Dr Muhammad Maroof Shah

Exclusivist view of salvation of Muslims that holds sway amongst the laity and even theologians trained in seminaries has been a source of much debate amongst modern intellectuals and certain theologians influenced by modernity or postmodern hermeneutics. It has also been the Achilles’ heel of Muslim rationalism. Given widespread contacts between different faith communities in the face of globalization, classical attempts of defense of exclusivism need rethinking and certain more inclusive arguments need to be revisited.      Regarding apparently exclusivist verses “ Verily the religion, in the sight of God, is Islam… ” and “ If anyone desires a religion other than Islam never will it be accepted of him; in the hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost, ”  further observations made by several scholars are in order. Several Quran translators including M.A.S. Abdel Haleem insist on using the lowercase “i” suggesting that “islam is being used as a verb, w...

Is heaven like a modern nation state that has restricted entry on the basis of birth in particular region/religion? Who says God has no reward for other faith communities? None of the towering scholars holds historical Islam has monopoly on salvation. Islam that alone is acceptable to God according to the Holy Qur’an embraces, as metaphysic, all revealed traditions and can’t be identified with Sharia tagged historical Islam given Sharia has kept changing previously but salvific efficacy hasn’t from Adam/Noah to Muhammad. The logic of salvation couldn’t change on any arbitrary date and none has so far fixed that date either. Islam questions those who maintain Judaic or Christian monopoly on salvation and can’t contradict itself by asserting its own monopoly. Salvation is primarily a function of metaphysical/esoteric core that stays/stayed unchanged across scriptures. Even if salvation of believers in other religions is theoretically not conceded, in practice when it comes ...

Reading Wittgenstein on the Blessed Life One version of mystical experience that involves being safe and intoxicated by the miracle of being is what we find in Wittgenstein, the quintessential modern philosopher who initiated two influential movements in philosophy and impacted upon philosophy of religion. His description of being absolutely safe and seeing creation as a miracle are so compelling that we hardly need to entertain any second opinion about the mystical in him or his encounter with the mystical. The cognizance of the fact that there is a world is enough to make one dance with ecstasy and wonder. Wonder is the beginning and end of human wisdom for both philosopher-mystics as diverse as Ibn Arabi and Whitehead. It is time to explore the ideas evoking/invoking/leading to/reflecting Heaven or parasitic on our quest for Heaven or what may appear as some secular substitute or fragmented image of Heaven in Wittgenstein.       For Wittgenstein the metaphysical s...

Believers and nonbelievers agree in their quest for something they call Heaven. We don’t understand that life is a paradise [at present], for we have only to wish to understand this and it will immediately appear before us in all its beauty. Father Zossima in  The Brothers Karamazarov .       Whitehead has referred to basic insights or initial intuitions or feelings of mankind calling for explanations or justifications. Our desire for immortality is “one of these initial intuitions, or persistent dreams, or impulses.” If we begin with this fundamental impulse of the human spirit, the question is not disputing their “truth” on this or that so-called scientific ground or explaining it away but how to express it. Believers and non-believers needn’t dispute the matter taking all or none position but may better have a dialogue regarding how far we have succeeded in defining or understanding it correctly.       It needs just a moment’s reflection to see...

There are enough arguments to convince the best minds regarding the plausibility of immortality from a philosophical and not just religious viewpoint Whitehead has referred to basic insights or initial intuitions or feelings of mankind calling for explanations or justifications. Our desire for immortality is one of these initial intuitions, or persistent dreams, or impulses. If we begin with this fundamental impulse of the human spirit, the question is not disputing their “truth” on this or that so-called scientific ground or explaining it away but how to express it. Believers and non-believers needn’t dispute the matter taking all or none position but may better have a dialogue regarding how far we have succeeded in defining or understanding it correctly.       Taking affairs of life in a playful spirit – but not our assigned or chosen roles in that play – is taking Heaven seriously. Often, believers believe in Heaven but hardly mind it and it is so-called n...