-knowing and All-Aware” (Qur’an 49:13).
This verse from the Qur’an makes it clear that from the perspective of the Qur’an, which forms the core of the Islamic tradition, the divine purpose underlying human diversity is to foster knowledge and understanding, to promote harmony and co-operation among peoples. God did not create diversity for it to become a source of tensions, divisions and polarisation in society. Indeed, whether humans recognise it or not, human diversity is a sign of divine genius. The verse also envisages a world in which people, regardless of their differences, are united by their devotion to God. These sentiments are, in fact, echoed in another Qur’anic verse, in which God addresses humankind and affirms the principle of unity in diversity:
“Surely this community of yours is one community, and I am your Lord; so worship Me” (Qur’an 21:92).
The emphasis on the universality of God’s message is emphasised in the Qur’an’s fundamental teaching that God has revealed His message to all peoples and to all cultures; not a single people or nation has been forgotten (Qur’an 35:24). Although humans may have misinterpreted that message to suit their needs in creating conflicting traditions, all religions, at their core, have sprung from the same divine source and inspiration.
The idea that God’s message is universal, but its manifestations plural, provides the basic underpinning to the manner in which the Qur’an relates itself and the faith that it preaches with the religious traditions that preceded it in the Middle East, namely Judaism and Christianity.
Salvation, according to the Qur’an,will be granted to any person who submits to the one God, to anyone who is a submitter to Divine Will (the literal meaning of the word muslim). Indeed, Islamic scripture regards Abraham, the patriarch, and all the other prophets of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, including Moses and Jesus, as being muslim in the true sense of the word. Typically, the third chapter of the Qur’an contains the following verses:
“Some of the People of the Book are a nation upstanding: they recite the Signs of God all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in God and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and they hasten to do good works. They are in the ranks of the righteous.” (Qur’an 3:113-114).
Repeatedly, the Qur’an declares that on the Day of Judgment all human beings will be judged on their moral performance, irrespective of their formal religious affiliation. The Qur’an’s endorsement of religiously and culturally plural societies and the recognition of the salvific value of other monotheistic religions greatly affected the treatment of religious minorities in Muslim lands throughout history. While there have been instances when religious minorities were grudgingly tolerated in Muslim societies, rather than being respected in the true spirit of pluralism, the Qur’anic endorsement of a pluralistic ethos explains why violent forms of anti-Semitism generated by exclusivist Christian theology in medieval and modern Europe, and the associated harsh treatment of Jewish populations culminating eventually in the Holocaust, never occurred in regions under Muslim rule.
From the earliest periods of Muslim history, we have examples of a great deal of respect for the rights of non-Muslims under Muslim rule. For instance, the fourth Caliph-imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib instructed his governor in Egypt to show mercy, love and kindness for all subjects under his rule, including non-Muslims whom he declared to be “your equals in creation.” Such tolerance is later reflected in the policies of the Arab dynasties of Spain, the Fatimids in North Africa, and the Turkish Ottomans in the Middle East, granting maximum individual and group autonomy to those adhering to a religious tradition other than Islam. We can also cite the example of the Mughal Emperor Akbar (d. 1605), who - much to the dismay of the religious right wing of his time - promoted tolerance among the various traditions that compose the Indian religious landscape. How can a scripture that celebrates pluralism be the source of the intolerance and hatred that a few contemporary Muslim groups show towards the West? How can a scripture that declares “Let there be no compulsion in religion” be invoked by those who wish to forcibly enforce their religious views onto others, Muslim and non-Muslim alike? How can a scripture that instructs Muslims to regard the People of the Book as among the righteous be used to declare that Christians and Jews are infidels? The answers to these questions can be traced to the emergence of an unfortunate mode of Qur’anic interpretation that is exclusivist in nature.
Acknowledgements:
Ali S. Asani: On Pluralism, Intolerance, and the Qur’an
Source: The Institute of Ismaili Studies
