Confronting multiple religions and debates about legitimacy and peaceful living among the followers of religions, although not the product of the twentieth century, the way in which the multiplicity of religions in the present age is viewed is very different from the way it was viewed in the past.
What is being said now in the face of the multiplicity of religions is the product of the modern Western world and Christian theology. To study pluralism, it must be distinguished three positions of studying religions:
- Truth: Are all religions and denominations true?
- Salvation (eschatological): Are followers of other religions also saved, or just followers of one religion?
- The ethical status of a peaceful life: How should we treat the followers of different religions?
The separation of these three positions is important in the study of pluralism. At the position of truth, John Hick claims that all religions are right and savior. John Hick seems to have been influenced by Kant in the separation of noumenon (1) and phenomenon (lack of access to reality and truth), therefore to live peacefully among the followers of religions by criticizing Christian exclusivism and inclusiveness, emphasizes the rightness of all religions and salvation.
The main factor that led John Hick to conceive the idea of pluralism was the peaceful coexistence of religions; an idea not found in the Christian and modern West, and a theory that arose from the cultural and social atmosphere of the early twentieth century and because of the First and Second World Wars, as well as the Christian West’s treatment of Jews and Muslims.
Eschatological Issue
But how, finally, the issue of the fate and salvation of the followers of other religions should be dealt with is a matter which our past elites have faced with, and which has been mentioned to some extent in our theological books: “Are the followers of other religions all out of salvation and happiness or is it something else?”
The epistemological debate is tied to the issue of belief propositions. Religions can be evaluated in various ways, but two things are common to all religions: having rituals and having doctrinal and moral principles.
Confronting multiple religions and debates about legitimacy and peaceful living among followers of religions, although not the product of the twentieth century, the way in which the multiplicity of religions in the present age is viewed is very different from the way it was viewed in the past. What is being said now in the face of the multiplicity of religions is the product of the modern Western world and Christian theology.
In this article, we do not focus on rituals, but leave the opportunity for discussion elsewhere. What is the matter here is a discussion of doctrinal and moral principles. To be precise, two positions must be distinguished:
- Are all the beliefs of all religions correct?
- Are the beliefs of all religions correct?
To answer this question, one must distinguish between doctrinal and moral principles in terms of the attainment of human intellect:
Basic and common doctrinal principles: Such as the ugliness of oppression, murder, theft, adultery, etc., and the goodness of justice and helping the orphan, etc., which are almost matters that the human intellect alone is capable of discovering and having the will to do.
Specific doctrinal and moral principles that express the details as well as specific to each religion. After the separation in these doctrinal principles (basic and specific), it can be said that everyone, even if no religion has reached him/her, should act on those basic matters and there is no religion that has an order on the absence of those affairs. Therefore, if a person believes and acts on those basic things, he will be equally blissful.
Several verses in the Holy Qur’an confirm this; Because it addresses the conscience of humanity:
أَمْ نَجْعَلُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ كَالْمُفْسِدِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ أَمْ نَجْعَلُ الْمُتَّقِينَ كَالْفُجَّارِ
“Shall We treat those who have faith and do righteous deeds like those who cause corruption on the earth? Shall We treat the Godwary like the vicious?” (Qur’an 38: 28)
هَلْ جَزَاءُ الْإِحْسَانِ إِلَّا الْإِحْسَانُ
“Is the requital of goodness anything but goodness”? (Qur’an 55: 60)
And,
وَإِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً قَالُوا وَجَدْنَا عَلَيْهَا آبَاءَنَا وَاللَّهُ أَمَرَنَا بِهَا ۗ قُلْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَأْمُرُ بِالْفَحْشَاءِ
“When they commit an indecency, they say, ‘We found our fathers practicing it, and Allah has enjoined it upon us.’ Say, ‘Indeed Allah does not enjoin indecencies.” (Qur’an 7: 28).
According to the above citations, there is a common ground in the doctrinal and moral principles, which is addressed to human nature, and if the man acts on them, he will be blissful, regardless of his religion. So far, in the face of the theory of pluralism of truth and salvation, which holds that all the propositions of religions and their salvation are true, we have stated that there are some common and obvious basic principles that common sense finds, and the practicing of them lead to salvation, not all doctrinal and moral propositions.
But in the case of religions specific doctrinal propositions, we are faced with two approaches: dealing with the Abrahamic religions and dealing with non-Abrahamic religions.
In the East of the world, and especially in the Islamic world, multiple religions, despite the emphasis on the legitimacy of Islam, have never been threats or causes of murder and bloodshed. Even the Jews in the Islamic world had a freer atmosphere than in the Christian world, and even in the Crusades, the blood of non-Muslims was never allowed, churches and synagogues were not destroyed, they were tolerated, and they continued to live peacefully while paying Jizyah.
In the face of non-Abrahamic religions, given that sometimes some of their teachings are in conflict with the central principle of piety, namely the belief in God, if the ignorant person is culpable and not the blameless one, only the doctrinal principles are the basis of his salvation. Note that some non-Abrahamic religions do not even believe in the resurrection and the hereafter.
Pluralism claims that monotheistic Islam and trinity-based Christianity are both identical in salvation. To prove the claim that all religions in the modern era bring salvation, pretenders of religious pluralism, in addition to citing various reasons have cited the verse:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالنَّصَارَىٰ وَالصَّابِئِينَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
“Indeed the faithful, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabaeans—those of them who have faith in Allah and the Last Day and act righteously—they shall have their reward from their Lord, and they will have no fear, nor will they grieve.” (Qur’an 2: 62)
And,
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالصَّابِئُونَ وَالنَّصَارَىٰ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
“Indeed the faithful, the Jews, the Sabaeans, and the Christians—those who have faith in Allah and the Last Day and act righteously—they will have no fear, nor will they grieve.” (Qur’an 5: 69)
They claimed that the condition of salvation and saving from the torment of the Resurrection and enjoyment of rewards are three things: faith in God, faith in the Resurrection, and righteous deeds. Therefore, all religions are guided and an on the part of salvation.
Meanwhile, first of all, citing a verse and ignoring other verses is a distortion of the expression of the Qur’an and fallacy. Among the ignored verses include:
وَمَنْ يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ
“Should anyone follow a religion other than Islam, it shall never be accepted from him” (Qur’an 3: 85)
And,
قَاتِلُوا الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلَا بِالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَلَا يُحَرِّمُونَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَلَا يَدِينُونَ دِينَ الْحَقِّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ حَتَّىٰ يُعْطُوا الْجِزْيَةَ عَنْ يَدٍ وَهُمْ صَاغِرُونَ
“Fight those who do not have faith in Allah nor [believe] in the Last Day, nor forbid what Allah and His Apostle have forbidden, nor practice the true religion, from among those who were given the Book, until they pay the tribute out of hand, degraded.” (Qur’an 9: 29)
In fact, by considering the verses together, we realize that the verse is in the position of expressing the general principle that the salvation of man on the Day of Resurrection depends on believing in the principles of last religion, i.e., Islam, and following its rules; Because in verse 29 of Surah Tawbah, God rebukes the People of the Book and enjoins the Muslims to fight them until they believe in the religion of truth or pay taxes (Jizyah).
Therefore, a prosperous one is the one who believes in the three principles of religion and performs righteous deeds. The expression “righteous deeds” in the verse under discussion reports two things:
1. Belief in revelation and prophecy and
2. Practicing what the Prophet and the proofs of God of each age have brought
This is because, in the culture of the Qur’an, righteous action corresponds to an action that is in accordance with the revelation and guidance of the proofs of God of every age, and man acts on revelation when he recognizes the bringer of revelation. Therefore, the above verse explicitly mentions the belief in monotheism and resurrection and the belief in prophecy while expressing righteous deeds.
Another verse that shows the non-acceptance of religious pluralism by the Qur’an is:
فَإِنْ آمَنُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا آمَنْتُمْ بِهِ فَقَدِ اهْتَدَوْا ۖ وَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنَّمَا هُمْ فِي شِقَاقٍ ۖ فَسَيَكْفِيكَهُمُ اللَّهُ ۚ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
“So if they believe in the like of what you believe in, then they are surely guided; but if they turn away, then [know that] they are only [steeped] in defiance. Allah will suffice you against them, and He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing.” (Qur’an 2: 137)
This verse explicitly states that if some people claim that after the advent of Islam, they will be saved by following the same pre-Islamic laws and that they attain salvation, it is a false claim.
NOTE:
(1) In philosophy, a noumenon is a posited object or event that exists independently of human sense and/or perception. The term noumenon is generally used in contrast with, or in relation to, the term phenomenon, which refers to any object of the senses.
By Benyamin Hamrahi
