Faith and Good Deeds in the Context of Islamic Soteriology

Abstract

The article deals with issues of Islamic soteriology and focuses on the problem of religious other. The author examines the debatable issues of the relationship between faith (īmān) and deed (ʿamal) in Islam, and the soteriological conception of Iranian thinker Murtaza Mutahhari focusing on non-Muslims and their good deeds. In the first part of the study, the author presents the classical approaches of different schools and the contemporary stance of Islamic thinkers in the context of the problem under study. In the second part, the main approaches of Murtaza Mutahhari to the problem of salvation of virtuous non-Muslims are identified. According to the author, these approaches remain relevant in the context of religious pluralism, the need for peaceful coexistence among different faiths, and the representation and justification of Islamic forms of soteriological exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralis.