Spirituality and Universality in Islam
Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi will deliver a lecture and respond to
questions.
The event will launch the following IIS publications:
Spiritual Quest: Reflections on Quranic Prayer According to the
Teachings of Imam Ali
The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam
Social Hall, The Ismaili Centre
Thursday 26th June 2014 at 8:15 pm
Islam’s Record of Tolerance
The leading British scholar of Islam of his
generation, Sir Hamilton Gibb, wrote in 1932:
Islam possesses a magnificent tradition of
inter-racial understanding and co-operation.
No other society has such a record of success
in uniting, in an equality of status, of
opportunity, and of endeavour, so many and
so various races of humanity.
Sir Thomas Arnold
The Preaching of Islam, 1896:
On the whole, unbelievers have
enjoyed under Muhammadan rule a
measure of toleration, the like of
which is not to be found in Europe
until quite modern times. Forcible
conversion was forbidden, in
accordance with the precepts of the
Quran
Bernard Lewis
Multiple Identities of the Middle East,
1998
Pluralism is part of the holy law of Islam, and
these rules are on many points detailed and
specific. Unlike Judaism and Christianity,
Islam squarely confronts the problem of
religious tolerance ... For Muslims, the
treatment of the religious other is not a
matter of opinion or choice, of changing
interpretations and judgments according to
circumstances. It rests on scriptural and legal
texts, that is to say, for Muslims, on holy writ
and sacred law.
Norman Daniel
Islam, Europe and Empire (1966)
The notion of toleration in Christendom was
borrowed from Muslim practice.
John Locke: “Letter Concerning Toleration”, 1689:
Calvinists and Armenians were free to enact their
specific forms of Christian worship if they lived in
the Muslim Ottoman Empire, but not if they lived
in certain parts of Christian Europe. So:
Would the Turks not silently stand by and
laugh to see with what inhuman cruelty
Christians thus rage against Christians?
What God loves
In answer to the question: which religion is
most beloved to God, the Prophet
answered:
al-Hanifiyya al-samha
The primordial, generously tolerant faith
[of which Abraham was a perfect
embodiment al-hanif].
So: what went wrong?
Extrinsic factors: western colonialism
Intrinsic factor: decline of Spirituality—defined in terms of
knowledge and of love.
God said:
I was a hidden treasure
and I loved to be known;
so I created the world.
The Prophet is told to say to us:
If you love God, follow me; God will love you (Q 3:31).
The Religion of Love - Rumi
My heart has become capable of every form:
It is a pasture for gazelles
And a convent for Christian monks
And a temple for idols
And the pilgrim’s Ka‘ba
And the tables of the Tora
And the book of the Koran.
I follow the religion of Love:
Whatever way Love’s camels take,
Love is my religion and Love is my faith.
Rumi
The religion of Love is separate from all religions:
For lovers, the religion and creed is—God.
But also:
I am the servant of the Qur'an as long as I have life. I am the
dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen one. If anyone
quotes anything different from this from my sayings, I am quit
of him and outraged by these words.
Quatrain, No. 1173
Similarly, for Ibn Arabi:
The lyrically described religion of Love is for him: Islam
Unveiling the Spirit of the Qur’an
Rumi, Discourses:
The Qur'an is like a bride. Although you pull the
veil away from her face, she does not show herself
to you. When you study the Qur'an, but receive
no joy or mystical unveiling, it is because your
pulling at the veil has caused you to be rejected.
…
But if you stop pulling at its veil, and seek its
good pleasure; if you water its field, serve it from
afar and strive in that which pleases it, then it will
show you its face without any need for you to
draw aside its veil.
Sufism and Islamic Society
Sufism: the Spirit of the Qur’an and the Soul of the Holy
Prophet. “His character was the Qur’an”.
Ali Hujwiri:
To deny Sufism = denying the whole of the Law (Sharia).
It is probable that without the subtle leaven of the Sufi
orders, giving to Islam an inward personal thrust … the
mechanical arrangements of the Shariʿah would not
have maintained the loyalty essential to their
effectiveness.
Marshall Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, vol.2.
The Holy Qur’an and the Spirit of
Universality and Tolerance
IRONY: the most universal revelation is being paraded as the
most fanatically exclusivist.
Imagine an interview: answer using the Qur’an as source of
your identity as a Muslim:

Question 1: What is your creed; what do you believe?
2:285:
The Messenger believes in that which has been revealed unto him
from his Lord, and [so do] the believers. Every one believes in God
and His angels and His scriptures and His Messengers—we
make no distinction between any of His Messengers. – Quran
2:285
Salvation
Question 2: According to your faith,
who is saved?
2:62
Truly those who believe, and the Jews, and the
Christians, and the Sabeans—whoever believes
in God and the Last Day and performs virtuous
deeds—surely their reward is with their Lord,
and no fear shall come upon them, neither shall
they grieve. – Quran 2:62
Pluralism
Question 3: Why is there a diversity of
faiths?
5:48
For each We have appointed a Law (shirʿa) and a
Way (minhāj). Had God willed, He could have made
you one community (umma). But that He might try
you by that which He hath given you [He has made
you as you are]. So vie with one another in good
works. Unto God you will all return, and He will
inform you of that about which you differed. - Quran
5:48
The Message
Question 4: What is the
quintessence of the religious
message?
21:25
And We sent no Messenger before you but
that We inspired him [saying]:There is no
God except Me, so worship Me. – Quran
21:25
Remembrance
Question 5: What is the essence of
your religious practice?
20:14
Establish the prayer for the sake of My
remembrance (dhikri)
(29:45 … And the remembrance of God is
greatest)
Humanity and Prophecy
Question 6:To whom is the essential
message of your faith addressed?
The whole of humanity has received this
message, according to the Qur’an,
10:47:
For every umma there is a Messenger
Vanity of Chauvinism
Question 7: What does your scripture say
about religious exclusivism?
In response to the claim by the Jews and the
Christians that they, alone, go to Paradise, the Qur’an
refers to this claim as a vain desire (tilka
amaniyyuhum) and tells Muslims to respond as
follows:
Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful. Nay, but whoever
submits his purpose to God, and is virtuous, his reward is
with his Lord, and no fear or grief will befall such people. 2:112
Instead: beautiful dialogue: 16:125
Defending all Faiths

Question 8: What is the purpose of warfare in your
faith?
22: 39-40
Permission [to fight] is given to those who are being fought, for
they have been wronged … Had God not driven back some by
means of others, monasteries, churches, synagogues and
mosques—wherein the name of God is much invoked—would
assuredly have been destroyed. – Quran 22:39-40
See The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad with the
Christians of the World, by John Andrew Morrow.