The 'many religions, one god' truth claim as propounded by some sounds very appealing because it embraces religiosity with a mega dose of tolerance and mutual respect.

John Hicks, probably the icon for religious pluralism sums it lucidly when he writes 'the great world religions constitute variant conceptions and perceptions of, and responses to, the one ultimate, mysterious divine reality'. It simply describes the different theophanies of the same truth.

On closer examination however, this pluralistic truth claim is in fact extremely problematic.

Firstly, it has undermined the absolute truth claims of all the religions on the world stage. It has relativised all the truth claims and has equated all religions as being relatively the same. Pluralism is degrading if not denying the absolute truth claims of these religions.

Secondly, its pluralistic claim has inevitably added another new 'ism' on the block, albeit man-made, to the phenomenon of religious diversity.

Ismail Faruqi wrote, 'The (truth) claim is essential to religion. For the religious assertion is not merely one among a multitude of propositions, but necessarily unique and exclusive'.

Thus any attempt to relativise the uniqueness and exclusivity of all religions, as Hicks et al has undertaken with their theology of religious pluralism, will inevitably add a new problem to the existing truth claims at best. Or, at worst, threaten the very existence of religions.

The pluralistic 'all paths lead to the same summit' paradigm is not that benign, democratic and embracing as first perceived.

This 'disguised enmity' of absolute religious truth claims is hardly surprising considering religious pluralism was gestated within the context of western secular liberalism which had an innate abhorrence of anything metaphysical.

Wayne Proudfoot, in Religious Experience wrote: 'The turn to religious experience was motivated in large measure by an interest in freeing religious doctrine and practice from dependence on metaphysical beliefs and ecclesiastical institutions and grounding it in human experience'.

Islam perceives religious diversity and plurality as a 'sunnatullah', the behest of the Al-Mighty. Hence, a religious truth claim is an absolutist doctrine and must be respected as such, not simplified or relativised, let alone negated.

Islam accords special status to Judaism and Christianity, categorically calling their adherents, Ahl al-Kitab (People of the Book). It identifies itself with the People of the Book as the 'Abrahamic family' within the Semitic Tradition (Hanifiyyah), the tradition of Abraham who is recognised as the father of the three Semitic religions.

References to other religions is however less straightforward. They are mentioned in a generic manner as implied by the Quranic injunctions on:

• Universality of the prophetic mission: 'And verily We have raised in every nation a messenger, (proclaiming): Serve Allah and shun false gods..." (16:36).

Islam allows the others to be fully others without any form of reduction, distortion or relativisation.

Religious pluralism de-constructs absolute truth claims, relativises religions and equates them within the parameters of human religious experiences of the Transcendental Reality. In short, it is unwilling to let others to be really others. Therein lies the clear and present danger of religious pluralism.