"Do not praise your own faith exclusively, so that you disbelieve all the rest. If you do this, you will miss much good ~ nay, you will miss the whole truth of the matter. God the omniscient and omnipresent cannot be confined to any one creed for he says in the Koran "Wheresoever ye turn, there is the face of Allah." Everybody praises what he knows. His god is his own creature and in praising it, he praises himself, which he would not do if he were just. His dislike is based on ignorance."
As I first read this quote, I immediately felt connected to Ibn Arabi, since we are both of a similar mind in respecting that from all thought, not just one's own, the possibility of truth arises, and that from holding this non-exclusivist mentality, one's life (and all of humanity) is enriched.
After some thought, I found that it was this exact idea which led me on the path to become an atheist. It may not be the same for all, to be sure. But in my mind, it is only in seeing all human thought (is there any other kind?) as something to learn from, specifically in identifying all of its imperfections and inconsistencies, that brings us to accept that they all have some truth within, but they all can't be true about everything. Perhaps it is what Arabi means when he states "the whole truth of the matter"?
It is sad that the single-minded also believe that theirs is a faith in god, using god's words, and that it was not created by man. In reality, it is not a belief in god, but rather a belief in man -- just a single exclusivist, non-humanistic, belief called Christianity or Islam. As Hegel said, this god (just as the greek gods did) will be forced into the past by the progress of time and the changing minds of humanity -- the geist.
If there are no more worshipers, then their god ceases to exist. In essence, there is no more god. As Nietzsche wrote, "God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him." It was a little too early at that point... but he will come.
All knowledge is of human origin. The evidence is all around you, currently! It is within all the "sacred" texts, in our history, in the evolving biosphere, in our geology, in our solar system, in our galaxy, and in the universe itself. We all just need to look.
At the very least, if most Muslims and Christians held this to be true, it would be a far more pleasant world in which to live.
+A
