Tasawwur Islam - 6 Jan 2010

AlhamdulilLah, in this week's lesson, Sheikh Abdul Halim have shed greater clarity on Transcendent Unity of Religions. He mentioned the book "The Transcendent Unity of Religions" (TUoR) by Frithjof Schuon, a scholar and an authority on Comparative Religion and the Sophia Perennis (Perennial Wisdom).

Personally, to the less discerning, the content may sound almost similar (but not the same) and alhamdulilLah, I'm convinced that I'll be able to make a more informed decision on the fundamental differences between it and Islamic Worldview.

Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas indicated in his article page 16 - the Islamic Worldview rejects the 'similarity' and the 'dissimilarity' even at the trascendent/esoteric level because man lives in his physical state or exoteric existance (not at transcendent level). And in Islam, esoteric and exoteric do not contradict each other (body and soul is never in opposition). More importantly, the concept of Oneness of God is not acknowledged by other religions except Islam (hence the discussion of Rabb, ilah, Allah). There is only one revealed religion (Adeenul Khalis) cited in the article page 18, the exclusive truth lies ultimately in Islam. In short, Muslims should reject TUoR and keep faith in the one True religion.

Note to me: I realised the need to study Comparative Study of Religions (CSoR) in order to speak with conviction about Islamic Worldview and avoid TUoR.