Exploring the Idea of "One Religion": Perennial Tradition, Islam, and Religious Pluralism

AI Query: List books, journals, feature articles, blog posts, and other materials that discuss and assert that there is, in reality, only one religion in the world.

AI Answer:

The idea that there is essentially only one religion arises from several distinct intellectual traditions, each interpreting the concept of "one" in a different way. The following overview categorizes them to facilitate further exploration.

The Perennial Tradition (Perennial Philosophy)

The most classic references come from the Perennialist or Traditionalist school of thought, which argues that all major religions are diverse outward expressions of a single metaphysical truth. Frithjof Schuon authored The Transcendent Unity of Religions (1948), a foundational work on the "transcendent unity" of religions. His predecessor, René Guénon, developed the concept of the primordial tradition through works such as The Crisis of the Modern World and Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines.

Aldous Huxley popularized the term through The Perennial Philosophy (1945), while Huston Smith wrote Forgotten Truth: The Primordial Tradition (1976) alongside his renowned work The World's Religions. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, in Knowledge and the Sacred (1981), and Martin Lings, through his numerous Sufi writings, have continued this line of thought.

In Indonesia, an accessible version of these ideas is found in Agama Masa Depan: Perspektif Filsafat Perennial (2003) by Komaruddin Hidayat and Muhammad Wahyuni ​​Nafis. The Islamic Perspective: A Single Din Brought by All Prophets

In the Islamic tradition, this claim stems from the understanding that al-Islām—in the sense of "submission to God"—is the singular din (faith or way of life) brought by all prophets, as referenced in Surah Ali Imran, verses 19 and 85. Muhammad Asad’s The Message of the Qur'an elucidates this generic meaning quite clearly, while Reza Shah-Kazemi expands upon it further in The Other in the Light of the One: The Universality of the Qur'an and Interfaith Dialogue (2006).

From the Sufi tradition, Ibn 'Arabi (in Fusus al-Hikam and his poetry collection Tarjuman al-Ashwaq) articulates a "religion of love" that transcends outward forms; similarly, Jalaluddin Rumi is frequently cited for this idea in works such as the Masnavi and Diwan-e Shams. In Indonesia, this line of thought has been widely debated through the works of Nurcholish Madjid—particularly Islam, Doktrin dan Peradaban and Fiqih Lintas Agama (Paramadina, 2004)—as well as the writings of Budhy Munawar-Rachman, such as Islam Pluralis.

Hindu, Sikh, and Bahá'í Traditions, and Universalist Movements

From India, the Rig Veda verse "Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti" ("Truth is one; the wise call it by many names") serves as a key anchor. The teachings of Sri Ramakrishna—disseminated by Swami Vivekananda—along with the writings and speeches of Mahatma Gandhi, affirm that all paths lead to the same God.

Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, is renowned for his declaration that there is no Hindu and no Muslim. The Bahá'í Faith establishes this as a central doctrine through the concept of "progressive revelation," as seen, for instance, in Bahá'u'lláh’s Kitáb-i-Íqán and 'Abdu'l-Bahá’s Some Answered Questions. Hazrat Inayat Khan wrote The Unity of Religious Ideals from the perspective of Universal Sufism, whereas Theosophy—through Helena Blavatsky—developed the idea of ​​an "ancient wisdom" underlying all religions.

Religious Pluralism and Critiques of the Concept of "Religion"

In the realm of modern philosophy of religion, John Hick proposed the "pluralistic hypothesis" in An Interpretation of Religion (1989): that religions are diverse responses to the same Ultimate Reality. This differs slightly from the notion of a "single religion," yet the two are often grouped together in discussions. Wilfred Cantwell Smith took a different approach in The Meaning and End of Religion (1962), arguing that "religion" as a discrete entity is a modern construct. A concise overview of this can be found in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on religious diversity and pluralism.

Journals and Online Resources

Regarding journals, Studies in Comparative Religion (published 1967–1987) and Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies serve as primary venues for Perennialist scholarship, while the World Wisdom website offers a wealth of essays and archival material from authors within this tradition. For perspectives on pluralism, journals such as Religious Studies and the Journal of Ecumenical Studies regularly feature relevant debates.

It is worth noting that these ideas have also faced significant criticism. Exclusivists from various faiths reject them for obscuring specific truth claims, while some academics argue that Perennialism tends to overlook genuine doctrinal differences.

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