Islamic Perspectives on Religious Plurality

This session introduces the richness and variety of Muslim theological approaches to religious diversity through a discussion of representative scholars and thinkers up to the present. Included are presentations on Sufism and the ideas of Rumi and Ibn ‘Arabi who according to some readings opine that all paths are one at the metaphysical level even though in human history they came down in various forms according to the particularity of time and space. The session puts in conversation classical and contemporary debates among Muslims across the positions of exclusivist, traditionalist, and progressive/liberal exponents of the tradition.