Islam and Interfaith

[DawudTalut]

Peace be on all.
Holy Quran says:
[ch3:v65] Say, ‘O People of the Book! come to a word equal between us and you — that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partner with Him, and that some of us take not others for Lords beside Allah.’ But if they turn away, then say, ‘Bear witness that we have submitted to God.’

[2:63] Surely, the Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians — whichever party from among these truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds — shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.

[7:159] Say, ‘O mankind! truly I am a Messenger to you all from Allah to Whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. There is no God but He. He gives life, and He causes death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Prophet, the Immaculate one, who believes in Allah and His words; and follow him that you may be rightly guided.’

[5:9] O ye who believe! be steadfast in the cause of Allah, bearing witness in equity; and let not a people’s enmity incite you to act otherwise than with justice. Be always just, that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is aware of what you do.

====

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (Khalifah of Ahmadiyya Promised Messiah Mahdi ) said:

“I hope and pray that we, who are the representatives of different faiths and religions, and who have gathered here today to practically demonstrate these loving teachings, all strive towards worshipping the One God, by treating His Creation with justice and by fulfilling their due rights.

Certainly these are the original teachings of all religions. We should utilise all of our resources and capabilities to foster a better society, to help God’s Creation and to spread love, affection and peace at every level. The urgent and critical need of the world today is to establish peace and faith in God.”

Ref: https://www.alislam.org/egazette/pr...-of-world-religions-held-at-guildhall-london/

 

[Katzpur]

Peace be on all.
Holy Quran says:
[ch3:v65] Say, ‘O People of the Book! come to a word equal between us and you — that we worship none but Allah, and that we associate no partner with Him, and that some of us take not others for Lords beside Allah.’ But if they turn away, then say, ‘Bear witness that we have submitted to God.’

[2:63] Surely, the Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians — whichever party from among these truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds — shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve.

[7:159] Say, ‘O mankind! truly I am a Messenger to you all from Allah to Whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. There is no God but He. He gives life, and He causes death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Prophet, the Immaculate one, who believes in Allah and His words; and follow him that you may be rightly guided.’

[5:9] O ye who believe! be steadfast in the cause of Allah, bearing witness in equity; and let not a people’s enmity incite you to act otherwise than with justice. Be always just, that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is aware of what you do.

====

Hazrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad (Khalifah of Ahmadiyya Promised Messiah Mahdi ) said:

“I hope and pray that we, who are the representatives of different faiths and religions, and who have gathered here today to practically demonstrate these loving teachings, all strive towards worshipping the One God, by treating His Creation with justice and by fulfilling their due rights.

Certainly these are the original teachings of all religions. We should utilise all of our resources and capabilities to foster a better society, to help God’s Creation and to spread love, affection and peace at every level. The urgent and critical need of the world today is to establish peace and faith in God.”

Ref: https://www.alislam.org/egazette/pr...-of-world-religions-held-at-guildhall-london/

I know several Muslims (in real life), and they are all great people. I feel privileged to count them among my friends.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

@DawudTalut, as-salaamu 'alaikum and thank you for the comments.
L'Shalom ...

 

[arthra]

Muslims are well represented on our Inter-faith Council and have been exemplary in the community.

 

[Agondonter]

My view on the matter is expressed here: http://www.wnd.com/2016/05/londons-muslim-mayors-big-lie/

 

[sun rise]

I've been at a number of interfaith gatherings where Muslims, Christians and others joined together as brothers and sisters to celebrate and honor the fundamental principles that unite all. It's wonderful when that happens.

 

[DawudTalut]

@DawudTalut, as-salaamu 'alaikum and thank you for the comments.
L'Shalom ...

Wa aliakum assalam...Thank you too.

 

[DawudTalut]

I know several Muslims (in real life), and they are all great people. I feel privileged to count them among my friends.

Peace be on you. Thank you.

 

[Subhankar Zac]

Does the interfaith discussion of Islam include polytheistic religions like Hinduism, paganism, Taoism?
Their practices of idol worship?
Atheistic philosophies like Buddhism and Jainism?
Or is it only Abrahamic ones?

 

[Riverwolf]

I'm afraid there can't be adequate interfaith discussion if certain religions, such as polytheists, are inherently excluded simply because we don't accept a singular God, or (usually) that the universe is anyone's "Creation."

Peace is great and certainly worth working towards, but there can be no true frith if it is mandated upon faith in a monotheist God.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

“I hope and pray that we, who are the representatives of different faiths and religions, and who have gathered here today to practically demonstrate these loving teachings, all strive towards worshipping the One God, by treating His Creation with justice and by fulfilling their due rights.

Certainly these are the original teachings of all religions. We should utilise all of our resources and capabilities to foster a better society, to help God’s Creation and to spread love, affection and peace at every level. The urgent and critical need of the world today is to establish peace and faith in God.”

How can people plan on engaging in honest interfaith dialogue and discussion when they pre-suppose un-evidenced nonsense like this about other faiths?

 

[DawudTalut]

Does the interfaith discussion of Islam include polytheistic religions like Hinduism, paganism, Taoism?
Their practices of idol worship?
Atheistic philosophies like Buddhism and Jainism?
Or is it only Abrahamic ones?

How can people plan on engaging in honest interfaith dialogue and discussion -----

Peace be on you.
There are many things to be considered from our point of view:
1= Allah sent His messengers to all the nations in the world. According to one saying of the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) the number of prophets who were chosen to convey the message of Allah to humanity is 124,000............ The names of all of them are not mentioned anywhere. However the Holy Quran states in very clear words,

“There are no people (in the world) to whom We have not sent a Warner.” (35:25)

2=According to Ahmadiyya Promised Messiah Mahdi (a.s.) .[some excerpts]
"God has informed me that of the religions which have spread and are firmly established in the world through Prophets, holding sway over a part of the world and achieving survival and long life, none was false in its origin. Nor was any of those Prophets false, because it is the eternal practice of God that a false prophet who lies against God—who is not from God, but dares to forge things from himself—never prospers......................

..........why did those religions spread in the world in whose books creatures— such as humans, stones, angels, sun, moon, stars, fire, water or air, etc.—have been accepted as deities?

The answer is that such religions are either from people who did not claim to be prophets and recipients of divine revelation and communication, but were inclined towards creature-worship through the falsity of their own thinking and understanding; or, there were some religions whose foundation was in fact laid by a true prophet of God but their true teachings were forgotten with the passage of time.

The followers of the latter turned to creature-worship by taking some similes or parables literally. The fact is that those prophets did not teach such a religion. It is not the fault of those prophets, as they brought a wholesome and pure teaching; rather, the ignorant followers assigned perverted meaning to their statements. Such ignorant people did not claim that God’s word descended on them or that they were prophets. Rather, they misunderstood and misinterpreted the prophetic word.................

.................. we shall honour and accept as true all those who claimed to be prophets at any time, and their claim was established and their religion became widespread and flourished over a long period. If we should discover mistakes in the scriptures of their religions or should observe the misconduct of their followers, we should not attribute these faults and shortcomings to the founders of these religions, inasmuch as the perversion of scriptures is possible and it is possible that mistakes of interpretation might find their way into the commentaries.

But it is not at all possible that a person should fabricate lies against God and claim to be a prophet and then put forward his own compositions as the word of God falsely, and yet God should grant him respite like the righteous and allow him wide acceptance worthy of the truthful. Therefore, this principle is an ultimate truth and endless blessing, and withal lays the foundation for conciliation, in that we affirm the truthfulness of all prophets whose religion has been well-established, has survived for a long time period and has had millions enter its fold. This is a very blessed principle. If all the world were to adhere to this fundamental principle, thousands of disorders and blasphemies, which disturb the peace among general public, would be eradicated.......

.............this principle lays down the foundation of love, peace and harmony, and supports moral values, in that we consider all those prophets true who appeared in the world—whether in India, or Persia or China or any other country. God instilled their respect and grandeur in the hearts of millions and made firm the roots of their religion, which remained established for centuries. This is the principle that the Quran teaches us. In light of this principle, we honour all religious founders who fall under this description whether they are the founders of the religion of the Hindus, or the religion of the Persians, or the religion of the Chinese, or the religion of the Jews or the religion of the Christians....."

Page 4 + @ http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Gift-for-Queen.pdf


3= ...the major religions of the world include:

Religion ----- Originated at
Zoroastrianism.........(Iran)
Confucianism...........(China)
Hinduism..................(India)
Taoism.....................(China)
Jainism.....................(IndIa)
Judaism................... (Near East)
Christianity............... (Near East)
Islam ....................... (Near East)
Buddhism................. (India)
Shinto ...................... (Japan)
https://www.alislam.org/books/religiousknowledge/sec1.html




4=There is a tradition reported from the Holy Prophet (sa) which speaks of an Indian prophet by name. In his words:

• 
  There was a prophet of God in India who was dark in colour and his name was Kahan.1

Now anyone acquainted with the history of Indian religions would immediately connect this description to Lord Krishna, who is invariably described in the Hindu literature as being dark of complexion. Also, the title Kanhaya is added to his name Krishna. Kanhaya contains the same consonants K,N,H as does the name Kahan -- in no way an insignificant similarity. But whether any non-Arab prophet was mentioned by name or not is only an academic discussion. There is no denying the fact that the Holy Quran makes it incumbent on every Muslim not only to believe in all the prophets, but it also clearly informs us that in every region of the world and in every age, God did raise messengers and prophets.
https://www.alislam.org/books/study-of-islam/prophets.html

5= Religion talk about goodness and righteousness:
Quran
[5:3]"..........And help one another in righteousness and piety; but help not one another in sin and transgression......."

[49:14] O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female; and We have made you into tribes and sub-tribes that you may recognize one another. Verily, the most honourable among you, in the sight of Allah, is he who is the most righteous among you. Surely, Allah is All-knowing, All-Aware.


Thus there are grounds for all established religions to get together for goodness yet they can keep discussing with each other about the creed and approaches -- of course without brawls.

 

[Riverwolf]

There are many things to be considered from our point of view:

Islam is one of the largest and most influential religions in the world. And it shares monotheist status with Christianity. The monotheist point of view is already well-established and well-considered.

It's time for you guys to start quietly listening to, and considering, ours.

..........why did those religions spread in the world in whose books creatures— such as humans, stones, angels, sun, moon, stars, fire, water or air, etc.—have been accepted as deities?

The answer is that such religions are either from people who did not claim to be prophets and recipients of divine revelation and communication, but were inclined towards creature-worship through the falsity of their own thinking and understanding;

It might not be what's intended, but this is a DIRECT insult to us. Earlier we were excluded with the claim that we who are polytheists don't count, and now we are overtly insulted by being directly told that our religions are false.

And by the way...

...the major religions of the world include:

Religion ----- Originated at
Zoroastrianism.........(Iran)
Confucianism...........(China)
Hinduism..................(India)
Taoism.....................(China)
Jainism.....................(IndIa)
Judaism................... (Near East)
Christianity............... (Near East)
Islam ....................... (Near East)
Buddhism................. (India)
Shinto ...................... (Japan)
https://www.alislam.org/books/religiousknowledge/sec1.html

Confucianism is NOT a religion. Daoism is arguably not, either. Jainism is atheistic, and Buddhism is agnostic/apatheist.

Shinto is the indigenous religion of Japan. Its equivalent in China is sometimes called Shéndào (or just Chinese Folk Religion), both of which are spelled with the characters 神道. The Korean called Mugyo or Shingyo.

There's only three Major World Religions; that is, religions that have reached all parts of the world to some extent and are not largely limited to the cultural and ethnic group from which they originated: Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. Those other religions listed are either ethnic religions, or minor religions.

Thus there are grounds for all established religions to get together for goodness yet they can keep discussing with each other about the creed and approaches -- of course without brawls.

A good goal to have, but it can't happen without a bit of work on your guys' parts, too, so you don't inadvertently swing the first punch of those brawls.

For starters, stop explicitly calling our religions "false", accept that polytheism is a valid form of religion (along with atheism, pantheism, animism, agnosticism, apatheism, and all the others that aren't monotheist), and keep whatever theological reasonings you need to justify our existence to yourselves.

 

[Cordoba]

Does the interfaith discussion of Islam include polytheistic religions like Hinduism, paganism, Taoism?
Their practices of idol worship?
Atheistic philosophies like Buddhism and Jainism?
Or is it only Abrahamic ones?

Islam teaches that all human beings are brothers and sisters in humanity

There is a common ground for dialogue with followers of Abrahamic faiths

But there is a wider circle of dialogue that covers all people, regardless of their faiths and beliefs.

 

[sayak83]

Peace be on you.
There are many things to be considered from our point of view:
1= Allah sent His messengers to all the nations in the world. According to one saying of the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) the number of prophets who were chosen to convey the message of Allah to humanity is 124,000............ The names of all of them are not mentioned anywhere. However the Holy Quran states in very clear words,

“There are no people (in the world) to whom We have not sent a Warner.” (35:25)

2=According to Ahmadiyya Promised Messiah Mahdi (a.s.) .[some excerpts]
"God has informed me that of the religions which have spread and are firmly established in the world through Prophets, holding sway over a part of the world and achieving survival and long life, none was false in its origin. Nor was any of those Prophets false, because it is the eternal practice of God that a false prophet who lies against God—who is not from God, but dares to forge things from himself—never prospers......................

..........why did those religions spread in the world in whose books creatures— such as humans, stones, angels, sun, moon, stars, fire, water or air, etc.—have been accepted as deities?

The answer is that such religions are either from people who did not claim to be prophets and recipients of divine revelation and communication, but were inclined towards creature-worship through the falsity of their own thinking and understanding; or, there were some religions whose foundation was in fact laid by a true prophet of God but their true teachings were forgotten with the passage of time.

The followers of the latter turned to creature-worship by taking some similes or parables literally. The fact is that those prophets did not teach such a religion. It is not the fault of those prophets, as they brought a wholesome and pure teaching; rather, the ignorant followers assigned perverted meaning to their statements. Such ignorant people did not claim that God’s word descended on them or that they were prophets. Rather, they misunderstood and misinterpreted the prophetic word.................

.................. we shall honour and accept as true all those who claimed to be prophets at any time, and their claim was established and their religion became widespread and flourished over a long period. If we should discover mistakes in the scriptures of their religions or should observe the misconduct of their followers, we should not attribute these faults and shortcomings to the founders of these religions, inasmuch as the perversion of scriptures is possible and it is possible that mistakes of interpretation might find their way into the commentaries.

But it is not at all possible that a person should fabricate lies against God and claim to be a prophet and then put forward his own compositions as the word of God falsely, and yet God should grant him respite like the righteous and allow him wide acceptance worthy of the truthful. Therefore, this principle is an ultimate truth and endless blessing, and withal lays the foundation for conciliation, in that we affirm the truthfulness of all prophets whose religion has been well-established, has survived for a long time period and has had millions enter its fold. This is a very blessed principle. If all the world were to adhere to this fundamental principle, thousands of disorders and blasphemies, which disturb the peace among general public, would be eradicated.......

.............this principle lays down the foundation of love, peace and harmony, and supports moral values, in that we consider all those prophets true who appeared in the world—whether in India, or Persia or China or any other country. God instilled their respect and grandeur in the hearts of millions and made firm the roots of their religion, which remained established for centuries. This is the principle that the Quran teaches us. In light of this principle, we honour all religious founders who fall under this description whether they are the founders of the religion of the Hindus, or the religion of the Persians, or the religion of the Chinese, or the religion of the Jews or the religion of the Christians....."

Page 4 + @ http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Gift-for-Queen.pdf


3= ...the major religions of the world include:

Religion ----- Originated at
Zoroastrianism.........(Iran)
Confucianism...........(China)
Hinduism..................(India)
Taoism.....................(China)
Jainism.....................(IndIa)
Judaism................... (Near East)
Christianity............... (Near East)
Islam ....................... (Near East)
Buddhism................. (India)
Shinto ...................... (Japan)
https://www.alislam.org/books/religiousknowledge/sec1.html




4=There is a tradition reported from the Holy Prophet (sa) which speaks of an Indian prophet by name. In his words:

• 
  There was a prophet of God in India who was dark in colour and his name was Kahan.1

Now anyone acquainted with the history of Indian religions would immediately connect this description to Lord Krishna, who is invariably described in the Hindu literature as being dark of complexion. Also, the title Kanhaya is added to his name Krishna. Kanhaya contains the same consonants K,N,H as does the name Kahan -- in no way an insignificant similarity. But whether any non-Arab prophet was mentioned by name or not is only an academic discussion. There is no denying the fact that the Holy Quran makes it incumbent on every Muslim not only to believe in all the prophets, but it also clearly informs us that in every region of the world and in every age, God did raise messengers and prophets.
https://www.alislam.org/books/study-of-islam/prophets.html

5= Religion talk about goodness and righteousness:
Quran
[5:3]"..........And help one another in righteousness and piety; but help not one another in sin and transgression......."

[49:14] O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female; and We have made you into tribes and sub-tribes that you may recognize one another. Verily, the most honourable among you, in the sight of Allah, is he who is the most righteous among you. Surely, Allah is All-knowing, All-Aware.


Thus there are grounds for all established religions to get together for goodness yet they can keep discussing with each other about the creed and approaches -- of course without brawls.

I am sorry, but interfaith dialogue in not something in which YOU get to choose which interpretations and which worldviews are welcome. If you cannot include the polytheists, the atheists, the humanists, the nature worshipers in that dialogue and if you enter the dialogue presupposing that your worldview is correct and everybody will just nod their head, then its a sham dialogue, nothing more. If you cannot respect, cannot learn from and cannot truly reflect upon views of the world and the divinity that are radically different and opposed to yours in fundamental way, then its useless for you to participate in. We are free to worship idols, nature, reject monotheism or any conception of God whatsoever if that is what seems right to us. Can you accept and respect our decisions? Respecting other peoples choices and beliefs are key to beginning such dialogue. So only if you are mentally capable of doing that, can you embark on such conversation.

 

[Cordoba]

We are all brothers and sisters in humanity, and it is only natural that brothers and sisters dialogue

The Qur'an says that God created us to get to know one another:

"O mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another..." (49:13)

Have a nice day

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Peace be on you.
There are many things to be considered from our point of view:
1= Allah sent His messengers to all the nations in the world. According to one saying of the Holy Prophet of Islam (pbuh) the number of prophets who were chosen to convey the message of Allah to humanity is 124,000............ The names of all of them are not mentioned anywhere. However the Holy Quran states in very clear words,

“There are no people (in the world) to whom We have not sent a Warner.” (35:25)

2=According to Ahmadiyya Promised Messiah Mahdi (a.s.) .[some excerpts]
"God has informed me that of the religions which have spread and are firmly established in the world through Prophets, holding sway over a part of the world and achieving survival and long life, none was false in its origin. Nor was any of those Prophets false, because it is the eternal practice of God that a false prophet who lies against God—who is not from God, but dares to forge things from himself—never prospers......................

..........why did those religions spread in the world in whose books creatures— such as humans, stones, angels, sun, moon, stars, fire, water or air, etc.—have been accepted as deities?

The answer is that such religions are either from people who did not claim to be prophets and recipients of divine revelation and communication, but were inclined towards creature-worship through the falsity of their own thinking and understanding; or, there were some religions whose foundation was in fact laid by a true prophet of God but their true teachings were forgotten with the passage of time.

The followers of the latter turned to creature-worship by taking some similes or parables literally. The fact is that those prophets did not teach such a religion. It is not the fault of those prophets, as they brought a wholesome and pure teaching; rather, the ignorant followers assigned perverted meaning to their statements. Such ignorant people did not claim that God’s word descended on them or that they were prophets. Rather, they misunderstood and misinterpreted the prophetic word.................

.................. we shall honour and accept as true all those who claimed to be prophets at any time, and their claim was established and their religion became widespread and flourished over a long period. If we should discover mistakes in the scriptures of their religions or should observe the misconduct of their followers, we should not attribute these faults and shortcomings to the founders of these religions, inasmuch as the perversion of scriptures is possible and it is possible that mistakes of interpretation might find their way into the commentaries.

But it is not at all possible that a person should fabricate lies against God and claim to be a prophet and then put forward his own compositions as the word of God falsely, and yet God should grant him respite like the righteous and allow him wide acceptance worthy of the truthful. Therefore, this principle is an ultimate truth and endless blessing, and withal lays the foundation for conciliation, in that we affirm the truthfulness of all prophets whose religion has been well-established, has survived for a long time period and has had millions enter its fold. This is a very blessed principle. If all the world were to adhere to this fundamental principle, thousands of disorders and blasphemies, which disturb the peace among general public, would be eradicated.......

.............this principle lays down the foundation of love, peace and harmony, and supports moral values, in that we consider all those prophets true who appeared in the world—whether in India, or Persia or China or any other country. God instilled their respect and grandeur in the hearts of millions and made firm the roots of their religion, which remained established for centuries. This is the principle that the Quran teaches us. In light of this principle, we honour all religious founders who fall under this description whether they are the founders of the religion of the Hindus, or the religion of the Persians, or the religion of the Chinese, or the religion of the Jews or the religion of the Christians....."

Page 4 + @ http://www.alislam.org/library/books/Gift-for-Queen.pdf


3= ...the major religions of the world include:

Religion ----- Originated at
Zoroastrianism.........(Iran)
Confucianism...........(China)
Hinduism..................(India)
Taoism.....................(China)
Jainism.....................(IndIa)
Judaism................... (Near East)
Christianity............... (Near East)
Islam ....................... (Near East)
Buddhism................. (India)
Shinto ...................... (Japan)
https://www.alislam.org/books/religiousknowledge/sec1.html




4=There is a tradition reported from the Holy Prophet (sa) which speaks of an Indian prophet by name. In his words:

• 
  There was a prophet of God in India who was dark in colour and his name was Kahan.1

Now anyone acquainted with the history of Indian religions would immediately connect this description to Lord Krishna, who is invariably described in the Hindu literature as being dark of complexion. Also, the title Kanhaya is added to his name Krishna. Kanhaya contains the same consonants K,N,H as does the name Kahan -- in no way an insignificant similarity. But whether any non-Arab prophet was mentioned by name or not is only an academic discussion. There is no denying the fact that the Holy Quran makes it incumbent on every Muslim not only to believe in all the prophets, but it also clearly informs us that in every region of the world and in every age, God did raise messengers and prophets.
https://www.alislam.org/books/study-of-islam/prophets.html

5= Religion talk about goodness and righteousness:
Quran
[5:3]"..........And help one another in righteousness and piety; but help not one another in sin and transgression......."

[49:14] O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female; and We have made you into tribes and sub-tribes that you may recognize one another. Verily, the most honourable among you, in the sight of Allah, is he who is the most righteous among you. Surely, Allah is All-knowing, All-Aware.


Thus there are grounds for all established religions to get together for goodness yet they can keep discussing with each other about the creed and approaches -- of course without brawls.

Hey Dawud, would you be okay with me quoting the above post in a new thread? I'd like to do one where we can debate interfaith rather than being limited to discussing it here.

 

[Smart_Guy]

I'm afraid there can't be adequate interfaith discussion if certain religions, such as polytheists, are inherently excluded simply because we don't accept a singular God, or (usually) that the universe is anyone's "Creation."

Peace is great and certainly worth working towards, but there can be no true frith if it is mandated upon faith in a monotheist God.

I believe even polytheists are included. The very well known verse of Quraan 60:8 says "God does not forbid you from those who do not wage war on you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, God loves those who act justly". It does not specify what kind of people, it generalizes, and that's why I include polytheists.

I hope that verse helps in this. What's your opinion in it?

 

[First Baseman]

I am having business dealings with Muslim right now. He is honest, very straight forward and direct. I respect that.

 

[Riverwolf]

I believe even polytheists are included. The very well known verse of Quraan 60:8 says "God does not forbid you from those who do not wage war on you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, God loves those who act justly". It does not specify what kind of people, it generalizes, and that's why I include polytheists.

I hope that verse helps in this. What's your opinion in it?

That's pretty good. I also know that there's that entire Surah that ends with "To you your way, and to me mine."

My beef is largely with what's being presented in the OP and subsequent posts, which all imply that non-monotheist religions don't count because one of the stated goals seems to be to get everyone to worship the "One God".