Place of Tolerance in Islam

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The Place of Tolerance in Islam Author: Khaled Abou El Fadl Series editor: Joshua Cohen Editor: Ian Lague Khaled Abou El Fadl, a prominent critic of Islamic puritanism, leads off this lively debate by arguing that Islam is a deeply tolerant religion. Injunctions to violence against nonbelievers stem from misreadings of the Quran, he claims, and even jihad, or so-called holy war, has no basis in Quranic text or Muslim theology but instead grew out of social and political conflict. Many of Abou El Fadls respondents think differently. Some contend that his brand of Islam will only appeal to Westerners and students in liberal divinity schools and that serious religious dialogue in the Muslim world requires dramatic political reforms. Other respondents argue that theological debates are irrelevant and that our focus should be on Western sabotage of such reforms. Still others argue that calls for Islamic tolerance betray the Quranic injunction for Muslims to struggle against their oppressors. The debate underscores an enduring challenge posed by religious morality in a pluralistic age: how can we preserve deep religious conviction while participating in what Abou El Fadl calls a collective enterprise of goodness that cuts across confessional differences? With contributions from Tariq Ali, Milton Viorst, and John Esposito, and others. Khaled Abou El Fadl is the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Fellow in Islamic Law at UCLA and author of Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law.