Diversity of religions in the eyes of Ayatollah ʿAbdullah Javadi and Professor Mahmud Mustafa Ayoub

Abstract

Abstract: The question of religions diversity and the related issues of validity, truth and salvation can have a great practical impact on our life in the modern closely-knit global society and can help improve or ruin the relationships between faith communities. These important issues have led to the emergence of three types of theology of religion in Christianity: exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism. This thesis aims to analyse the views on the diversity of religions of two contemporary Shi 'ah thinkers, Ayatollah ʿAbdullah Javadi and Professor Mahmud Mustafa Ayoub, who come from two distinctly different milieus. It demonstrates that although the scholars of a single denomination may refer to the same sources and believe in the same theological concepts, their understandings of a single text may differ due to their social and educational backgrounds. In order to further elaborate on the positions of these two scholars, this thesis also looks at the views of three earlier influential scholars, namely, al-Tusi, Sadr al-Din Shirazi and al-Ansari, who attempt to cast light upon religions diversity from theological, exegetical and jurisprudential perspectives. The thesis finds that both Javadi and Ayoub are in unison over the invalidity of non-revealed religions, but they attempt to address it from two different angles. They, nevertheless, differ in the question of the validity of revealed religions. These thinkers believe that all revealed religions are similar in terms of their fundamental beliefs because they are based on the immutable fitrah of mankind, while this thesis argues that the similarity originates in their rational provability. As for the diversity of religious practices, whereas Ayoub maintains it has been caused by the variety of races, languages and cultures of mankind, Javadi believes that the religious practices are varied because they were established based on the capacity of mankind for knowledge and practice, which has improved and has led to new laws and regulations. The thesis also comprehensively assesses the views of the two thinkers on the interpretation of the most cited Qur‘anic verse (2:62) regarding religious pluralism and compares them with the views of Ayatollah Ja 'far Sobhani as one of the most influential contemporary Shi 'ah theologians. This inquiry also highlights the views of Ayoub and Javadi on the question of dialogue, its common ground, goals and presuppositions.