Islam and its policy of tolerance ....By Prof. John Esposito

[Thinkerman]

Salam Calayakum Guys.

 

I thought i would post this article here after reading it. I thought it was a very interesting confirmation and accounting of the Tolerance that has been derived by the Rule of Islamic Law and guidance.

 

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As "People of the Book", Jews and Christians were regarded as protected people (dhimmi), who were permitted to retain and practice their religions, be led by their own religious leaders, and be guided by their own religious laws and customs. For this protection, they paid a poll or head tax (jizya). By Prof. John Esposito

 

 

The policies of some Muslim countries, conflicts between Muslims and Christians; the actions of Islamic extremists groups, and the call by Osama bin Laden to kill Jews and Christians (and indeed Muslims who did not agree with him) have led many to ask whether Islam has any notion of religious pluralism and tolerance.

 

Is Islam intolerant of other religions?

 

The Holy Quran clearly and strongly states that "there is to be no compulsion in religion" (2:256), and that God has created not one but many nations and peoples. Many passages underscore the diversity of humankind. The Holy Quran teaches that God deliberately created a world of diversity (49:13): "O humankind, We have created you male and female and made you nations and tribes, so that you might come to know one another."

 

Muslims, like Christians and Jews before them, believe that they have been called to a special covenant relationship with God, constituting a community of believers intended to serve as an example to other nations (2:143) in establishing a just social order (3:110).

 

Moreover, Muslims regard Jews and Christians as "People of the Book," people who have also received a revelation and a scripture from God (the Torah for Jews and the Gospels for Christians).

 

The Holy Quran and Islam recognise that followers of the three great Abrahamic religions, the children of Abraham, share a common belief in the one God, in biblical prophets such as Moses and Jesus, in human accountability, and in a Final Judgment followed by eternal reward or punishment.

 

All share the common hope and promise of eternal reward: "Surely the believers and the Jews, Christians and Sabians [Middle East groups traditionally recognised by Islam as having a monotheistic orientation], whoever believes in God and the Last Day, and whoever does right, shall have his reward with his Lord and will neither have fear nor regret" (2:62).

 

Historically, while the early expansion and conquests spread Islamic rule, Muslims did not try to impose their religion on others or force them to convert.

 

As "People of the Book", Jews and Christians were regarded as protected people (dhimmi), who were permitted to retain and practice their religions, be led by their own religious leaders, and be guided by their own religious laws and customs.

 

For this protection, they paid a poll or head tax (jizya). While by modern standards this treatment amounted to second-class citizenship, in pre-modern times, it was very advanced. No such tolerance existed in Christendom, where Jews, Muslims, and other Christians (those who did not accept the authority of the pope) were subjected to forced conversion, persecution, or expulsion.

 

Although the Islamic ideal was not followed everywhere and at all times, it existed and flourished in many contexts.

 

In recent years, religious intolerance has become a major issue in self-styled Islamic governments in Afghanistan under the Taliban, Iran, and Sudan, as well as in the actions of religious extremist organisations from Egypt's Islamic Jihad to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaida who have been intolerant towards not only non-Muslims but also other Muslims who do not accept their version of "true Islam".

 

The situation is exacerbated in some countries where Muslims have clashed with Christians, Hindus and Jews. These confrontations have sometimes been initiated by the Muslim community and at other times by others. In some cases it becomes difficult to distinguish whether conflicts are driven primarily by politics and economics or by religion.

 

Finally, more secular governments in Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Syria, and elsewhere have often proven to be intolerant of mainstream Islamic organisations or parties that offer an alternative vision of society or are critical of government policies.

 

From Egypt to Indonesia and Europe to America, many Muslims today work to re-examine their faith in the light of the changing realities of their societies and their lives, developing new approaches to diversity and pluralism.

 

Like Jews and Christians before them, they seek to reinterpret the sources of their faith to produce new religious understandings that speak to religious pluralism in the modern world.

 

The need to redefine traditional notions of pluralism and tolerance is driven by the fact that in countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Indonesia, Muslims live in multireligious societies, and also by new demographic realities.

 

Never before have so many Muslim minority communities existed across the world, in particular in America and Europe. The spectre of living as a permanent minority community in non-Muslim countries has heightened the need to address and redefine questions of pluralism and tolerance.

 

Like Roman Catholicism in the 1960s, whose official acceptance of pluralism at the Second Vatican Council was strongly influenced by American Catholics' experience as a minority, Muslim communities in America and Europe are now struggling with their questions of identity and assimilation.

 

Reformers emphasise that diversity and pluralism are integral to the message of the Holy Quran, which teaches that God created a world composed of different nations, ethnicities, tribes, and languages: "To each of you We have given a law and a way and a pattern of life. If God had pleased.

 

He could surely have made you one people [professing one faith]. But He wished to try and test you by that which He gave you. So try to excel in good deeds. To Him will you all return in the end, when He will tell you how you differed (5:48)." Many point to the example of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and his community at Medina. The Constitution of Medina accepted the co-existence of Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) discussed and debated with, and granted freedom of religious thought and practice to, the Jews and Christians, setting a precedent for peaceful and co-operative interreligious relations.

 

Many challenge the exclusivist religious claims and intolerance of Islamic groups who believe that they alone possess the "true" interpretation of Islam and attempt to impose it on other Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

 

In many ways, Islam today is at a crossroads as Muslims, mainstream and extremist, conservative and progressive, struggle to balance the affirmation of the truth of their faith with the cultivation of a pluralism and tolerance rooted in mutual respect and understanding.

 

Religious conflict and persecution, historically and today, exist across the religious spectrum: Hindu fundamentalists have clashed with Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs in India, Serbs with Bosnians and Kosovars, Jews with Palestinian Muslims and Christians, Tamil (Hindu) with Sinhalese (Buddhist) in Sri Lanka, Christians with Muslims in Lebanon, Catholics with Protestants in Northern Ireland.

 

History teaches us that religion is a powerful force that has been used for good and for ill.

 

Moreover, despite an impressive record of religious pluralism in the past, the situation in Southeast Asia has gotten worse rather than better. It is often difficult to identify specific conflicts as primarily motivated by religion as opposed to politics or economics.

 

It is useful to recall that historically Islam's attitude towards other religions, especially Judaism and Christianity, was more tolerant than that of Christianity.

 

However, Muslim-Christian relations have deteriorated over time under the influence of conflicts and grievances, from the Crusades and European colonialism to contemporary politics. Part of the legacy of colonialism is a deep-seated belief, nurtured by militant religious leaders, that indigenous Christians were favoured by and benefited from colonial rule or that they are the product of the European missionaries and their schools that converted local Muslims.

 

The situation is compounded in areas where Christians proved more affluent or successful.

 

The creation of the state of Israel and subsequent Arab-Israeli wars and conflicts have contributed to a deterioration of relations between Palestinan Muslims and Christians and Israeli Jews. Anti-Semitism, like anti-Arab and anti-Islamic attitudes, has grown among a significant sector.

 

In recent decades, conservative and fundamentalist interpretations of Islam (as well as the Christianity preached by leaders like Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham, and Jerry Falwell) have been sources of intolerance, persecution, violence, and terrorism.

 

Local religious leaders, who espouse and preach an exclusivist and militant view of religion, raise generations of narrow-minded believers who, given the right circumstances, will take to the streets and engage in inter-communal or inter-sectarian battles.

 

This has led to the torching of churches and mosques in Nigeria and Indonesia, the bombing of Christian churches in Pakistan, and the slaughter of Christians in Egypt and the southern Philippines.

 

The rise of fundamentalism has brought with it intolerant theologies of hate that have led groups like Islamic Jihad and the Gemmah Islamiyah in Egypt or Laskhar Jihad in Indonesia to attack Christians.

 

Christians have suffered under self-styled Islamic governments.

 

At the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the creation of the state of Israel and the Palestinian demand for a Palestinian state and the right to return to their lands.

At the same time, for a significant minority of Muslims and Jews, the struggle is based upon conflicting religious claims to the land.

 

Similarly, for some among the Muslim minority in the southern Philippines, autonomy or statehood has become a rallying cry against the Christian-dominated government in Manila, whose historic practice of moving Christians from the north to the south is regarded as an unacceptable occupation of Muslim lands.

 

In Malaysia and Indonesia, the significant economic prosperity and power of the Chinese minority, many of whom are Christian, and who constitute an extremely small percentage of the population, have been and continue to be sources of resentment and conflict.

 

The writer is a professor of religion and international affairs and the founding director of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Walsh School for Foreign Service, Georgetown University. Among his more than 25 books is 'What Everyone Should Know About Islam', on which this series is based.

[Haashim]

Very Good article, Shuju Thanks Bro. the man has a deep knowldege about Islam.