Description
Book SynopsisA recent Pew survey of American Muslims found that the majority (56 percent) believed that many religions can lead to Paradise; only one-third held that Islam is the one, true faith leading to eternal life. Ours is a world of ever-increasing interconnectedness. More and more Muslims today work with, befriend, and marry non-Muslims. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that a significant number of American Muslims would choose to believe that God will save their Christian parents, Jewish spouses, Buddhist neighbors, Hindu friends, or even atheist coworkers. The essays in this volume look at the views of Muslim theologians on this matter. Most maintain that while faith in the fundamental doctrines of Islam is theoretically required for salvation, God will excuse non-Muslims who never encountered the divine message conveyed by the Prophet Muhammad. (Whether such unreached non-Muslims still exist is the subject of much debate.) Some go a step further, and hold that God may redeem non-Muslim
Trade ReviewKhalil s volumes encourage us to perceive inter-religious dialogue on a deeper level than that of superficial do-gooders unable to understand the real difficulties of religious confrontation. * Marginalia *
This is a collection of essays-as rich as it is unique-that tackles the weighty topic of salvation within the Islamic tradition. Rather than offering pat and monochromatic responses, the various authors demonstrate that a broad spectrum of perspectives is possible on this subject through a faithful and critical reading of foundational texts within Islam. Mohammad Hassan Khalil is to be commended for bringing this multifaceted intra- and interfaith conversation to the attention of a broad reading public. * Asma Afsaruddin, Chair & Professor of the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures, Indiana University *
Table of ContentsForeword: Salvation: The Known and the Unknown - Tariq Ramadan ; Acknowledgments ; A Note on Conventions ; Contributors ; Introduction: Grappling with the Salvation Question - Mohammad Hassan Khalil ; Part I: Historical Dimensions ; Chapter 1: Failures of Practice or Failures of Faith: re Non-Muslims Subject to the Sharia? - A. Kevin Reinhart ; Chapter 2: "No Salvation Outside Islam": Muslim Modernists, Democratic Politics, and Islamic Theological Exclusivism - Mohammad Fadel ; Part II: Diversity and Mercy ; Chapter 3: The Ambiguity of the Qur'anic Command - William C. Chittick ; Chapter 4: Beyond Polemics and Pluralism: The Universal Message of the Qur'an - Reza Shah-Kazemi ; Part III: Supersessionism and Mercy ; Chapter 5: The Path of Allah or the Paths of Allah? Revisiting Classical and Medieval Sunni Approaches to the Salvation of Others - Yasir Qadhi ; Chapter 6: Realism and the Real: Islamic Theology and the Problem of Alternative Expressions of God - Tim Winter ; Part IV: Reconceptualizing Pluralism ; Chapter 7: Non-reductive Pluralism and Religious Dialogue - Muhammad Legenhausen ; Chapter 8: Oneself as the Saved Other? The Ethics and Soteriology of Difference in Two Muslim Thinkers - Sajjad Rizvi ; Part V: Otherness and the Qur'an ; Chapter 9: The Portrayal of Jews and the Possibilities for Their Salvation in the Qur'an - Farid Esack ; Chapter 10: Embracing Relationality and Theological Tensions: Muslima Theology, Religious Diversity, and Fate - Jerusha Lamptey ; Part VI: Otherness and Inclusion ; Chapter 11: The Food of the Damned - David M. Freidenreich ; Chapter 12: Acts of Salvation: Agency, Others, and Prayer beyond the Grave in Islam - Marcia Hermansen ; Chapter 13: Citizen Ahmad among the Believers: Salvation Contextualized in Indonesia and Egypt - Bruce B. Lawrence ; Glossary of Select Terms ; Index ; Index of Qur'anic Verses
