This article is written to show that religious exclusivity has no place in today’s tolerant world.
Exclusivist monotheist faiths teach that there is only one way to heaven and of course, it is their own. Exclusivists claim non-believers will get the “Hell of Fire” or will not be “saved.” Such intolerant teachings about other faiths create many problems in interfaith relationships, not to mention the world at large.
Allah literally means God in the Arabic language. In that respect yes, Allah can be the God the Father as described by Christians, or Ishvara as described by Hindus. However in Malaysia, non-Muslims are banned from using the word “Allah” to refer to God. Likewise, Reverend Franklin Graham , clarified that “Muslims do not worship the same God the Father I worship.” Further, he stated: “I don’t believe that you can get to heaven through a Buddhist or Hindu faith. I think Mohammad only leads to the grave.” Such intolerant statements from some faith leaders clearly show that their fight is not about the literary meaning of the word “Allah,” but about the exclusivist thinking behind their dogma which states that one can achieve salvation only through their own version of the faith.
Where did this exclusivist thinking originate? All three Abrahamic faiths accept the teachings of the Second of the “Ten Commandments.” It states “I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God punishing children for the inequity of parents, to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.” Successive Abrahamic scriptures have tried to perfect this jealous God’s message.
Most Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that faith in Jesus is the only way to achieve salvation and to enter heaven. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” However, quite contrary to that belief, Koran teaches to have faith only in Allah. According to the Koran, Jesus, the son of Mary, was no more than God’s apostle. Allah forbids that He Himself should beget a son! Further, those who say, “the Lord of Mercy has begotten a son” preach a monstrous falsehood.
Why do Mohammad, Jesus and other apostles interpret THE GOD’s direct message differently? Alternatively, are Allah, God the Father and Ishvara different Gods? For an exclusivist monotheist this is a very difficult question to address; for a pluralist, it is not a relevant question and an atheist may simply smile at this discussion.
The exclusivist concept creates a major issue for an interfaith Abrahamic couple. Let’s take a Christian-Muslim couple, for example. As per the shahadah (oath) to convert to Islam before the nikaah (the Islamic wedding), one must accept and declare that there is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his apostle. One also acknowledges that associating others (like Jesus) with Allah is the greatest of all sins. Similarly, baptism before a church wedding means conversion to Christianity and a commitment to repudiate former practices (of Islam) and to live with Christ forever. Obviously, in theory there cannot be a theologically accepted middle ground for a Christian-Muslim couple.
A pluralist Hindu, who believes that all faiths can lead to Eternal Life, will not have a problem accepting Allah and God the Father as different names and forms of the One Supreme Being called “Ishvara” by Hindus. However, a Christian-Muslim couple wishing to have a modicum of equality in their relationship may have major problem resolving the fundamental question: is Jesus the Son of God and the Savior, or just an apostle?
Conflicting religious scriptures certainly create a major problem for an interfaith couple. The BBS (Baptism, Bris, or Shahadah/Sunat) religious ceremonies are the most fundamental core practices of believers of Abrahamic faiths. It helps clarify significantly which camp one belongs to. In an exclusivist intolerant concept, a clear decision has to be made: are you with us, or are you a non-believer? Is it black or white? A child of an interfaith couple can have only one of three choices: Sunat, baptism or bris circumcision. The inclusive thinking has no place in an Abrahamic’s life i.e. you cannot have two of the BBS rituals, like sunat+baptism or bris+sunat rituals!
Can a child be taught that Allah is the same as God the Father or Ishvara? Most Abrahamics believe that a child cannot be raised in two faiths because the child will get confused and lose interest in both faiths. In a Hindu-Abrahamic marriage, can the couple take their child to a Hindu temple every Saturday for murti puja (idol worship?) of multiple Gods and Goddess and on Sunday to a monotheist church? How will they manage such fundamental conflicting beliefs and justify it to their Abrahamic family and church members? The issue posed here confronts mainly the exclusivist Abrahamic partner, not the all-inclusive pluralist partner. Most Hindus are probably okay happily singing “Ishvara Allah tero nam” meaning both Ishvara and Allah are equally valid names of One God.
The monotheist concept that “my way is the only way” is an exclusivist fundamentalist interpretation of religious scriptures. Suhag Shukla has stated, “(Reverend Franklin) Graham fails to recognize the role that his brand of narrow-minded Christianity as well as other fundamentalist interpretations of the world’s religions have played in not only many of our nation’s problems but those of the world, including terrorism, wars, violation of civil rights, human rights, atrocities and annihilation of entire cultures and communities.”
Only when a pluralistic thinking emerges that Allah, God the Father and Ishvara are all equally valid names of One God, and prevails in the world, can peace and harmony among different faiths and communities be established.
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