The Muslim and religious ‘Other’: Reflections on early Islam and beyond from the perspective of contemporary scholarship

Author: Adis Duderija

Excerpt: “In the post-revelatory times, the major delineating feature that marked the relationship between the Muslim religious Self and the religious Other was the fact that Islam became an imperial faith, and that Muslims in many contexts belonged to the ruling elite. Hence, Muslims were in a position ‘to determine the nature of their relationship with the others in conformity with their world-view and in accordance with their beliefs.’  How Muslims determined this relationship is varied, with examples of both the ethic of pluralism and exclusivism. My focus will be on the ethic of pluralism.

The notion of ‘ethic of pluralism’ that I use here is embodied in the idea of intrinsic metaphysical unity between human beings. It is akin to the argument that in the soul of each human being resides a spark of Divine flame which connects all to the Divine as well as to each other. One consequence of this spiritual unity of the entire human race is the idea of respecting the religious Other and, on this basis, working together toward the achievement of common goals and interests. This is only possible if coexistence and mutual respect regarding the religious Other are the norm. This ethic of pluralism in Islam was, to various degrees of success, implemented in past and present Muslim societies. Historians of Islam name the Umayyad Spain, Fatimid Egypt, Ottoman Turkey, and Mughal India as examples of Muslims ‘who based their policies towards minorities on the Qur’an’s intrinsically humanist ethos, exemplified to them by the Prophet in his community at Medina’.”