"Had God willed, He would have made them all one community. But He causes whomsoever He will to enter into His Mercy."
Quran 42:8
This passage, drawn from the 42nd surah, al-Shura, here rendered as "Counsel" is very well known. It's one of several verses in the Quran that celebrate diversity, proposing that diversity is a gift from God as compared to a curse, as in the story of the Tower of Babel. As Nasr explains in the related commentary in the Study Quran, "From one perspective, this verse alludes to God's providing various revelations so that people might vie with one another in good deeds." (p. 1174) So, the diversity relates not only to language or custom but also to religion, which makes this another directive in the Quran to respect other religions and their followers. Building upon this Nasr also proposes, "From another perspective, it could be said that God did not join all people in a single religion and save all from the punishment, since this would have removed the charge of moral and legal responsibility (taklif) that can only be confirmed by also giving human beings choice." (ibid) Again, if there is not human choice then none of this means anything. That said, it would bring us back to the notion the Muslims should accept you following a different religion, but might not accept you following no religion. Not that they're alone in that, of course, as my students learn every year when they are asked to fill out an Indian visa application form and discover to their chagrin that none or atheist leads to the form being returned. We are told over fifty times in the Quran that the key is to believe and to perform righteous deeds - and in famous passages are told that Jews, Christians, Sabeans and others have nothing to fear if they believe in God and the final days and perform righteous deeds they have nothing to fear. So, I guess the question might be: why is performing righteous deeds alone not enough? I mean, you're building in this framework where you're celebrating diversity of opinion, so why would that diversity not include those who lead righteous lives but don't adhere to any of the religions or believe in a divine superstructure?
Quran 42:8
This passage, drawn from the 42nd surah, al-Shura, here rendered as "Counsel" is very well known. It's one of several verses in the Quran that celebrate diversity, proposing that diversity is a gift from God as compared to a curse, as in the story of the Tower of Babel. As Nasr explains in the related commentary in the Study Quran, "From one perspective, this verse alludes to God's providing various revelations so that people might vie with one another in good deeds." (p. 1174) So, the diversity relates not only to language or custom but also to religion, which makes this another directive in the Quran to respect other religions and their followers. Building upon this Nasr also proposes, "From another perspective, it could be said that God did not join all people in a single religion and save all from the punishment, since this would have removed the charge of moral and legal responsibility (taklif) that can only be confirmed by also giving human beings choice." (ibid) Again, if there is not human choice then none of this means anything. That said, it would bring us back to the notion the Muslims should accept you following a different religion, but might not accept you following no religion. Not that they're alone in that, of course, as my students learn every year when they are asked to fill out an Indian visa application form and discover to their chagrin that none or atheist leads to the form being returned. We are told over fifty times in the Quran that the key is to believe and to perform righteous deeds - and in famous passages are told that Jews, Christians, Sabeans and others have nothing to fear if they believe in God and the final days and perform righteous deeds they have nothing to fear. So, I guess the question might be: why is performing righteous deeds alone not enough? I mean, you're building in this framework where you're celebrating diversity of opinion, so why would that diversity not include those who lead righteous lives but don't adhere to any of the religions or believe in a divine superstructure?
No comments:
Post a Comment