The Dawn of Religious Pluralism: Voices from the World's Parliament of Religions, 1893

Introduction

• xiii Sept 1893 in Chicago--biggest convention of religion to date
• xiv "coming unity of mankind" concealed gradual universalization of Christianity 
• so...pluralism? or dawning a new era of unity and universalism?
• xv next Parliament called for Banaras, India, but never happened (lost momentum)
• 15 at time of Parliament, "10 great religions" were: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainsim, Zoroastrainism, Taoism, Confucianism, Shintoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• various sects among those too: protestant, catholic, greek orthodox, women, etc.
• religious leaders, political leaders, ambassadors, businessmen, scholars, priests, reformers
• Parliament gathered around Catholics
• Chicago Tribune published on Sept 12 (the day after): people from "the four corners of the world had come together to forward the cause of humanity here and hereafter" and demonstrate by their presence "the vital power of that universal spirit that drive men everywhere to look upwards at a star"

"A Voice from Syria" Chistophore Jihara (Orthodox Christian)

• 199 gospels and Koran "which are really one", can be reconciled--by which Christians and Mohmmedans can be reconciled
• the world will then come into unity and all differences will fade away
• "all human kind will become brethren in worshipping the true God and following Christ"
• "I hope the time will come when these two great peoples, Christian and Mohammedan, the greatest, the strongest, the brightest, and the richest among all the nations of the earth, may unite in one faith, serving God"
• from the 3rd century til now, Christianity has misinterpreted the Gospels--heresies 
• 200 "by the Koran we can understand the Gospel better, and wihtout the Koran it is impossible to understand it correctly. It is for that I believe that God has preserved the Koran and also preserved Islam, because it has come to correct the doctrines and dogmas of the Christians . There is no difference in the books themselves--the Gospel and the Koran. It is only in the understanding of people in their reading of the Bible and the Gospels and the Koran."

Part VII: Three Views of Islam

Introduction

• 247 Islam was underrepresented, and grouped with Judaism and Christianity into western monotheistic tradition

Chapter 26: "Some Teaching of the Koran," J. Sanna Abu Naddara

• 249 "the koran is tolerant, human, and moral"
• portraying Islam as friend to slaves, to knowledge--equalizing (comp. to Hinduism's castes)
• portrays Islam as pro-monogamy ""happy and fortunate is the man who has only one wife, pious and virutous""
• 250 the Prophet loved and honored/respected women

Chapter 28: "The Spirit of Islam" Mohammed (Alexander Russell) Webb

• 273 compare Muslim spain of 6th century, Christian Europe which learned from spain
• 274 "the Emir, who leads in prayer, preaches no sermon"
• protrays Islam as non-authoritarian--"perfect brotherhood"
• all Muslims recognize the "inspiration of Jesus"
• 5 times daily prayer is essential element of Islam
• 275 hilights diversity of opinion on prayer and other topics within Islam
• 277 "Caste lines are broken down entirely"
• [brotherhood] "exists among the Mussulmans of India"
• anecdote: old man in bombay who lost it all and was supported by Muslim brethren
• more Bombay anecdotes: the poor man who entered the rich house at dinner and ate
• 278 Islam is very misrepresented

Chapter 40: "The Work of Social Reform in India" B. B. Nagarkar (hindu)

• 
  
• 340 on Nagarkar: 
• India greeted with most enthusiasm of all delegations at Parliament (Daily Inter Ocean 18 Sept 1893)

To look up: Mughal Emperor Akbar of 16th century, International Association for Religious Freedom, Sultan Abdul Hamid II (expressed little interest in the parlaiment, potentially resulting in low representation of Islam), biography of Mohammed Webb/Alexander Russell

Princeton Reading in Islamic

· Princeton Readings in Islamic Thought: Texts and Contexts from al-Banna to Bin Laden. Edited and introduced by Roxanne L. Euben and Muhammed Qasim Zaman. Chapter 3: Sayyid Abu'l-A'La Maududi 1903-1979

•         80 in the opinion of the leaders of Jam’iyyat al-‘Ulama (with whom Mawdudi’s father (?) Husayn Ahmad Madani studied) colonialism, from start to end, was the cause of social and economic backwardness of Muslims in British India

o   THUS, might as well join forces with Hindus and “avowedly secular” Indian National Congress to kick British out of India

o   This congress dominated by Hindus and led by leaders such as Ghandi whose rhetoric was infused with Hindu idiom

•   80 Madani and the “nationalist” ‘ulama felt confident about the future of a postcolonial, united India in which Muslims and Hindus coexisted harmoniously

·         80 Mawdudi was skeptical about how the Muslim community would function in a Hindu-dominated India

o   Criticized Madani for his failure to grasp the sacrifice/concessions of the Muslim community that would come with the emergence of a “united nationhood”

• ·         81 Muslim League had by 1940 started calling for separate Muslim homeland, separate from India to protect Muslim interests
• ·         82-83 Mawdudi was against western style nationalism and preferred that people be properly trained in Islamic norms before a Muslim state was formed.
• ·         84 Mawdudi’s political ideology became influential on an international level and impacted South Asia a lot (he chose to live in Pakistan ultimately and was very politically active while there)

o   See his essay in Islam in Transition on the proper leader

Methodology: biography/upbringing of Mawdudi which informed his salafist standpoint; puts his upbringing in context of 20th century Indian political crisis; explains historically how Mawdudi formed salafist outlook on Hindus

Relates to: "Our Message" by Mawdudi (class reading)

To look up: Zaman, Muhammed Qasim.

·         1998. “Arabic, the Arab Middle East, and the Definition of Muslim Identity in Twentieth Century India.” Journal of the Royal Atlantic Society

·         2002. The Ulama in Contemporary Islam: Custodians of Change.

·         2007. “Tradition and Authority in Deobandi Madrasas of South Asia.” in Schooling Islam: The Culture and Politics of Modern Muslim Education edited by Robert W. Hefner and Zaman

Sayyid Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali Nadwi

Meeting 3/25/13

Meeting 3/25/13
Start 8:00

Order of Events:

Scheduling group meetings
Researching our sources more in depth
Start group paper

Take picture:

Scheduling group meetings
Researching our sources more in depth
Start group paper

We also decided that when we are researching that we are going to do/look for these key things:
-Methodology
-Typology --> Identify position of source (academic or popular)
-Who holds a certain position and why?
-Popular Media: Find the gap/similarities between the popular media and our sources
-Find more "Things to look up": more sources, figures, etc.
-Cite Source!!

Resources day 1

Start 8:00 p.m.

In this session, we found books and other resources that we found to be pertaining to our topic. We went through each book/source to find out which area of our project they would help us with. We also created an annotated bibliography to show that our project/question has relevance and has been previously studied.

defining the question

How have Muslims interacted with people of other faiths living in India throughout history? How has the Islamic understanding of pluralism changed from the pre-modern to the modern age? 

How we will attempt to answer this question:

Taking a historical perspective, we will examine primary sources of Muslims living in India about their interactions with people of different religions (i.e. Janist, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, etc.), including the impact of secularism on modern pluralist perspectives.