Short answer
No. Religions give opposite answers to the biggest questions, so they cannot all be right. One says God (﷾) is born as a man; another says He is never born. One teaches that we are born again and again; another teaches one life, then judgement. The Bhagavad Gita does not call all paths equal either. Krishna, whom Hindus worship, says those who worship other gods go to those gods, and their reward does not last. Hindu books and teachers also condemned other paths, even rival Hindu schools. The replies Hindus give, from the Rig Veda to Vivekananda, are answered below from the texts themselves. Islam forces faith on no one and forbids insulting other people's gods. God (﷾) has many beautiful names, and Islam's answer is what every prophet asked: worship the one God (﷾) alone.
Full explanation
The Hindu case: one truth, many names, many paths
This is one of the first answers many Hindus give when Islam is put to them. The Rig Veda, the oldest Hindu book of hymns, says the sages give many names to what is One. It calls it Indra, Mitra, Varuna and Agni. The Gita is the Hindu scripture in which Krishna, whom Hindus worship, speaks to the warrior Arjuna. In it Krishna says he serves people in the way in which they approach him. At the World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, Swami Vivekananda told the gathering that Hindus accept all religions to be true. He was a Hindu monk. He quoted a hymn in which every path, crooked or straight, leads to God (﷾) as streams reach the sea. He also gave Krishna's words in the Gita as a promise that all paths lead to him in the end. His teacher, Ramakrishna, had practised other religions, Islam among them, and concluded that all religions are true.
“They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutmân. To what is One, sages give many a title: they call it Agni, Yama, Mâtariṣvan.”
“I serve men in the way in which they approach me. In every way, O son of Prithâ! men follow in my path.”
“We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions to be true.”
“I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to thee."”
“The present Convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita. "Whosoever comes to me, through whatsoever form I reach him, they are all struggling through paths that in the end always lead to me."”
“In his later days he was thinking of practising the tenets of Christianity. He had seen Jesus in a vision, and for three days he could think of nothing and speak of nothing but Jesus and His love. There was this peculiarity in all his visions—that he always saw them outside himself, but when they vanished they seemed to have entered into him. This was true of Râma, of Siva, of Kâlî, of Krishna, of Jesus, and of every other god or goddess or prophet. After all these visions and his realisations of different religions he came to the conclusion that all religions are true, though each of them takes account of one aspect only of the Akhanda Sakkhidânanda, i.e. the undivided and eternal existence, knowledge, and bliss. Each of these different religions seemed to him a way to arrive at that One.”
The biography published by Ramakrishna's order says that his realisation of Advaita had given his mind a breadth that accepted all forms of religion as so many ways of reaching perfection. Soon afterwards, believing that Islam too was a means of realising God, he took initiation from Govinda Rai, a Kshatriya who had become a Muslim and probably followed the Sufis. In his own reported words, he repeated the name of Allah, wore his cloth as Muslims did, recited the prayer regularly and had no wish even to visit the Hindu gods; after three days he realised the goal of that devotion. The book says that he first saw a radiant person with a long beard and of grave appearance. Then his mind, passing through the realisation of the Brahman with attributes, was finally absorbed in the Brahman without attributes. It adds that he took up Islam after attaining perfection in Advaita, which it calls the underlying basis of all faiths.
Religions give opposite answers
Religions share much good teaching about honesty, mercy and kindness. But on the questions that decide everything else, they say opposite things. In the Gita, Krishna says he is born age after age, and John's Gospel says the Word was made flesh. The Qur'an says God (﷾) does not beget and is not begotten. The Gita teaches that the self passes from body to body as a man changes his clothes. The Qur'an says that when death comes to those who lived in falsehood, they ask to be sent back. They are refused, and a barrier stands before them until the Day they are raised. In John's Gospel, Jesus says that no one comes to the Father but by him. These answers cannot all be true. A popular story pictures the religions as blind men, each touching one part of an elephant. But the story works only because someone can see the whole animal. Without that sight, no one could know that the parts belong together. A revelation claims to be that sight, so the real question is which revelation is true.
“Whensoever, O descendant of Bharata! piety languishes, and impiety is in the ascendant, I create myself. I am born age after age, for the protection of the good, for the destruction of evil-doers, and the establishment of piety.”
“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
“As a man, casting off old clothes, puts on others and new ones, so the embodied (self) casting off old bodies, goes to others and new ones.”
“(In Falsehood will they be) Until, when death comes to one of them, he says: "O my Lord! send me back (to life),- "In order that I may work righteousness in the things I neglected." - "By no means! It is but a word he says."- Before them is a Partition till the Day they are raised up.”
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
What the Gita itself says about other gods
The Gita does not teach that every path is equal. Krishna says that people worship the gods because success from such acts comes quickly in this world. He says that those who go to other gods have had their knowledge taken away by their desires, and that what they gain does not last. Those who worship the gods go to the gods, and his own worshippers go to him. Devotees of other gods do worship him, he says, but irregularly (avidhi-purvakam), that is, not by the rule. They do not know him truly, and so they fall. Telang, a Hindu scholar and judge of the nineteenth century who translated these verses, explains the fall as a return to the world of death. Nor does every path reach him in the end. Those who win heaven by the Vedic rites, the sacrifices of the Veda, come back to the world of death when their merit is used up. The one who reaches him at the end of many lives is the man of knowledge, whose worship is given to one Being only. Near its end, the Gita asks Arjuna to take Krishna as his only refuge.
“Desiring the success of actions, men in this world worship the divinities, for in this world of mortals, the success produced by action is soon obtained.”
“Those who are deprived of knowledge by various desires approach other divinities, observing various regulations, and controlled by their own natures. Whichever form (of deity) any worshipper wishes to worship with faith, to that form I render his faith steady. Possessed of that faith, he seeks to propitiate (the deity in) that (form), and obtains from it those beneficial things which he desires, (though they are) really given by me. But the fruit thus (obtained) by them, who have little judgment, is perishable. Those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and my worshippers, too, go to me.”
“Even those, O son of Kuntî! who being devotees of other divinities worship with faith, worship me only, (but) irregularly. For I am the enjoyer as well as the lord of all sacrifices. But they know me not truly, therefore do they fall. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods; those who make vows to the manes go to the manes; those who worship the Bhûtas go to the Bhûtas; and those likewise who worship me go to me.”
“I. e. return to the mortal world.”
“Those who know the three (branches of) knowledge, who drink the Soma juice, whose sins are washed away, offer sacrifices and pray to me for a passage into heaven; and reaching the holy world of the lord of gods, they enjoy in the celestial regions the celestial pleasures of the gods. And having enjoyed that great heavenly world, they enter the mortal world when (their) merit is exhausted. Thus those who wish for objects of desire, and resort to the ordinances of the three (Vedas), obtain (as the fruit) going and coming. To those men who worship me, meditating on me and on no one else, and who are constantly devoted, I give new gifts and preserve what is acquired by them.”
“Of these, he who is possessed of knowledge, who is always devoted, and whose worship is (addressed) to one (Being) only, is esteemed highest. For to the man of knowledge I am dear above all things, and he is dear to me. All these are noble. But the man possessed of knowledge is deemed by me to be my own self. For he with (his) self devoted to abstraction, has taken to me as the goal than which there is nothing higher. At the end of many lives, the man possessed of knowledge approaches me, (believing) that Vâsudeva is everything. Such a high-souled man is very hard to find.”
“Forsaking all duties, come to me as (your) sole refuge. I will release you from all sins. Be not grieved.”
| Question | Hindu scriptures | The Qur'an |
|---|---|---|
| Is God (﷾) born? | Krishna says he is born age after age. | God (﷾) does not beget and is not begotten. |
| What comes after death? | The self passes from body to body, as a man changes his clothes. | One life; then a barrier until the Day of raising. |
| Do all paths lead to Him? | Those who worship other gods go to those gods, and their fruit perishes. | Every messenger brought one message: worship Him alone. |
| Many names? | The sages give many names to what is One. | The most beautiful names are His own. |
These answers cannot all be true, so the real question is which revelation is true.
Hindu books and teachers did not accept every path
The Puranas are old Hindu books of sacred history. Two of the eighteen great Puranas present the teaching of the Jains and of the Buddha as a delusion. The Vishnu Purana says that a delusive figure sent by Vishnu drew the enemies of the gods away from the Vedas. Those he taught were called Arhatas, an old name for the Jains, and they spread the same teaching to others. The Bhagavata Purana says that Vishnu will be born as the Buddha in order to delude the foes of the gods. The schools of Hindu philosophy did not treat one another as equal paths either. A 14th-century survey of those schools reports the teaching of Madhva's school. Madhva was a Hindu teacher of the 13th century. His school held that the soul is forever different from God (﷾). The Advaitins are the school that teaches the soul and God (﷾) are one. They seek to be one with the Supreme Lord and call Vishnu's supreme excellence a mirage, the survey says. By offending him they must enter the hell of blind darkness. Accepting all religions as true is a modern teaching, not the teaching of these books.
“they were called Arhatas, from the phrase he had employed of "Ye are worthy (Arhatha) of this great doctrine;" that is, of the false doctrines which he persuaded them to embrace. The foes of the gods being thus induced to apostatize from the religion of the Vedas, by the delusive person sent by Vishńu, became in their turn teachers of the same heresies, and perverted others; and these, again, communicating their principles to others, by whom they were still further disseminated, the Vedas were in a short time deserted by most of the Daitya race.”
“Next, when Kali sets in, He will be born among the Kikatas as Buddha, son of Anjana, in order to delude the foes of the gods.”
“Thus the statement of those (Advaita-vádins) in their thirst to be one with the Supreme Lord, that the supreme excellence of Vishṇu is like a mirage, is as if they were to cut off their tongues in trying to get a fine plantain, since it results that through offending this supreme Vishṇu they must enter into the hell of blind darkness (andha-tamasa).”
Respect, and no compulsion
Believing that Islam is true gives no one the right to force it on anyone. The Qur'an says there is no compulsion in religion. Its short chapter called The Disbelievers draws the line exactly. The Prophet (ﷺ) will not worship what they worship, and they have their way and he has his. That is not approval of every way; it sets the two worships apart. Muslims may not revile the gods that others call upon, and they may deal kindly and justly with all who do not fight them. Forcing faith on people and reviling what they worship are what turn belief into harm, and the Qur'an forbids both. The page on whether Islam is intolerant of other religions sets out the rest.
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.”
“Say: O ye that reject Faith! I worship not that which ye worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship, Nor will ye worship that which I worship. To you be your Way, and to me mine.”
“Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance. Thus have We made alluring to each people its own doings. In the end will they return to their Lord, and We shall then tell them the truth of all that they did.”
“Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.”
One God (﷾), many names, worshipped alone
The Qur'an agrees that God (﷾) has many names. People may call on Him as Allah, or as the Most Gracious, by whatever name, for the most beautiful names are His. But they are His own names. They are not other beings, with their own images, temples and stories. Every messenger was sent with one message: there is no god but He, so worship Him. The Qur'an also says that there never was a people without a warner, and that it has not told the story of every messenger. It does not name India's warners, so a Muslim has no grounds to name them. What it asks of every people is what their own warners asked: worship the One alone. A devotee of Krishna may accept all this, and say that his own path is the true one. Then everything turns on the question above: which revelation is true? The Qur'an does not ask to be taken on trust. It challenges anyone who doubts it to produce a single chapter like it. And it says that God (﷾) Himself guards it. The pages on the Qur'an's challenge and on how to test a scripture set out that evidence.
“Say: "Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Neither speak thy Prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a middle course between."”
“The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on him by them; but shun such men as use profanity in his names: for what they do, they will soon be requited.”
“Not a messenger did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me.”
“Verily We have sent thee in truth, as a bearer of glad tidings, and as a warner: and there never was a people, without a warner having lived among them (in the past).”
“We did aforetime send messengers before thee: of them there are some whose story We have related to thee, and some whose story We have not related to thee. It was not (possible) for any messenger to bring a sign except by the leave of Allah: but when the Command of Allah issued, the matter was decided in truth and justice, and there perished, there and then those who stood on Falsehoods.”
“And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true.”
“We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption).”
The replies, answered
Rig Veda 1.164.46 — Mandala 1, Hymn 164, verse 46
“They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutmân. To what is One, sages give many a title: they call it Agni, Yama, Mâtariṣvan.”
Cited for
Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti: truth is one, and the wise call it by many names. So Allah, Krishna, Shiva and the God of the Bible are one God under different names, and every religion is a path to Him.
The response
The verse gives its own list: Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, the heavenly, nobly-winged Garutman, Yama and Matarisvan. These are gods of the Vedic hymns, called names of the One; the verse says nothing about the religions of the world. Islam agrees that God (﷾) has many names and may be called by any of them. But a name of God (﷾) is not a second being with its own hymns, image and worship. The Qur'an rejects gods that are only names people have devised. The question is not what God (﷾) is called, but whether He alone is worshipped.
Where it lands — The verse makes the Vedic gods names of the One. It says nothing about other religions, and naming God (﷾) rightly does not make it right to worship others.
Swami Vivekananda, response to welcome, World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 11 September 1893
“The present Convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita. "Whosoever comes to me, through whatsoever form I reach him, they are all struggling through paths that in the end always lead to me."”
Cited for
Krishna promises that whoever comes to him, through whatever form, is reached, and that every path leads to him in the end. The Gita may rank the paths, but the slower ones still arrive. Those who worship the gods return to this world and keep going, and at the end of many lives they reach him too. So every sincere worship arrives at the same God.
The response
Telang, a Hindu scholar and judge, translates the verse "I serve men in the way in which they approach me". He explains: "I give to each worshipper what is proper for him." On "men follow in my path", he adds that all worship, to whomever it is addressed, is worship of Krishna, as 9.23 says below. But the point of the whole passage, he says, is that God (﷾) is not partial: each receives what fits his way. The very next verse says people worship the gods because success from such action comes quickly in this world. In chapter 7 Krishna says that fruit is perishable: those who worship the gods go to the gods, and his worshippers go to him. Nor does every path reach him "in the end". Those who win heaven by the Vedic rites return to the mortal world when their merit is spent: they obtain "going and coming". The one who comes to Krishna "at the end of many lives" is the man of knowledge, whose worship is addressed to one Being only. So even worship that is really his does not bring its worshipper to him. The Qur'an asks for worship of the One alone, and gives one life, not many, in which to choose it.
Where it lands — The Gita promises every worshipper a return that fits his way, and says the ways end in different places. Those who reach Krishna in the end reach him by worshipping one Being only.
Bhagavad Gita 9:23-25 — chapter 9, verses 23-25
“Even those, O son of Kuntî! who being devotees of other divinities worship with faith, worship me only, (but) irregularly. For I am the enjoyer as well as the lord of all sacrifices. But they know me not truly, therefore do they fall. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods; those who make vows to the manes go to the manes; those who worship the Bhûtas go to the Bhûtas; and those likewise who worship me go to me.”
Cited for
Krishna says that devotees of other gods who worship with faith are really worshipping him. So the worship of any god reaches the Supreme.
The response
The same sentence says they worship him irregularly (avidhi-purvakam, not according to the rule). Telang explains why: in form they worship other gods. The next verse says they do not know him truly, "therefore do they fall", which Telang explains as a return to the mortal world. Then: those who make vows to the gods go to the gods, and those who worship Krishna go to him. So the Gita grants that such worship is worship of Krishna, and says in the same breath that it is irregular and ends lower. If the good things people seek from the gods really come from Krishna, as 7.22 says, the plain conclusion is to worship the Giver directly. The Qur'an draws it. Some take other protectors and say they serve them only to be brought nearer to Allah (﷾). The Qur'an answers that sincere devotion is due to Allah (﷾) alone.
Where it lands — 9.23-24 call the worship of other gods irregular worship of the Supreme, and say its worshippers fall. That is a ranking of paths, not their equality.
Swami Vivekananda, response to welcome, World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 11 September 1893
“We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions to be true.”
Cited for
Hindus do not merely tolerate other religions; they accept them all as true. Hinduism has never called another faith false.
The response
These are Vivekananda's words in 1893, not the teaching of the older books. The Vishnu Purana says that a delusive figure sent by Vishnu led the enemies of the gods away from the Vedas. Those he taught were called Arhatas, an old name for the Jains. The Bhagavata says Vishnu will be born as the Buddha in order to delude the foes of the gods. Hindus did make the Buddha a form of Vishnu. But a Buddha born to delude is not a teacher whose teaching is accepted as true. Madhva's school taught that the Advaitins, fellow Hindus, must enter the hell of blind darkness. These books and teachers called other paths a delusion or a road to hell, even other Hindu schools.
Where it lands — Accepting all religions as true is a modern teaching. The Vishnu and Bhagavata Puranas and the classical schools did not hold it.
Swami Vivekananda, response to welcome, World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 11 September 1893
“I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to thee."”
Cited for
As every stream reaches the sea, every path, crooked or straight, leads to the one God. Millions of Hindus repeat this hymn every day.
The response
The lines Vivekananda quoted match the second half of verse 7 of the Shiva Mahimna Stotra, a hymn to Shiva. The first half, which he did not quote, names the paths it means: the three Vedas, Sankhya, Yoga, the Pashupata teaching and the Vaishnava. They are schools of India, and the verse makes Shiva their one goal. It is a devotional hymn, not shruti (the books Hindus hold to be revealed), and it says nothing of the religions beyond India. The Gita does not share the picture of every stream reaching one sea. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods, and those who make vows to the ancestors go to the ancestors.
Where it lands — The hymn's streams are the schools of India flowing to Shiva, not the religions of the world flowing to one God (﷾).
Swami Vivekananda's account of Ramakrishna, in F. Max Müller, Râmakrishna: His Life and Sayings, p. 51
“In his later days he was thinking of practising the tenets of Christianity. He had seen Jesus in a vision, and for three days he could think of nothing and speak of nothing but Jesus and His love. There was this peculiarity in all his visions—that he always saw them outside himself, but when they vanished they seemed to have entered into him. This was true of Râma, of Siva, of Kâlî, of Krishna, of Jesus, and of every other god or goddess or prophet. After all these visions and his realisations of different religions he came to the conclusion that all religions are true, though each of them takes account of one aspect only of the Akhanda Sakkhidânanda, i.e. the undivided and eternal existence, knowledge, and bliss. Each of these different religions seemed to him a way to arrive at that One.”
Cited for
Ramakrishna, Vivekananda's teacher, did not only argue it. He practised Islam and Christianity himself, reached God by each, and concluded that all religions are true, each a way to the same One.
The response
The biography published by his own order tells how it happened with Islam. It says his realisation of Advaita had already led him to accept all forms of religion as ways to perfection. Believing that Islam too was a means of realising God (﷾), he took initiation from a convert to Islam. He repeated the name of Allah (﷾), dressed as Muslims did and recited the prayer. After three days, the book says, he saw a radiant, bearded figure. Then his mind passed through the Brahman with attributes and was finally absorbed in the Brahman without attributes. Of Christianity, Vivekananda's account tells of a vision of Jesus, like his visions of Rama, Shiva, Kali and Krishna. So the practice began in Advaita and ended in Advaita's goal. The Qur'an's goal is different. Every being in the heavens and the earth comes to God (﷾) as a servant, and a servant is not absorbed into the One he serves. An experience that ends in Advaita's goal shows how Advaita sees Islam, not whether Islam is true. That rests on what God (﷾) has said through His messenger, which anyone can read and weigh.
Where it lands — Ramakrishna brought Advaita to Islam and found Advaita there. His experience shows how Advaita sees Islam; the Qur'an's claim rests on a text anyone can read and test.
Qur'an 3:85 — Surat Al Imran (The Family of Imraan), verse 85
“If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter He will be in the ranks of those who have lost (All spiritual good).”
Cited for
Islam says God accepts no religion but Islam. Hinduism accepts every path, so Hinduism is the tolerant faith and Islam the exclusive one. Claims to hold the only truth are what turn believers against each other. Vivekananda warned the Parliament that sectarianism, bigotry and fanaticism had drenched the earth with human blood.
The response
Believing one's faith true is not the same as mistreating others. What turns belief into harm is forcing faith on people and reviling what they worship, and the Qur'an forbids both. There is no compulsion in religion, and Muslims may not revile other people's gods. The Qur'an also allows kindness and justice to all who do not fight Muslims. Nor can anyone avoid a claim to truth. Saying that all religions are true tells the Muslim, the Christian and the follower of Madhva that each is wrong about his own faith. Every faith that teaches anything excludes something. The Gita says those who worship other gods fall, and Madhva's school taught that the Advaitins must enter the hell of blind darkness. The real difference is who is shut out, and why. The Brahma Sutra, one of the three core texts of Vedanta, cites the law books' ban on the Shudra hearing or studying the Veda. Shankara explains that the Shudra, born into the fourth class, is therefore not qualified for the knowledge of Brahman taught in the Veda. The Gita opens devotion to Shudras, but the Veda stayed closed to them. In the Qur'an, the most honoured in God's (﷾) sight is the most righteous, whatever his nation or tribe. It tells Muslims to let even an idolater at war with them hear the word of Allah (﷾), if he asks for protection. The page on the sword verse explains the verse that comes before it.
Where it lands — Islam rejects false worship, but it shuts no one out by birth: anyone may hear the Qur'an and enter the faith. The classical Hindu law closed its own scripture to people by birth.
Bhagavad Gita 4:11 — chapter 4, verse 11
“I serve men in the way in which they approach me. In every way, O son of Prithâ! men follow in my path.”
Cited for
God meets each person in the way he approaches. A just God would not condemn a sincere Hindu who worships as he was taught, only because he was born in India.
The response
The Qur'an agrees that no one is condemned for a message that never reached him. God (﷾) punishes no people until He has sent a messenger, and each people is judged with justice when its messenger comes. Not a soul will be wronged in the least. The judgement of each person belongs to God (﷾), and Muslims do not pronounce it. But sincerity does not make a belief true, any more than a sincere traveller on the wrong road reaches home. Once the messengers have come, the Qur'an says, people have no plea against Allah (﷾). So whoever has heard the message is asked to weigh it, not to set it aside. The page on people who never heard of Islam sets out the rest.
Where it lands — God's (﷾) justice covers those the message never reached. It does not make every path true.
Qur'an 2:62 — Surat al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 62
“Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
Cited for
The Qur'an says that Jews, Christians and Sabians (another group it names) will have their reward. They must believe in God and the Last Day and do good. So the Qur'an itself accepts other religions.
The response
The verse names Jews, Christians and Sabians, not every religion, and it sets conditions: belief in God (﷾) and the Last Day, and good deeds. Ibn Kathir explains that it praises those who followed the messenger of their own time, before the next one came. The Qur'an adds that no religion but submission to Allah (﷾) will be accepted from one who seeks another. It also says that God (﷾) does not forgive the setting up of partners with Him. The page on whether Jews and Christians will be saved sets this out in full.
Where it lands — 2:62 praises believers who followed their own prophets. It does not make the worship of other gods acceptable.
Ibn Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, ode XI, verses 13-15 — as quoted in Nicholson's preface, p. iii
“The following lines are often quoted. They express the Ṣúfí doctrine that all ways lead to the One God. 'My heart has become capable of every form; it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks, And a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Ka‘ba and the tables of the Tora and the book of the Koran. I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's camels take, that is my religion and my faith.'”
Cited for
Your own greatest Sufi (Muslim mystic), Ibn Arabi, wrote that his heart could take every form. It was a temple for idols, the pilgrim's Kaaba, the Torah and the Qur'an, for he followed the religion of Love. His translator says that on his teaching God may be worshipped in any object, and no religion holds more than part of the truth. The Muslim mystics knew that all paths lead to the one God.
The response
His translator, Nicholson, did read these lines as the Sufi teaching that all ways lead to the one God (﷾). But Ibn Arabi also wrote a commentary on his own poems, to show what they meant. It explains the religion of Love by the verse "Follow me, then God will love you". In that verse the Prophet (ﷺ) is told to call people to follow him. No religion, Ibn Arabi adds, is more sublime than one built on love for God (﷾). He calls this a prerogative of Muslims, because perfect love belongs to Muhammad (ﷺ) above every other prophet. So the poet quoted for this view placed his religion of Love inside Islam. Nicholson does report a wider teaching: since all things manifest God (﷾), He may be worshipped in a star or a calf. There the Qur'an decides, and no Muslim writer, however admired, outranks it. It says every messenger was sent with one message: there is no god but He, so worship Him. It forbids prostrating to the sun and the moon: prostrate to Allah (﷾) who created them, if it is Him you wish to serve.
Where it lands — Ibn Arabi explained his religion of Love by the Qur'an's command to follow the Prophet (ﷺ). Where any writer goes further, the Qur'an is the standard, and it forbids worshipping anything but Allah (﷾).
Qur'an 5:48 — Surat al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 48
“To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute;”
Cited for
The Qur'an says God gave each people its own law and way, and would have made them one people had He wished. So God Himself willed many religions.
The response
The verse follows passages on the Torah given to Moses and the Injil (the Gospel Jesus preached) given to Jesus. It speaks of the laws God (﷾) gave through His messengers, which differed from one people to another. The faith they taught did not differ. The Qur'an says the same religion was enjoined on Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Every messenger was told that there is no god but He, so worship Him. The same verse tells the Prophet (ﷺ) to judge by what Allah (﷾) revealed and not to follow their desires.
Where it lands — God (﷾) gave the prophets different laws, never different gods. The verse is not about religions that worship others beside Him.
Qur'an 29:46 — Surat al-'Ankabut (The Spider), verse 46
“And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere disputation), unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury): but say, "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam)."”
Cited for
The Qur'an tells Muslims to say to Jews and Christians, "Our Allah and your Allah is one". So the Qur'an itself grants that people of different religions worship the same God.
The response
The Qur'an does tell Jews and Christians that our God (﷾) and theirs is one. The page on whether Muslims and Christians worship the same God (﷾) explains why. But the same verse ends: "it is to Him we bow". Elsewhere the Qur'an calls them to worship none but Allah (﷾) and to take no partners with Him. The idolaters of Mecca also said that Allah (﷾) created the heavens and the earth. Yet the Qur'an asks how they are then turned away from the truth. Knowing who the Creator is and worshipping Him alone are two different things. The second is what every messenger asked for.
Where it lands — Many people mean the one Creator when they speak of God (﷾). The Qur'an asks that He be worshipped alone, and that is where the religions part.
Perspectives
Many paths, one goal (Vivekananda)
Truth is one, and the sages call it by many names. God answers every worshipper in the way he approaches Him. So every sincere path, whatever form of God it worships, reaches the one Supreme in the end, as streams reach the sea. Hindus therefore accept all religions as true.
The Rig Veda says the sages give many names to what is One.
Rebuttal
The verse gives its own list of names: Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, Garutman, Yama and Matarisvan. These are gods of the Vedic hymns, each with its own offerings. The verse says nothing about the world's religions. The Qur'an gives the most beautiful names to God (﷾). It rejects gods that are only names (53:23). And it asks that He alone be worshipped.
In the Gita, Krishna says he serves people in the way they come to him. And in every way, people follow his path.
Rebuttal
Telang explains this as "I give to each worshipper what is proper for him". He says the passage shows God (﷾) is not partial. It does not say every path is equal. Even his reading, that all worship is worship of Krishna, comes with the word of 9:23: irregularly. The next verse says people worship the gods for quick success. And chapter 7 says that what they gain does not last.
Krishna says that devotees of other gods who worship with faith are worshipping him. Telang explains that all worship, to whomever it is addressed, is worship of Krishna.
Rebuttal
The same passage says they worship him irregularly, and that they do not know him truly and therefore fall. It adds that those who make vows to the gods go to the gods. That ranks the paths; it does not make them equal.
Vivekananda told the World's Parliament of Religions in 1893 that Hindus accept all religions to be true.
Rebuttal
These are Vivekananda's words in 1893, not the teaching of the older books. The Vishnu and Bhagavata Puranas call the teaching of the Jains and the Buddha a delusion. Madhva's school taught that the Advaitins, fellow Hindus, must enter the hell of blind darkness.
Every sincere path reaches the one God in the end, as every stream reaches the sea.
Rebuttal
The hymn names the paths it means, schools of India with Shiva as their one goal, not the religions of the world. In the Gita, those who make vows to the gods go to the gods. A sincere traveller on the wrong road still does not reach home.
Ramakrishna, Vivekananda's teacher, practised Islam for a time, and saw Jesus in a vision, his biographers say. He concluded that all religions are true, each a way to the One.
Rebuttal
His biography says that his experience of Advaita had already led him to accept every form of religion. And his practice ended in Advaita's goal. The Qur'an says every being comes to God (﷾) as a servant, not melted into Him. A vision shows how Advaita sees Islam. The Qur'an's claim rests on a text that anyone can read and test (2:23).
Madhva's school (Dvaita)
Vishnu alone is the supreme Lord. The soul is his servant, and is for ever separate from him. The paths are not equal. The Advaitins call Vishnu's supreme greatness a mirage, and that offends him. A survey of the Hindu schools from the fourteenth century records this school's teaching that those who do so must go to the hell of blind darkness.
Madhva's school taught that the Advaitins, who call Vishnu's supreme greatness a mirage, offend him. It taught that they must go to the hell of blind darkness.
Rebuttal
This agrees with the page's point: Hindu schools did not hold every path equal. But Madhva's school counts Rama and Krishna as the Lord's own forms. And in the Gita, Krishna says he is born age after age. The Qur'an says God (﷾) neither begets nor is begotten. And every messenger called people to worship Him alone.
Sikh: Ram or Allah, the name does not matter
Guru Arjan writes that some call God Ram and some Khuda. Some serve Him as Gusain, and others as Allah. Sikhs read this as teaching that every sincere name reaches the one Lord.
Guru Arjan reports that people call Him Ram, Khuda, Gusain or Allah (Ang 885). So the name does not matter.
Rebuttal
Yes, some names are shared. The Qur'an itself says to call on Allah (﷾) or Rahman. But these are His own names, and He tells us to call on Him by them. Sharing a name does not make two teachings the same. And every messenger brought one message: worship Allah (﷾) alone.
Buddhist: only one path ends suffering
Many Buddhists today speak kindly of every religion. But near the end of his life, the Buddha himself told the wandering seeker Subhadda that the noble eightfold path is found only in his teaching.
Only in the teaching where the noble eightfold path is found are there true ascetics. The other groups have none.
Rebuttal
Then the Buddha agrees with Islam on one thing: religions are not all roads to the same place. The question is which one comes from the One who made us. Every messenger God (﷾) sent brought one message: worship Him alone. And the Qur'an asks to be tested before it is believed.
The Islamic perspective
God (﷾) is one and has many names. Every messenger taught that He alone is to be worshipped, and He sent a warner to every people. Religions that contradict that message, and each other, cannot all be paths to Him. Islam forces faith on no one and forbids insulting the gods of others. It leaves the judgement of each person to God (﷾), who punishes no one before a messenger has reached him.
The Qur'an says the most beautiful names belong to God (﷾). He may be called on by any of them.
Every messenger was sent with one message: worship Allah (﷾) alone, for there is no god but He.
The Qur'an says there never was a people without a warner.
The Qur'an rejects gods that are only names people have devised, for which Allah (﷾) sent down no authority.
Religions disagree on whether God (﷾) is born as a man, whether we live once or many times, and whether God (﷾) alone may be worshipped. They cannot all be right.
The Qur'an forbids compulsion in religion and the reviling of the gods others call upon. It allows kindness and justice to all who do not fight Muslims.
God (﷾) punishes no one until a messenger has reached them, and judges every people with justice.
The Qur'an does not ask to be taken on trust. It challenges those who doubt it to produce a chapter like it. And it says God (﷾) guards it.