A Bahá’í Approach to the Claim of Finality in Islam

1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 17-40
Author(s):  
S. Fazel ◽  
Khazeh Fananapazir
Keyword(s):  
Related Problem ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Baha'i Faith ◽  
Interpretive Methods

Because it precludes the acceptance of Messengers of God after the Islamic dispensation, the concept of the finality of prophethood (khatm al-nubuwwa) is the major theological barrier between the Bahá’í Faith and Islam. This article surveys the philological, theological, and historical interpretations of the terms Prophet and Seal, and offers an approach based upon the Bahá’í writings to their meaning that reconciles the “Seal of the Prophets” doctrine with progressive revelation. In addition the related problem. of the finality of Islam is analyzed. The article argues the need for a multiplicity of interpretive methods in addressing problems of religious pluralism.

Identity of Catholic Schools in Multi-religious Contexts

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 183-194
Author(s):  
Edmund Kee-Fook Chia
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Catholic Schools ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
The Church

The phenomenon of religious pluralism is a fact that needs no further discussion. How society and institutions are negotiating its impact, however, certainly needs further scrutiny. Schreiter's call for the construction of local theologies invites us to explore how the preaching of the Gospel has to adapt to the realities of new situations. The present article focuses on Catholic educational institutions and how they are dealing with the multi-cultural and multi-religious communities that are now found not only outside of the schools and universities but also within them as well. Its concern is with how the identity and mission of these Catholic institutions are expressed and measured in the new contexts, taking seriously the teachings of the Church on the role they play in its evangelizing mission.

PERSOALAN KEHIDUPAN KONTEMPORER: MENGGAGAS KAJIAN SACHEDINA TENTANG THEOLOGI PLURALISME

EMPIRISMA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Limas Dodi
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Common View ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Religious Differences

According to Abdulaziz Sachedina, the main argument of religious pluralism in the Qur’an based on the relationship between private belief (personal) and public projection of Islam in society. By regarding to private faith, the Qur’an being noninterventionist (for example, all forms of human authority should not be disturb the inner beliefs of individuals). While the public projection of faith, the Qur’an attitude based on the principle of coexistence. There is the willingness of the dominant race provide the freedom for people of other faiths with their own rules. Rules could shape how to run their affairs and to live side by side with the Muslims. Thus, based on the principle that the people of Indonesia are Muslim majority, it should be a mirror of a societie’s recognizion, respects and execution of religious pluralism. Abdul Aziz Sachedina called for Muslims to rediscover the moral concerns of public Islam in peace. The call for peace seemed to indicate that the existence of increasingly weakened in the religious sense of the Muslims and hence need to be reaffi rmed. Sachedina also like to emphasize that the position of peace in Islam is parallel with a variety of other doctrines, such as: prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and so on. Sachedina also tried to show the argument that the common view among religious groups is only one religion and traditions of other false and worthless. “Antipluralist” argument comes amid the reality of human religious differences. Keywords: Theology, Pluralism, Abdulaziz Sachedina

The Equality of Women: The Bahá’í Principle of Complementarity

1990 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-66
Author(s):  
John S. Hatcher
Keyword(s):  
Careful Consideration ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Complementary Relationship ◽  
Baha'i Faith ◽  
Religious Convictions ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
Principle Of Complementarity

The Bahá’í teachings simultaneously assert the equality of men and women while advocating in some cases distinct duties according to gender. Since the Bahá’í Faith also teaches that religious convictions should be examined by the “standards of science,” this ostensible paradox invites careful study. At the heart of the response to this query is the Universal House of Justice statement that “equality between men and women does not, indeed physiologically it cannot, mean identity of functions.” To appreciate and to accept this thesis that there can be gender distinction, even insofar as the assignment of fundamental tasks is concerned, without any attendant diminution in the role of women, we must turn to statements in the Bahá’í writings about the complementary relationship between men and women. Through a careful consideration of this principle, we can discover how there can indeed be gender distinction without inequality in status or function.

Spiritual Foundations for an Ecologically Sustainable Society

1989 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-57
Author(s):  
Robert A. White
Keyword(s):  
Profound Change ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Baha'i Faith ◽  
Ecological Society ◽  
Human Endeavor ◽  
Spiritual Foundations ◽  
Cooperative Relationship ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable ◽  
Agriculture Development ◽  
Human Purpose

This paper takes a broad macroevolutionary approach to our changing relationship to Nature in light of the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. It suggests that humanity is perhaps, after all, not a delinquent species running out of control but is at the very centre of a vast growth process clearly approaching a tremendous transition. Drawing on the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith as well as on emerging knowledge in physics, ecology, and psychology, it suggests humanity is in a process of evolving consciousness that is leading to the birth of a new planetary culture. This process subsumes the development of a mature cooperative relationship between humanity and the ecosphere that gave it birth. This examination and synthesis will be accomplished in two parts. In the first part the basic attitudes to Nature that are contained within the Bahá’í writings will be explored and explicated. The second part will examine how the emergence of an ecological consciousness is linked to basic principles of the Bahá’í Faith. These principles will be related to tenets for an ecological society being advanced by contemporary social commentators. Implicit throughout is the Bahá’í view of the balance and cohesion of material and spiritual realities in approaching every question, whether it be environmental policy, agriculture, development, health, or peace. All areas of human endeavor are interrelated and require an integrated understanding of human purpose. This paper lays no claim to being an authoritative Bahá’í position and should be regarded as a preliminary attempt of one mind to grasp some of the deeper meanings latent in the voluminous writings of the Bahá’í Faith. Through this attempt it is hoped the reader will be led to a deeper understanding of current environmental dilemmas and will be offered a vision of profound change for which the current crises may be viewed as "forcing functions." As idealistic as this may seem, in this day only the visionary is pragmatic.

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