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
Theism and Polytheism: Reconciling Perceptions

Theism and Polytheism: Reconciling Perceptions

Terebessy, Leslie

Paperback

General Education

ISBN13: 9798745553738
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Apr 28 2021
Pages: 240
Weight: 0.72
Height: 0.51 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The umma is in turmoil. This is due to a seismic shift which altered the way Islam would be perceived and practiced. Trials and tribulations followed. The shift was a turn from revelation to tradition and the rulings of scholars. This was a reorientation from the divine to the human, from revelation to tradition. Persons - transmitters of traditions - became authorities. But do traditions guide better than revelation? The turn was a reorientation from a revelation-centric to a tradition-centric paradigm. The turn was aided by the repression of reason. But the tradition-centric paradigm is marred by a range of anomalies. These are inconsistent with the teaching of revelation and tawhid. These aberrations encompass the perception of tradition as revelation, the treatment of tradition as a judge of revelation and recourse to the teaching of abrogation. The turn from revelation to tradition was triggered by the requirement for a reinterpretation of revelation that would justify wars of aggression. These would be waged for the purpose of territorial expansion, under the banner of Islam. The turn from revelation to tradition transpired at the time of the transition from rule by shura, practiced by the prophet, to dynastic rule. Hawkish rulers required a way of by-passing the prohibition of aggression in the Book of Allah. Rulers engaged like-minded ulama to furnish the required reinterpretation. This was accomplished by the turn to tradition, its sacralization and recourse to the teaching of abrogation. Islamist ulama justified wars of aggression by asserting that all verses that restrict warfare to self-defence were abrogated by the verse of the sword. The sacralization of tradition, its treatment as revelation and recourse to the teaching of abrogation corrupted the knowledge of revelation. This transformed the religion of peace into a religion of war. The reinterpretation required the weaponization of the knowledge of revelation. Exegesis and jurisprudence were engaged to furnish the required justification for waging unlawful wars to propagate Islam by the sword. But there are problems. For abrogating the verses of reconciliation by the verses of the sword requires rejecting all verses that restrict fighting to self-defence or resisting persecution. To reject a verse of the Book of Allah is tantamount to committing kufr. Thus, exegesis that requires the endorsement of the teaching of abrogation entails the commission of kufr. That renders weaponized exegesis unreliable. The transformation of Islam into Islamism required the neglect of revelation, the marginalization of reason, and the sacralization of tradition. In this process the emphasis on tradition rose and the use of reason waned. At the beginning, the emphasis on revelation and reason was robust, while the emphasis on tradition was scant. With the increasing emphasis on tradition, assisted by the repression of reason, there was a de-emphasis on revelation. Tradition became equal to revelation. Next, it rose to the rank of a judge of revelation. Traditionists then vested tradition with the authority to abrogate and replace parts of revelation. This transpired with the punishments for adultery and apostasy. Both are from tradition. But not everyone agreed with treating tradition as revelation. Tensions rose. At times they brought tragic results, for example the mass killing of rationalists by Musa al-Hadi in 786. Renewal requires a return to revelation, assisted by the rehabilitation and re-engagement of reason. This does not mean that reason is to be placed above revelation. But reason is required for the comprehension and application of the teaching of revelation. Appropriate response requires a paradigm shift, from the tradition-centric paradigm to the revelation-centric paradigm. This requires the de-sacralization of tradition, affirming the pre-eminence of revelation, and a return to reason in the exegesis and jurisprudence of revelation.

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