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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
Retrieving the Teaching of Islam: Rehabilitation of the Epistemology of Revelation

Retrieving the Teaching of Islam: Rehabilitation of the Epistemology of Revelation

Terebessy, Leslie

Paperback

IslamGeneral EducationGeneral Political Science

ISBN13: 9798278954484
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Dec 16 2025
Pages: 174
Weight: 0.53
Height: 0.37 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The problems of the umma are due to a reorientation from a revelation-centric to a tradition-centric epistemological paradigm. The paradigm shift triggered the eclipse of revelation by tradition. The eclipse plunged the umma into the dark, making it lose its bearings. The reorientation was triggered by political considerations. Revelation was reinterpreted to provide a religious justification to rulers for enlarging the empire by waging unlawful wars of aggression. Islam became political. The turn was assisted by the repression of reason. The paralysis of Muslim thought, triggered by what Fazlur Rahman referred to as intellectual suicide, inaugurated a tradition of intellectual retardation. The repression of reason tainted the epistemology of revelation by permitting the proliferation of unwarranted accretions. These encompass the treatment of tradition as revelation and the subordination of revelation to tradition. They also encompass the teachings of predestination, abrogation and jihad al-talab. The treatment of traditions as revelation brought traditional Islam. The alleged abrogation of the verses of reconciliation by verse 9:5 brought Islamism. Hawkish ulama rendered unlawful wars lawful by recourse to the teaching of abrogation, in which all verses of reconciliation were abrogated by the verse of the sword. The pushback triggered against these wars of aggression scuttled the empire. The Umayyads were defeated in France, the Abbasids in Baghdad, and the Turks at the Gates of Vienna. The eclipse of revelation by tradition and the repression of reason also corrupted legislation. The penal code, in defiance of the Book of Allah, prescribes capital punishment for adultery and apostasy. The turn from revelation to tradition alienated the umma from its religion. The emphasis changed from ethics to rituals. There are no books in Bukhari on justice, rationality, morality, rights, or freedom. The drift from ethics accelerated the proliferation of crime and corruption in Muslim countries. The prohibition of engaging reason to understand revelation prevented Muslims from understanding the Book of Allah. This estranged the umma from its religion. Persons that refrain from using reason become deaf, and dumb. After all, Allah said He would place confusion on persons that refrain from using reason (10:100). The reticence to use reason enabled recourse to a range of misperceptions. These encompass the perceptions that the Book is in parts unclear, insufficiently detailed, and contradictory. Recourse to these perceptions entails a rejection of verses that teach that the Book is clear, fully detailed and free of contradictions. These perceptions treat revelation as a product of a person. They are less than respectful the Book and its Author. The rejection of verses that present the Book of Allah as clear, fully detailed and free of contradictions reflects kufr. The treatment of tradition as a root of legislation, with the authority to abrogate and replace revealed legislation reflects shirk. Accordingly, the epistemology of revelation requires attention. The traditionalist perception of the relationship between reason and revelation rests upon a false dichotomy or opposition between reason and revelation. At the same time it rests upon an equally problematic amalgamation of tradition with revelation. The treatment of tradition as revelation, and even a root of legislation, tainted the teaching of revelation. This resulted from the breakdown of reason in Muslim tradition. Treating using reason to understand revelation as kufr assumes that a person cannot be God-conscious and rational simultaneously. It suggest that belief in God requires the sacrifice of reason while a commitment to use reason entails disbelief in revelation. These are specious teachings, without foundation in revelation. Islamism represents a threat to security. This requires attention.

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