Politics of Hermeneutics: Effects of Politics on the Exegesis of the Quran in Islam

By Leslie Terebessy

Much is written on Islam in politics. Less is written, however, about politics in Islam. This requires attention, as politics affects the knowledge of revelation. Revelation differentiates between right and wrong and exhorts us to do what right and refrain from what is wrong. Revelation provides education. Making the "right" choices is reinforced by rewards and punishments for different choices. Tradition, in comparison, provides scant education. There are no "books" in Bukhari on justice, morality, rationality, reason or freedom, rights or governance. Tradition strips revelation of its teachings on ethics. Rather, we get ninety-eight traditions about where to place our hands during formal prayer. Tradition emphasizes rituals at the expense of morality. The result is corruption in the Muslim nations. Prohibitions in revelation restrains humanity from unlawful activity, e.g. waging unprovoked wars. In response, hawkish rulers tried to bypass these restrictions. For this purpose, rulers engaged preachers to reinterpret revelation to endorse the expansionary aspirations of the rulers. Revelation triggered a "revolution." But the ethics of revelation restricted the freedom of the rulers to behave in unjust ways. Accordingly, the reinterpretation of revelation to endorse wars of aggression was required. Essentially, it required a "theological coup d'etat," with the aim of restoring the status quo ante. This "counter-revolution" transpired in the power tussle between Ali and Muawiya. The reinterpretation of revelation as a teaching of war required recourse to exegesis and jurisprudence fit for the purpose. This required a "recalibration" of exegesis and jurisprudence. It required a weaponization of exegesis and jurisprudence. The weaponization of exegesis and jurisprudence was expedited by recourse to enabling presuppositions and practices. These encompassed the perceptions that the Book of Allah is "unclear," "insufficiently detailed," and even "contradictory." However, these perceptions defy the teachings of the Book of Allah on all three counts. For the Book states that it is "clear," "fully detailed" and "free of contradictions." In different words, the reinterpretation of revelation was enabled by a departure from its teachings. This departure was assisted by the repression of reason. The rejection of reason rendered exegetes and jurists bereft of reason. The rejection of reason exposed the umma to risk. The sacrifice of reason was an expression of "intellectual suicide." *In time, "intellectual suicide" was followed "political suicide." This was the self-destruction of empires triggered by retaliation against unlawful wars. The repression of reason was justified by recourse to a tradition that treats recourse to reason in acquiring knowledge of revelation as kufr. This perception rests on the presumption, rejected by revelation, that there is a "tension" between reason and revelation. Recourse to the teaching of abrogation, together with recourse to bellicose traditions, enabled militant ulama to reinterpret Islam as a religion of war. Recourse to militant traditions was facilitated by the recording of traditions, requested by al-Mansur, ibn Hisham and Umar II. The "reinterpretation" of revelation provided the rulers with a justification - presented as a sixth pillar of Islam - to wage unlawful wars. But the Book of Allah prohibits wars of aggression. Weaponized exegesis and jurisprudence enabled exegetes to tamper with the teaching of revelation. It enabled them to render the unlawful as lawful and the lawful as unlawful. The weaponization of exegesis and jurisprudence transformed exegesis and jurisprudence into instruments of political propaganda. Renewal requires a restoration of the pre-eminence of revelation, and a rejection of the teachings of predestination and abrogation. This requires the rehabilitation and the re-engagement of reason.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B093KLMVQ1
• ISBN13: 9798744554538
• Release Date: April 2021
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 166 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"