Islamic Mysticism and Interreligious Dialogue

Abstract

My aim in this paper is to investigate Islamic Mysticism and find out how and to what extent mystical views can build good grounds for a productive and fruitful interreligious dialogue. First, I provide a brief clarification of what I mean by the notions of ‘interreligious dialogue’ and ‘Islamic mysticism.’ Then, I explain three mystical principles as three bases for the promotion of interreligious dialogue. These are the metaphysico-theological principle of ‘the unity of existence’ (waḥdat al-wujūd), the anthropological thesis of fitra (primordial nature), and the hermeneutic method for interpreting the Qur’an. Finally, I explore the implications of these principles for interreligious dialogue and discuss the role of mystical teachings in promoting interreligious dialogue in two different, though interrelated, areas: doxastic and moral.