Islamic Tolerance as an Ethics of Coexistence in Muḥammad ʿImārah’s Thought

EDUSOSHUM Journal of Islamic Education and Social Humanities Vol. 6, No. 2, May-August 2026, pp. 1123-1137 ISSN 2776-5229 1123 Islamic Tolerance as an Ethics of Coexistence in Muḥammad ʿImārah’s Thought Muhammad Ainur Rohman1, M. Miftahul Ulum2, Zennanta Agustia3, Muhammad Fauzan Rivaldi4, Mohammad Rohman Rifai5, Muhammad Faza Zahiduzzaka6, Muchtar Arofat7, Ziad Ahmad Zarkasyi8 12345678 Universitas Islam Negeri Kiai Ageng Muhammad Besari Ponorogo * ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history Received March 13, 2026 Revisied April 16, 2026 Accepted May 17, 2026 Keywords: Islamic tolerance; coexistence ethics; Muḥammad ʿImārah; content analysis; religious moderation Debates on Islamic tolerance continue to turn on the relation between doctrinal conviction, freedom of conscience, and public coexistence in plural societies. This article examines how Muḥammad ʿImārah’s AlSamāḥah al-Islāmiyyah constructs Islamic tolerance as coexistence ethics. Using directed qualitative content analysis, the study analyzes textual units concerning Qur'anic non-coercion, the Medina Charter, the Najran Covenant, historical coexistence, and critiques of coercive exclusivism. The analysis shows that ʿImārah organizes tolerance through four interrelated categories: theological non-coercion, constitutional pluralism, active protection of religious communities, and historical participation in Islamic civilization. Its contribution lies in reading Al-Samāḥah al-Islāmiyyah as a unified textual construction that links faith, law, citizenship, protection, and participation. Indonesia is used only as a theoretical context for discussing the relevance of these categories to religious moderation and national coexistence, not as an empirical field site. The article argues that al-samāḥah can function as an Islamic ethical-political vocabulary for defending religious freedom, inclusive citizenship, minority protection, and interfaith solidarity in plural societies. 1. INTRODUCTION Contemporary Islamic studies continues to examine how religious conviction can coexist with freedom of conscience and civic equality. The issue is not merely theological. It concerns how religious communities understand difference, how states regulate religious plurality, and how citizens build peaceful relations across doctrinal boundaries. UNESCO defines tolerance as respect, acceptance, and appreciation of the diversity of cultures, forms of expression, and ways of being human (UNESCO., 1995). Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the freedom to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance (United Nations., 1948). In Indonesia, this principle is supported by Article 28E and Article 29(2) of the 1945 Constitution, Law Number 39 of 1999 on Human Rights, and Law Number 12 of 2005 ratifying the ICCPR (Republic of Indonesia., 1945, 1999, 2005). The urgency of this discussion is reinforced by global restrictions on religion. Pew Research Center reported that government restrictions on religion in 2022 remained at the highest median level in its long-term measurement, with 59 countries in the high or very high category (Majumdar, 2024). Such data place tolerance within a field of legal, political, educational, and theological concern. In Muslim societies, the discussion is frequently connected with religious moderation, interfaith relations, minority protection, and resistance to exclusivist interpretations. The Indonesian experience also Muhammad Ainur Rohman et.al (Islamic Tolerance as an Ethics of Coexistence…) EDUSOSHUM Journal of Islamic Education and Social Humanities Vol. 6, No. 2, May-August 2026, pp. 1123-1137 ISSN 2776-5229 1124 illustrates the complex relation between Islamic teachings, Pancasila, constitutional guarantees, and socio-cultural integration in sustaining coexistence among Muslims and followers of other religions (Subchi, Zulkifli, Latifa, & Sa’diyah, 2022; Zaim, 2024). Within Islamic discourse, tolerance rests on both doctrinal distinction and ethical relations with others. Qur'anic verses such as Q.S. 2:256, Q.S. 18:29, Q.S. 109:6, and Q.S. 5:48 provide a normative basis for non-coercion, moral responsibility, the recognition of religious difference, and the governance of plurality through justice and public civility. Classical tafsīr reads Q.S. 109 as preserving theological distinction and Q.S. 2:256 as prohibiting forced conversion (Ibn Kathīr, n.d.). Islamic tolerance, therefore, does not require the dissolution of religious identity. It can be framed as respect for the presence of others, protection of conscience, and the management of difference through law, justice, and public ethics. Recent scholarship on Islamic tolerance has developed in several directions. Abou El Fadl (2002) identifies moral resources in the Islamic tradition for resisting authoritarian puritanism and cultivating tolerance. Sachedina (2001) situates Islamic pluralism within civil society, freedom of conscience, the status of non-Muslims, peace, and moral responsibility. Pizzi (2024) discusses non-compulsion through Jawdat Saʿīd’s interpretation of Q.S. 2:256. Rane (2022, 2023, 2024) analyzes prophetic covenants and Qur'anic covenantal terms as resources for interreligious relations, human security, and peaceful coexistence. Agbaria (2022) examines tensions between inclusive and exclusive interpretations in Islamic education, while Aderibigbe et al. (2023) show how Islamic education can strengthen tolerance through course design and authentic learning. Studies on the Medina Charter and the Najran Covenant further enrich this field. Hamidullah (1975) and Serjeant (1978) treated the Medina document as a key source for understanding the Prophet's early political community. Recent studies have returned to the Charter as a model for social unity, consensus-based political communication, and pluralistic community development (Ghozali, 2025; Jusoh, Nawi, Embong, & Rahmat, 2024; Samosir, Hussin, Sudianto, & Azman., 2025). Research on Najran adds another layer. El-Wakil (2016) offers a source-critical study of the Prophet's treaty with the Christians of Najran, while Wood (2021) reads the Najran narrative in the Chronicle of Seert as an Abbasid-era reworking of Christian rights. Alomari, Al-Share, & Mohammed (2024) examine the Najran covenant as a model of social security and religious pluralism. Existing studies have discussed Islamic non-coercion, religious pluralism, prophetic covenants, the Medina Charter, the Najran Covenant, and Indonesian religious moderation. However, these studies often treat those themes separately and have not sufficiently examined Muḥammad ʿImārah’s Al-Samāḥah al-Islāmiyyah as an integrated discourse on tolerance. The gap addressed in this article is therefore conceptual: how ʿImārah connects Qur’anic non-coercion, prophetic covenants, historical coexistence, and citizenship ethics into a cohere (...truncated)