ABSTRACT
There are many varieties of pluralism. In what follows, I shall attempt to define what is meant by religious pluralism and discuss its several versions. To begin with, we may distinguish reductive from non-reductive varieties. The proponents of reductive forms of religious pluralism attempt to identify a common element among different religions on the basis of which the religions are successful in some specific way, whereas, according to non-reductive religious pluralism, God guides whomever He will, 1 not only by virtue of features common to several religions but also by their unique divine qualities. While reductive pluralism holds that what is good in any religion is what it has in common with other religions, non-reductive pluralism is the view that each religion has unique features through which God may guide people. I will argue that there are good reasons for scepticism about reductive religious pluralism, while non-reductive religious pluralism makes more sense, philosophically and theologically, especially given several important features of Islamic theology.
