Thread by @DrJavadTHashmi

Leave it to Hitchens to put forward a punchy but totally fallacious argument. There are three approaches to soteriology: exclusivism, inclusivism, & pluralism. Religious exclusivists believe that their religion is the only way to salvation, & all other paths lead to damnation. 1/

https://twitter.com/ExmuslimsOrg/status/1398376045494128646

Religious exclusivists can simply argue that it does not logically follow from the fact that "[not] all religions can be right" that "they are all wrong."Imagine saying that 2+2 cannot be all the numbers so, therefore, all the numbers must be wrong. 2/

Traditionalist Islam follows this path of salvific exclusivity & can simply assert its exclusive rightness.
On the other hand, many classical Islamic philosophers of the past--& many Islamic intellectuals of the present--hold to either religious inclusivism or pluralism. 3/

The Islamic philosophers believed that religion & scripture use symbolic language to convey deeper & higher truths; different virtuous religions use different symbols to achieve this, but they are pointing to the same ultimate reality. 4/

Meanwhile, modern Islamic intellectuals turn to the Qur'an, which they read to endorse religious inclusivism.
According to Prof. @jricole, "The Quran is inclusivist with regard to doctrine, holding that it has the whole truth of monotheism... 5/

"...It is, however, pluralist with regard salvation, accepting many monotheistic faiths as paths to salvation" ("Paradosis" 416). According to this reading, which I agree with, the Qur'an takes the view that there are certain essential elements to salvation... 6/

...which can be shared by people of other religions:

Q 2:62: "Whosoever believes in God and the Last Day -- and works righteousness... shall have no fear nor shall they grieve." 7/

This is the Qur'anic kerygma & is a shared commonality of many religions. The Qur'an minimizes doctrinal & ritual differences, saying that God will settle them on the Day of Judgment, but here on earth we should all race with each other in deeds of righteousness. 8/

In this reading & view, religions don't have to be all right or all wrong, as Hitchens thinks. Instead, they could all point in the same direction & agree on the essential, which, at minimum, is a belief in the divine being, divine accounting, & the obligation to do good. 9/

Whether religiously exclusivist, inclusivist, or pluralist, Hitchens falls flat on his face... which speaks to the overall discourse of the so-called horsemen of the New Atheist movement. 10/