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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Two Faces of Islam: How Jurists Transformed the Religion of Peace into a Religion of War

Two Faces of Islam: How Jurists Transformed the Religion of Peace into a Religion of War

Terebessy, Leslie

Paperback

IslamGeneral Education

ISBN13: 9798459458459
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Aug 18 2021
Pages: 172
Weight: 0.52
Height: 0.37 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Is Islam a religion of reconciliation or a religion of war? For it is portrayed in both ways by different parties. Islam of the Book of Allah is a teaching of reconciliation but the Islam of tradition is a religion of war. The rearticulation of revelation as a teaching of war transpired with the advent of authoritarianism. Reinterpreting revelation as a teaching of war required a weaponization of exegesis and jurisprudence. This was expedited by mercenary ulama ready to participate in furthering of the expansionary wars of their rulers. For bellicose rulers craved a justification for wars of aggression, to enlarge the empire. But they wanted to do it under the banner of Islam. As wars of aggression are prohibited in revelation, the ulama turned to tradition. The turn from revelation to tradition was facilitated by the repression of reason, and reflected in the recording of traditions. Recourse to tradition was justified by treating tradition as supplementary revelation. According to this perception, Allah revealed a further sixty books of revelation to explain and clarify the revelation in the Book. The recording of traditions transpired in defiance of the prohibition of the fabrication to revelation in the Quran. It also transpired in defiance of the prohibition by the prophet of recording his traditions. The reinterpretation of Islam as a religion of war entailed tampering with the teaching of revelation. This was expedited by the abrogation of all verses in the Quran that restrict fighting to self-defence. The teaching of the abrogation of the verses of reconciliation, reinforced by recourse to hawkish traditions, transformed revelation into a manifesto of war. But aggression is prohibited in revelation. Thus, to justify wars of aggression as a sixth pillar of Islam is tantamount to rendering permissible what Allah prohibited. Underlying the justification of the propagation of Islam through compulsion was the narrative of the alleged clash between the dar al-Islam and the dar al-harb. There is no basis for this perception in revelation. The weaponization of exegesis and jurisprudence came at a cost. It entailed a corruption of the knowledge of revelation. This plunged Muslims into a series of unprovoked, unlawful wars. Apart from recourse to the teaching of abrogation, knowledge was corrupted further by the mischaracterization of revelation as unclear, insufficiently detailed, and contradictory. These mischaracterizations were used to justify the turn to tradition. They were due in part to the reluctance to engage reason to understand revelation. The alleged clarification and detailing of revelation would be provided by tradition. Alleged contradictions would be resolved by recourse to the teaching of abrogation. However, the Book of Allah teaches that it is clear, fully detailed, and free of contradictions. To characterize the Book of Allah as unclear, insufficiently detailed, and contradictory entails rejecting verses that teach the contrary. To reject a verse is to disbelieve in it. The characterization of revelation as unclear, insufficiently detailed and contradictory is accordingly based on kufr. What is more, a clear and fully detailed Book would not require clarification and detailing in the first place. Neither should a Book free of contradictions require recourse to the teaching of abrogation, to reconcile purportedly contradictory verses. The turn from revelation to tradition was assisted by the repression of reason, or intellectual suicide. The repression of reason in turn inaugurated a tradition of intellectual retardation. The intellectual suicide paved the way for political suicide. For Islamism set the umma upon a warpath against the rest of humanity, triggering clashes, and exposing the umma to the risk of retaliation. The Islamist caliphate requires establishing the sharia everywhere by word or, if necessary, by the sword.

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