Hamid Entezam

Practicing Muslims fast for 30 days in the holy month of Ramadan. Yet, their motivations and expectations vary. Ordinary Muslims fast primarily to discharge a religious obligation; the more spiritually-minded Muslims fast in hopes of spiritual transformation / rejuvenation. Imam Muhammad al-Ghazali, the preeminent Islamic scholar, identifies three categories / degrees of fast: ordinary, extra-ordinary and perfect fast. Ordinary fast involves curbing the appetite of the stomach and the appetite of sex. Extra-ordinary fast involves the tongue, eyes, ears, hands and feet. The perfect fast involves the heart. In this presentation, we will explore the spiritual dimension of the Ramadan fast using al-Ghazali’s classifications.

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Session 31. Religious diversity is a fact of history. Religions are quite different in their belief systems and ritual practices, which makes it hard to imagine that they are all equally “true” / “valid”. Philosophers of religion tell us that there are three distinct views on “truth” of religion: exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism.  For whatever reason, exclusivism has always been the dominant position among religious people around the world. Each religious community believes that it has a monopoly over truth / faith / salvation: only my religion is true, only my religion offers a true path to God, only my religion is blessed by God, people who follow other religions are misguided! This sense of religious superiority creates a fertile ground for hatred and bigotry; it can easily be exploited to shed blood in the name of God and His “true” religion. In this presentation, we will discuss what exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism mean.

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