FAQ: Other Religions Friday, February 17, 2012

OTHER RELIGIONS

32. How does Islam view other religions?

We believe that respect for freedom of religion and conscience is a basic Islamic principle, and we believe that diversity, including religious diversity, is part of God’s divine plan. Moreover, we believe that the salvation of all people, Muslims included, lies with God alone.

33. Who are “People of the Book” and what does the Qur’an say about them?

The Qur’an refers to the followers of the previous Abrahamic holy books as “Ahl al-Kitab,” translated as “People of the Book” and generally interpreted to mean Jews and Christians. The term reflects their shared belief in revealed scriptures sent to the four previous prophets who appear in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament: Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus. As it does with Muslims, the Qur’an describes some of the People of the Book as pious and righteous adherents of their religions, while criticizing others for failing to follow the commandments that were sent to them. The Qur’an also takes issue with some of the beliefs of Judaism and Christianity, such as the Christian belief in the Trinity

34. Whom do Muslims consider to be “infidels” and how should they treat them?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English word “infidel” means “a person who does not believe in religion or who adheres to a religion other than one’s own.”

The Arabic word kafir (plural kuffar) is sometimes translated as “infidel”. A more common translation of the word is “disbeliever” or “unbeliever”. In the Qur’an, kafir usually refers to a person who not only rejects the beliefs of Islam but also takes a hostile stance toward Muslims and their religion; it is used primarily to refer to the Meccans who did not accept the adoption of a new religion by their kinsmen and persecuted and fought against the growing Muslim community. In modern Arabic, kafir is often used to mean simply “non-Muslim,” without any negative connotation.

We strongly believe that people of other faiths should be treated with love and respect, affirming the Islamic principle respect for freedom of religion and conscience. According to global Pew polls, strong majorities of Muslims in nearly every country surveyed support the right of non-Muslims to practice their religion freely, a right that was historically upheld by most Muslim societies.

35. Why are there references in the Qur’an that are highly critical of Christians and Jews? Is that not equivalent to anti-Semitism?

The Qur’an contains passages critical of those who fought against the early Muslims, including some pagans, Christians, Jews, and even hypocrites within the Muslim community. These passages speak to the specific historical circumstances in which they were revealed. They are not condemnations of Jews and Christians in general, but of the behaviors of specific people—including, as noted, some Muslims.

We hold that respect for freedom of religion and conscience is basic to our vision of Islam

36. Does the Qur'an teach the hatred or subjugation of non-Muslims?

We understand the Qur’an to explicitly forbid hatred towards, subjugation of, or forcible imposition of religion on any person or people when it states “there is no compulsion in religion” (Qur’an, 2:256) and describes religious pluralism as part of God’s plan. The existence of old churches, temples, and synagogues throughout the Muslim world in places like Egypt, Turkey, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, India, and Bosnia and the presence of minority religious populations in those areas demonstrates that this command was historically followed by most Muslim societies

37. Do Muslims believe in the Bible and Torah?

While the majority of Muslims believe in the four previous holy books or scriptures mentioned in the Qur’an as original revelations to the prophets (the Scrolls as revealed to Abraham; the Torah as revealed to Moses; the Psalms as revealed to David; the Gospel as revealed to Jesus), they do not believe that they have been preserved in the original form or language in which they were first revealed. However, Muslims believe that the Qur’an affirms many of the same teachings of these previous scriptures.

38. What is your proof of the authenticity of the Qur’an?

Muslim historians and scholars describe the history of the Qur’an and the efforts of Muslims since the early days of Islam to preserve the Qur’an in its original form. During the Prophet Muhammad’s life, scores of people memorized, recited, and wrote down the Qur’an. Shortly after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the Qur’an was compiled and transcribed by experts who carefully verified every verse by matching it against both the written word and memorized verses. The completed transcript was then copied and distributed across the growing Islamic empire. These copies served as the basis for all copies of the Qur’an written or printed since. Today these earliest written versions of the Qur’an are identical to contemporary copies of the Qur’an.

While translations of the Qur’an may vary, all copies of the Qur’an in Arabic contain nearly identical language. This standardization, coupled with the millions of people who continue to memorize the entire Qur’an, ensures the text’s authenticity.

39. Is it possible that Buddha is among the “unknown prophets”?

Although Buddha was not mentioned among the twenty-five prophets named in the Qur’an, some Muslim scholars suggest that, because of the high moral standards he advocated, Buddha may have been among the “unrevealed prophets” who, the Qur’an proclaims, were assigned to every nation. The same may have been true of founders or major figures in other religious traditions.

40. What is the difference between the Nation of Islam and the religion of Islam?

Founded in 1930 by W.D. Fard, and later led by Elijah Muhammad, the Nation of Islam is an African American socio-religious movement that combined elements of traditional Islam and other Abrahamic traditions with Black Nationalist ideas, whereas Islam is a religion that was revealed by God to the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century. The Nation of Islam was fundamentally concerned with empowering African Americans psychologically, politically, economically, and socially.

When Elijah Muhammad died in 1975, his son W.D. Muhammad disbanded the organization and gradually moved his followers towards normative Islam. The Nation of Islam was revived within a few years by various individuals, with the organization headed by Louis Farrakhan which preserved the original teachings of Elijah Muhammad being the most prominent of these. Today, followers of his organization number in the tens of thousands, far fewer than the number of African-Americans who follow Islam. Despite his illness, Farrakhan is still leader of the organization as well as a well-known public figure with an often controversial style.

In ideology the Nation of Islam differs from the beliefs of the majority of Muslims in a few ways, including its basic creed, which is at odds with normative Islam’s central creed. While there are other differences between the two, the Nation adopted many Islamic traditions, such as women’s dress, holidays, and some Islamic terms. Today the Nation of Islam is in transition with some moving towards normative Islam while others still adhere to the movement’s original teachings.

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