Unity of Faiths

                                       

         Is there unity among religions or does each religion stand alone, with no relation to the other. Prima facie, the diversity of faith makes it almost impossible to see a consistent message, leading criticize to argue that faith do not agree on anything. They may ask: how can there be so much interfaith bloodshed if the source of these religions is divine. Why do followers of religion, and by extension, sects are subsects keep on fighting with each other, laying exclusive claims to the truth. However, my argument is that despite many apparent contradictions are in consistencies, there lies a strong bond of transcendental unity between faith, traditions with their messages reflecting common threads. Those studying the transcendent unity of religions argue that, while religions, show many apparent contradictions at their core, estorically speaking they share many common teachings. Molana Jalal ud Din Romi’s smile of elephant and observer guides us to understand this riddle of the multiplicity of faiths and their claims to the truth.

                 Till modern times, religious traditions were largely cocooned in their own limited geographical or experimental territories.  It was difficult to imagine they could have brothers and sisters or even cousins, in for-off lands, sharing more or less similar, if not the same, aspirations regarding spirituality, sacredness, grace, enlightenment and sense of transcendent.         For centuries, many sages, mystics, Sufis, Gurus etc have been asking us to realize that there is, in spirit, unity in the apparent diversity of faith traditions. This observation sensitizes us to the phenomenon of the transcendent unity of religions, when seen from a spiritual, esoteric and metaphysical angle. Insightful studies on a variety of religious teachings leads us  to transcendence- a sense of the scared, a spiritual urge to transcend what is material and ethical framework, respect for varieties of life, awe and wonder, multiple paths to search for enlightenment, plus institutions, inspiration, revelation and beatific version.    

                 The argument that there is an essential commonality linking religions despite external contradictions goes back to ancient thinkers such as Plato and later the Neopalatonists. Within the context of Islam, many Muslim thinkers such as Abu Hathim Al Razi, Ibn e Al Arbi and others have argued similarly. In modern times eminent scholars such as Farith Jof Schoun and Nurcholish, Madjid, argue for a more pluralistic version of Islam and traditions

                 These reflections from eminent scholars suggest that we need to look at faith, traditions from a positive prospective, searching for shared concepts and ideas that inform religious traditions across the board. This approach to transcendental unity of religious can be found in many traditions including in Islam. The Quranic approach to this way of looking at faiths is fascinating subject in its own right. In sum, in order to look at cross- current themes and subjects in the world religious traditions, we need to look at scared texts and faith, traditions- with a perspective undergirded by pluralism, we need an enlightened eye to see a essential commonalities and an educated mind that is familiar with multiple traditions and an open heart that can look at other faiths emphatically. We should not approach other faiths as objectives of cynicism and criticism but as subjects of genuine curiosity.

                     Our sources of information should not be books that have been written in a hostile spirit but literature that is relatively objective and that provided an insider’s view, keeping in mind that beauty lies in the eye of beholder. Fortunately, literature about the study of communities and interpretation guided by a multidisciplinary approach that use original sources, is available and can be found in the encyclopedias, journals and the like.