Slouching Toward Medina 263theistic religions as it does for monotheistic ones. However, this is pri-
marily a consequence of the fact that the Revelation was revealed dur-
ing a protracted and bloody war with the “polytheistic” Quraysh. The
truth that is the Quranic designation of “protected peoples” was
highly flexible and was routinely tailored to match public policy.
When Islam expanded into Iran and India, both dualist Zoroastrians
and certain polytheistic Hindu sects were designated as dhimmi. And
while the Quran does not allow any religion to violate core Muslim
values, there is no country in the world that does not restrict the free-
dom of religion according to public morality. Pluralism implies reli-
gious tolerance, not unchecked religious freedom.
The foundation of Islamic pluralism can be summed up in one
indisputable verse: “There can be no compulsion in religion” (2:256).
This means that the antiquated partitioning of the world into spheres
of belief (dar al-Islam) and unbelief (dar al-Harb), which was first
developed during the Crusades but which still maintains its grasp on
the imaginations of Traditionalist theologians, is utterly unjustifiable.
It also means that the ideology of those Wahhabists who wish to
return Islam to some imaginary ideal of original purity must be once
and for all abandoned. Islam is and has always been a religion of diver-
sity. The notion that there was once an original, unadulterated Islam
that was shattered into heretical sects and schisms is a historical fic-
tion. Both Shi‘ism and Sufism in all their wonderful manifestations
represent trends of thought that have existed from the very beginning
of Islam, and both find their inspiration in the words and deeds of the
Prophet. God may be One, but Islam most definitely is not.
Grounding an Islamic democracy in the ideals of pluralism is vital
because religious pluralism is the first step toward building an effec-
tive human rights policy in the Middle East. Or, as Abdulaziz Sache-
dina notes, religious pluralism can function as “an active paradigm for
a democratic, social pluralism in which people of diverse religious
backgrounds are willing to form a community of global citizens.” As
with Islamic pluralism, the inspiration for an Islamic policy of human
rights must be based on the Medinan ideal.
The revolutionary rights Muhammad gave to the marginalized
members of his community have been exhaustively detailed in this
book, as have the consistent efforts by Muhammad’s religious and