It is somewhat unfortunate but ultimately understandable when one encounters the polemical attitude of Bulverism (basically an 'unreasoned dismissal') displayed toward expressions of Islamic Universality such as the Traditionalist perspective on the perennial philosophy within many currents of the Islamic mainstream. Such theological "knee-jerk" dismissals of the perspective of what is labeled "perennialism" by their Muslim detractors is unfortunate because of the immediate and unreasoned dismissall of many great, profound and deep insights into things Islamic and Spiritual, all for the sake of "erring on the side of caution". Yet this approach is understandable because all religions are revealed "Exclusively" and "Uniquely" by God precisely with the intention of saving souls and nourishing them spiritually within a homogenous, exclusive world-view regarding a 'Revealed Narrative' of Truth. What is more important in God's Eyes is that we as human beings respond deeply to His Calling and Guidance with all of our heart and being, rather than understanding a subtle--yet profound-- teaching on Revelation, Religion and Truth. Yet such openings to the universal and universalist nature of the Truth is precisely what some--if not many--seekers of today need in order to follow one religous path seriously in order to find and reach God/Truth who is both Beyond all authentic religous paths, and the Source or Origin of them all. As such, the role of "bulverism" in religious discourse seems to serve more a psycho-logical function than a purely 'theo-logical' one in religious adherents accross the board.
Some thoughts which come to mind regarding the underlying reasons for such forms of "bulverism" in Islamic discourse are the following:
Essentially it boils down to the conflation and reduction of 'the traditionalist perspective' to what I have termed 'the universal validity thesis' on certain e-forums which pins traditionalist thought to a theological position which rejects or contradicts Islamic abrogationism (as opposed to the inter-religious and intra-religious role of abrogation (naskh) in Islam which is not as categorical and absolute as certain Muslims and Scholars make it out to be). Such a dialectical move reduces traditionalist thought along with a more universalist awareness of Truth and Tradition to what is pejoratively termed 'perennialism' by such Muslims when contrasted to certain forms of 'normative', 'mainstream', and even 'orthodox' Islam in order to anathematize such universalist ideas. If Tradition needs must be spelled with a capital 'T' , for normative Muslim believers this can only be the case for Traditional Islam and not other religious traditions-- a Traditional Islam which in effect is further confined to either mainstream Sunnism or mainstream Shiism. Yet, "orthodox" Islam while being an "exclusive" worldview, does not have to be an "exclusivist" worldview. Figures such as Rumi and Ibn Arabi who have been acknowledged as among the most celebrated Saints and Sages of Islam are perfectly "orthodox", and remain so even when they proclaim certain universalist ideas which for them are rooted in the Islamic revelation and Prophetic model. For such Sages, their openings to religious universality only serve to reinforce their Islamic particularity....
To be sure, exclusivist views are providential and thereby Willed by God as a way of understanding Truth and being Saved by it. There is nothing wrong with an exclusivist understanding of religious truth which in fact is the norm and intended by God to be the main source of spiritual nourishment for most religous adherents. From this normative perspective of exclusivism, Islam's 'recognition' of other religions must always be viewed in light of Islam's historical finality which becomes the 'binding' correlate whose theological narrative encompasses and 'complete's' the true but 'partial' perspective that is Islamic universality...
However, in as much as the Quran recognizes explicitly the universality and diversity of revelation, such a traditional narrative can be viewed, expanded upon and appreciated in a fresh 'new' light, especially in a secular yet multi-religous world which thirsts for a wider recognition of The Sacred. This is precisely what the aqli (intellectual) and Sufi traditions of Islam can offer the contemporary traditional Muslim with more esoteric sensibilites who is able to recognize some of the dialectical limitations of our naqli (religiously transmitted) traditions, especially as they concern the Religous Other. This is where authorites such as Seyyed Hossein Nasr a World-Renown Western Academic who is a living exponent of the Hikmat and Sufi/Irfani Traditions of Islam come into play. Like his Sufi predecessors, Nasr is able to apply and expand upon the universalist assertions found in the Philosophical and Sufi traditions in Islam, but is able to accomplish this through appealing to the contemporary global and Western context through a Western medium of philosophical discourse which utlizes the language of the 'perennial philosophy' to appropriate the universality of Islam.....
In closing, let me add that along with the more exclusivist manifestations of normative Islam which necesarily reject such universalist perspectives within Islam (see Ibn Arabi, Rumi and the whole genre of the Persian and Indian Sufi Literature Tradition as examples of universalist perspectives), the heightened knee-jerk reaction to 'perennialism' (read vehemence) by certain Muslims has also to do with a certian amount of 'Sufi politics' in the contemporary scene. Such a phenomenon occurs when certain leaders of particular branches of a given Sufi order wish to assert their authority through polemical attacks on representatives of other branches and their perspectives which are different than their own. It is quite interesting--and sad--to note that the human margin for such behavior can even affect spiritual orders accross the board, whose very rasion d'etre should be an attempt to transcend such human limitations, instead of promoting them......
Some thoughts which come to mind regarding the underlying reasons for such forms of "bulverism" in Islamic discourse are the following:
Essentially it boils down to the conflation and reduction of 'the traditionalist perspective' to what I have termed 'the universal validity thesis' on certain e-forums which pins traditionalist thought to a theological position which rejects or contradicts Islamic abrogationism (as opposed to the inter-religious and intra-religious role of abrogation (naskh) in Islam which is not as categorical and absolute as certain Muslims and Scholars make it out to be). Such a dialectical move reduces traditionalist thought along with a more universalist awareness of Truth and Tradition to what is pejoratively termed 'perennialism' by such Muslims when contrasted to certain forms of 'normative', 'mainstream', and even 'orthodox' Islam in order to anathematize such universalist ideas. If Tradition needs must be spelled with a capital 'T' , for normative Muslim believers this can only be the case for Traditional Islam and not other religious traditions-- a Traditional Islam which in effect is further confined to either mainstream Sunnism or mainstream Shiism. Yet, "orthodox" Islam while being an "exclusive" worldview, does not have to be an "exclusivist" worldview. Figures such as Rumi and Ibn Arabi who have been acknowledged as among the most celebrated Saints and Sages of Islam are perfectly "orthodox", and remain so even when they proclaim certain universalist ideas which for them are rooted in the Islamic revelation and Prophetic model. For such Sages, their openings to religious universality only serve to reinforce their Islamic particularity....
To be sure, exclusivist views are providential and thereby Willed by God as a way of understanding Truth and being Saved by it. There is nothing wrong with an exclusivist understanding of religious truth which in fact is the norm and intended by God to be the main source of spiritual nourishment for most religous adherents. From this normative perspective of exclusivism, Islam's 'recognition' of other religions must always be viewed in light of Islam's historical finality which becomes the 'binding' correlate whose theological narrative encompasses and 'complete's' the true but 'partial' perspective that is Islamic universality...
However, in as much as the Quran recognizes explicitly the universality and diversity of revelation, such a traditional narrative can be viewed, expanded upon and appreciated in a fresh 'new' light, especially in a secular yet multi-religous world which thirsts for a wider recognition of The Sacred. This is precisely what the aqli (intellectual) and Sufi traditions of Islam can offer the contemporary traditional Muslim with more esoteric sensibilites who is able to recognize some of the dialectical limitations of our naqli (religiously transmitted) traditions, especially as they concern the Religous Other. This is where authorites such as Seyyed Hossein Nasr a World-Renown Western Academic who is a living exponent of the Hikmat and Sufi/Irfani Traditions of Islam come into play. Like his Sufi predecessors, Nasr is able to apply and expand upon the universalist assertions found in the Philosophical and Sufi traditions in Islam, but is able to accomplish this through appealing to the contemporary global and Western context through a Western medium of philosophical discourse which utlizes the language of the 'perennial philosophy' to appropriate the universality of Islam.....
In closing, let me add that along with the more exclusivist manifestations of normative Islam which necesarily reject such universalist perspectives within Islam (see Ibn Arabi, Rumi and the whole genre of the Persian and Indian Sufi Literature Tradition as examples of universalist perspectives), the heightened knee-jerk reaction to 'perennialism' (read vehemence) by certain Muslims has also to do with a certian amount of 'Sufi politics' in the contemporary scene. Such a phenomenon occurs when certain leaders of particular branches of a given Sufi order wish to assert their authority through polemical attacks on representatives of other branches and their perspectives which are different than their own. It is quite interesting--and sad--to note that the human margin for such behavior can even affect spiritual orders accross the board, whose very rasion d'etre should be an attempt to transcend such human limitations, instead of promoting them......
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