Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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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
Reconciling Revelation and Tradition in Islam: Rehabilitating Exegesis

Reconciling Revelation and Tradition in Islam: Rehabilitating Exegesis

Terebessy, Leslie

Paperback

IslamGeneral Education

ISBN13: 9798344639314
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Oct 27 2024
Pages: 208
Weight: 0.57
Height: 0.52 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Islam was reinvented as Islamism. This remarkable transformation was triggered by politics, assisted by the repressions of reason and expedited through interpretation. Hawkish rulers endeavoured to enlarge the realm of Islam, but not just by preaching. They wished to use swords and not just words. Thus, they required a reinterpretation of revelation that would justify wars of aggression. But revelation prohibits using force. It prohibits resorting to compulsion in the propagation of religion. To be sincere, reversion requires being from the heart, not driven by the fear of violence. This triggers Islamophobia. The required justification was furnished by hawkish jurists. They justified wars of aggression in the perennial war of the dar al-Islam vs the dar al-harb. This war was a precursor of the Hegelian struggle for recognition of masters and slaves and Huntington's clash of civilisations. Regrettably, the jurists' participation in the furthering of the political agendas of their rulers permitted exegesis and jurisprudence to sink to propaganda. The justification, portrayed as an interpretation of revelation, required extensive tampering with revelation. For the interpretation was tantamount to a politicization of revelation. This was expedited by the weaponization of exegesis and jurisprudence. The weaponization of exegesis and jurisprudence entailed recourse to hawkish traditions and the principle of abrogation. But the politicization of revelation corrupted the knowledge of revelation. The corruption of knowledge engendered political Islam. The reinterpretation of revelation was expedited by recourse to a range of unwarranted perceptions. These encompassed reservations regarding the perfection of revelation. It was argued that revelation was in parts unclear and insufficiently detailed. Thus, it required explanation and detailing. These would be furnished by traditions. But the Book of Allah presents itself as a clear Book. How could a Book that is already clear require further clarification? To assert that the Book of Allah is partly unclear is to contradict what the Book of Allah teaches about itself. To contradict any verse of the Book of Allah is to reject that verse. Thus, traditionalist exegesis rests upon a rejection of all verses that teach that the Book is clear. Traditionalists also allege that the Book is in parts insufficiently detailed. This perception contradicts verses of the Book which teach that the Book is fully detailed. For the Book presents itself as fully detailed. Again, to contradict these verses is to reject them. Revelation is also treated as contradictory. The reconciliation of contradictions would be expedited by recourse to the teaching of abrogation. But to treat all allegedly abrogated verses as untrue, is to reject those verses. The Book of Allah was treated as a work of a person who was at times blurred, forgetful, and confused. This is anthropomorphism. The proliferation of unwarranted perceptions was enabled by the repression of reason. Reason was subordinated to tradition. The perception that tradition, too, is revelation prepared the way for the teaching of dual revelation. This perception is justified by recourse to a tradition where the prophet reportedly asserted that he received two things, the Book of Allah and the traditions. Regrettably, recourse to the teaching of dual revelation entailed recourse to the duality of divinity. This encroaches on tawhid. Revelation differs from tradition. Yet traditionalists conflate the words of men with the words of God, and treat them as equal. Is this a reflection of tauhid? Revelation is from Allah; traditions are from persons. The fusion of tradition with revelation corrupted the knowledge of revelation. Treating tradition as revelation transformed tradition into a partner of revelation. In time, tradition superseded revelation. This reflects a re-orientation from revelation to tradition.

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