ABSTRACT
Not only in Islam, but also in other cultures, the contemporary call for authenticity (see Chapter 8) is embedded in the overall context of the return of the sacred in the twenty-first century. The analysis of authenticity is anticipated here because diversity and pluralism are both rejected in the name of authenticity. No prudent scholar can overlook the crisis of modernity that triggers the revival of religion. However, no religion exists today on its own and on its own terms, not even in Islam, which claims to stand above time and space. Hence the need for the recognition of pluralism. Amid the twenty-first century’s realities, the simultaneity of fragmenting religious claim of authenticity and unifying globalization creates obstacles to the acceptance of pluralism. The prevailing simultaneity of the unsimultaneous compels every religion to be self-critical, in particular with regard to the claim to represent the authentic absolute so as to put itself above the other. Reform is needed to enable any religion to share with others a consensus on rules and core values that facilitates peaceful coexistence. This requirement is the basis for a successful acknowledgment of the other in terms of mutual recognition and equality. Cultural modernity provides a concept of pluralism. Therefore this chapter rests on the assumptions of cultural modernity and proposes to make pluralism universally valid. Pluralism is certainly not a religious doctrine; it is a segment of secular cultural modernity. It also stems from the political theory of democracy, which places all parties on an equal footing. As in the case of any religion, Islam needs to embrace the political culture of pluralism – and embracing democracy requires engagement in religious reform and cultural change. To tackle their predicament with modernity, Muslims need to rethink the self and abandon claims to the absolutism of their beliefs, which are supposed to be complete, for ever. This is an essentialized Islam. These opening remarks bring us back to the major theme of the book,
namely, Islam’s predicament with cultural modernity. Certainly, everything is subject to revision under conditions of modernity. In this chapter I state a predicament with the culture of pluralism. The issue can be best demonstrated by the following inner-Islamic duality: there exists in Islam a scriptural recognition of diversity (sura al-hujrat); however, it is based on a repeatedly stated Islamic claim to “siyadat al-Islam/supremacy,” which is based on the view that Islam
itself, as “the final revelation,” is the only true religion. Islam is thus considered to be the final religion, designed for the whole human race. This supremacism is in severe conflict with pluralism. The predicament with pluralism touches not only on the relations of Muslims
to non-Muslim others, but also on an existing inner-Islamic diversity, combined with sentiments of othering within Islam. To date, Islamic thought and practices are unable to acknowledge inner-Islamic otherness (e.g. Sunna and Shi’a) and to engage in recognition. The sectarian strife and the violence related to this issue, as illustrated in Iraq or in Pakistan, result from this lack of an acceptance of pluralism even within Islam. I make this reference without losing sight of the focus of this chapter: the place of the non-Muslim other in Islam and the need for Muslims to interact with others without an attitude of religious-cultural supremacism.
