Never Wholly Other

How does the Qur'an depict the religious Other? Historically this question has provoked extensive debate among Islamic scholars about the identity nature and status of such religious Others. Today this debate assumes great importance because of the widening experience of religious plurality which prompts inquiry into convergences and divergences in belief and practice as well as controversy over the appropriate forms of interaction among different religions. The persistence of religious violence also gives rise to difficult questions about the relationship between the depiction of religious Others and intolerance and oppression.