TY - JOUR AU - Okawa, Reiko PY - 2021/11/22 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - The Religious Others in the Qur’ān and Conversion: Farid Esack on Pluralism and Reza Shah-Kazemi on Interfaith Dialogue JF - Australian Journal of Islamic Studies JA - AJIS VL - 6 IS - 3 SE - Articles DO - 10.55831/ajis.v6i3.365 UR - https://ajis.com.au/index.php/ajis/article/view/365 SP - 36-55 AB - <p>This study examines how two contemporary Muslim thinkers, Farid Esack (1955–) and Reza Shah-Kazemi (1960–), developed their thoughts on non-Muslims through the interpretation of the Qur’ān. Traditionally non-Muslims have been called <em>Ahl al-Kitāb</em>, i.e., People of the Book, or <em>kuffār </em>(sg. <em>kāfir</em>), i.e., infidels, and believed to be inferior to Muslims. In this globalizing world, however, it can be thought that it is an urgent issue to pursue peaceful co-existence among different religions. Esack, a South African scholar and activist, emphasized religious pluralism, while Shah-Kazemi, a London-based scholar with an esoteric tendency, emphasized universalism and inter-faith dialogue. Both of them, however, have tried to understand Non-Muslims by regarding them as “religious Others”, not to think that <em>da</em><em>‘</em><em>wah</em>, calling for conversion, is an imperative, and to aim to establish the ultimate religion of one God for all humankind. It could be said that their thoughts on peaceful co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims is an effort to surpass the traditional exclusiveness to provide a space for monotheistic believers who put a premium on tolerance of religious Others. But both elaborate their ideas without discussing polytheists, which will be required as the next step in establishing the ultimate religion.</p> ER -