Religious Tolerance: Some Observations in the Context of Islam–West Encounter

Abstract

The article aims at investigating the multi-faceted concept of religious tolerance comprising moral, psychological, social, legal, political and religious dimensions. The dimension of tolerance finds expression within the Islamic tradition and how it came to be enshrined in the Western thought after the Enlightenment. In the case of secular tolerance, one will encounter a positive and open-minded attitude, one capable of stimulating policies and laws of a tolerant nature towards the religious Other. The Islamic tradition, in principle as well as in practice, provide compelling answers to many questions pertaining to the relationship between religious tolerance and the practice of one’s own faith.