Governing Diversity: Reflections on the Doctrine and Tradition of Religious Accommodation in Islam

The problématique of governing diversity has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention but literature has largely overlooked the challenges appertaining to growing religious diversity in many places. The contemporary power sharing models and multicultural policies which are of a secular nature...

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Main Authors: Dr. Muhammad Mushtaq, Muhammad Riaz Mahmood
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Management and Technology 2020-12-01
Series:Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.umt.edu.pk/index.php/JITC/article/view/752
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author Dr. Muhammad Mushtaq
Muhammad Riaz Mahmood
author_facet Dr. Muhammad Mushtaq
Muhammad Riaz Mahmood
author_sort Dr. Muhammad Mushtaq
collection DOAJ
description The problématique of governing diversity has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention but literature has largely overlooked the challenges appertaining to growing religious diversity in many places. The contemporary power sharing models and multicultural policies which are of a secular nature fall short of the expectations to foster peaceful coexistence in multi-religious societies. The primary concern of this paper is to manifest how religion can help us to lessen faith based violence. It is argued that religious traditions may offer valuable insights to design more inclusive governance. In this backdrop, the current paper evaluates the Islamic values of religious accommodation to gauge how helpful they are for designing inclusive policies in religiously diverse societies. The analysis illustrates that Islamic doctrine contemplates the politics of accommodation and forbearance. The pluralistic approach of Islam offered religious autonomy to non-Muslims in the state of Madinah. The ‘millet system’ established by the Ottoman Empire is widely admired for granting non-territorial autonomy in the matters related to religion, culture, and personal laws to non-Muslims. This display of an Islamic pluralistic approach at different junctures of Muslim history attests the capacity of the Islamic values of accommodation to nurture peaceful coexistence in modern societies. However, it requires a more unbiased and rigorous analysis to convince the global audience in this regard.
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spelling doaj.art-f1da209deab14609810fe4fb5e492c9b2022-12-22T04:02:23ZengUniversity of Management and TechnologyJournal of Islamic Thought and Civilization2075-09432520-03132020-12-0110210.32350/jitc.102.11Governing Diversity: Reflections on the Doctrine and Tradition of Religious Accommodation in IslamDr. Muhammad Mushtaq0Muhammad Riaz Mahmood1Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Gujrat{'en_US': 'University of Gujrat, Gujrat'} The problématique of governing diversity has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention but literature has largely overlooked the challenges appertaining to growing religious diversity in many places. The contemporary power sharing models and multicultural policies which are of a secular nature fall short of the expectations to foster peaceful coexistence in multi-religious societies. The primary concern of this paper is to manifest how religion can help us to lessen faith based violence. It is argued that religious traditions may offer valuable insights to design more inclusive governance. In this backdrop, the current paper evaluates the Islamic values of religious accommodation to gauge how helpful they are for designing inclusive policies in religiously diverse societies. The analysis illustrates that Islamic doctrine contemplates the politics of accommodation and forbearance. The pluralistic approach of Islam offered religious autonomy to non-Muslims in the state of Madinah. The ‘millet system’ established by the Ottoman Empire is widely admired for granting non-territorial autonomy in the matters related to religion, culture, and personal laws to non-Muslims. This display of an Islamic pluralistic approach at different junctures of Muslim history attests the capacity of the Islamic values of accommodation to nurture peaceful coexistence in modern societies. However, it requires a more unbiased and rigorous analysis to convince the global audience in this regard. https://journals.umt.edu.pk/index.php/JITC/article/view/752diversity, Islamic doctrine, politics of accommodation, religious minorities, religious traditions
spellingShingle Dr. Muhammad Mushtaq
Muhammad Riaz Mahmood
Governing Diversity: Reflections on the Doctrine and Tradition of Religious Accommodation in Islam
Journal of Islamic Thought and Civilization
diversity, Islamic doctrine, politics of accommodation, religious minorities, religious traditions
title Governing Diversity: Reflections on the Doctrine and Tradition of Religious Accommodation in Islam
title_full Governing Diversity: Reflections on the Doctrine and Tradition of Religious Accommodation in Islam
title_fullStr Governing Diversity: Reflections on the Doctrine and Tradition of Religious Accommodation in Islam
title_full_unstemmed Governing Diversity: Reflections on the Doctrine and Tradition of Religious Accommodation in Islam
title_short Governing Diversity: Reflections on the Doctrine and Tradition of Religious Accommodation in Islam
title_sort governing diversity reflections on the doctrine and tradition of religious accommodation in islam
topic diversity, Islamic doctrine, politics of accommodation, religious minorities, religious traditions
url https://journals.umt.edu.pk/index.php/JITC/article/view/752
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