1
Department of Abrahamic Religions, Faculty of Religions and Mysticism, University of Religions and Denominations
2
The Islamic Seminary of Qom, Iran
10.22081/jti.2026.74509.1119
Abstract
Within the confessional approach to comparative theology, engagement with other religious traditions serves the deepening of one’s understanding of the home tradition, while maintaining fidelity to its doctrinal and practical boundaries. Such an approach involves careful study of data drawn from other religious traditions in light of one’s own. From the standpoint of Islamic orthodoxy, however, recourse to the religious other requires epistemological justification. This foundational concern constitutes the central problem of the present study. The guiding question is: within Islamic comparative theology, how can the very principle of engaging and benefiting from the religious data of other traditions be justified? Adopting a descriptive-analytical and comparative methodology, the study argues that the legitimacy of such engagement may be inferred through the cumulative force and mutual corroboration of evidences derived from the Qur’an, hadith, and reason. Elements of truth present in other religious traditions are understood as vestiges of humanity’s historical and prehistorical encounters with the Sacred Source, as well as products of human reason and fiṭrah (human primordial disposition). These elements are dispersed across temporal and geographical expanses, yet remain accessible to discerning theological inquiry. Moreover, interreligious learning is not confined to the appropriation of data from the religious other; rather, the very “act of comparison” itself possesses intrinsic epistemic fecundity. This study thus underscores the justificatory grounds for recourse to the religious other, while deferring a systematic account of the hermeneutical and methodological frameworks required for interreligious learning to future research.
Rastegar, M. , Hosseininasab, S. M. and Sayyid-Hosseini, S. A. (2026). The Possibility of Recourse to the Religious Other in Islamic Comparative Theology: An Analysis Grounded in the Qur’an, Hadith, and Reason. Theosophia Islamica, (), -. doi: 10.22081/jti.2026.74509.1119
MLA
Rastegar, M. , , Hosseininasab, S. M. , and Sayyid-Hosseini, S. A. . "The Possibility of Recourse to the Religious Other in Islamic Comparative Theology: An Analysis Grounded in the Qur’an, Hadith, and Reason", Theosophia Islamica, , , 2026, -. doi: 10.22081/jti.2026.74509.1119
HARVARD
Rastegar, M., Hosseininasab, S. M., Sayyid-Hosseini, S. A. (2026). 'The Possibility of Recourse to the Religious Other in Islamic Comparative Theology: An Analysis Grounded in the Qur’an, Hadith, and Reason', Theosophia Islamica, (), pp. -. doi: 10.22081/jti.2026.74509.1119
CHICAGO
M. Rastegar , S. M. Hosseininasab and S. A. Sayyid-Hosseini, "The Possibility of Recourse to the Religious Other in Islamic Comparative Theology: An Analysis Grounded in the Qur’an, Hadith, and Reason," Theosophia Islamica, (2026): -, doi: 10.22081/jti.2026.74509.1119
VANCOUVER
Rastegar, M., Hosseininasab, S. M., Sayyid-Hosseini, S. A. The Possibility of Recourse to the Religious Other in Islamic Comparative Theology: An Analysis Grounded in the Qur’an, Hadith, and Reason. Theosophia Islamica, 2026; (): -. doi: 10.22081/jti.2026.74509.1119
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