Rescuing Muslims from Militants: Rethinking Jihad al-Talab

By Leslie Terebessy

The umma is experiencing tribulations in different parts of the world. There are wars in different Muslim nations. What happened? Misrepresentations of revelation, triggered by politics, enticed Muslims to drift from the path of Allah. The umma turned from the Book of Allah to the traditions of the forefathers. This was not wise. The umma is a casualty of a "reinterpretation" of revelation, triggered by its politicization, presented as a "clarification." The treatment of tradition as revelation produced traditional Islam. The abrogation of the "peace verses" and recourse to traditions produced political Islam. The politicization of Islam rendered lawful what Allah prohibited: wars of aggression. Islamist jurisprudence transformed the teaching of reconciliation into a blueprint for war. Allah does not change the condition of people until they change what is in themselves. When Muslims turned from revelation to tradition, Allah changed their condition. Muslims are taught sectarian Islam. Tradition upholds parochialism, divesting Islam of its universalism. The reorientation from revelation to tradition - an epistemological faux pas - was triggered by politics. The reorientation was buttressed by the repression of reason. Fazlur Rahman referred to the repression of reason as "intellectual suicide." It brought a "tradition of intellectual retardation." It plunged the umma into confusion. Reluctance to use reason to understand revelation reduced the umma's knowledge of revelation. It made it harder for the umma to follow revelation. The repression of reason estranged the umma from its religion. The repression of reason corrupted knowledge by enabling the treatment of tradition as revelation and the emergence of Islamism. The repression of reason enabled recourse to perceptions that defy to the teaching of revelation. These perceptions were used to re-articulate the teaching of revelation as a teaching of war. The unwarranted presupposi--tions encompass the perception that, contrary to the teaching of revelation, the Book of Allah is in parts "unclear." The remedy for this is recourse to tradition to "clarify" revelation. A further misperception is that the Book of Allah is "insufficiently detailed." For it does not, for example, provide details on the right way to pray or determine how much zakat to pay. The "deficit" of detail would also be redressed by tradition. Another misperception regarding the Book of Allah is that, contrary to its teaching, the Book is not "free of contradictions." The "contradictions" in the Book would be redressed by recourse to the teaching of abrogation. But the Book of Allah teaches that it is "clear," "detailed" and "free of contradictions." The repression of reason also assisted the transformation of the teaching of reconciliation into a religion of war. The perception of revelation as a teaching of war is reflected in the teaching of jihad al-talab or the war between the dar al-Islam and the dar al harb. For jihad as represented by hawkish jurists requires to umma to wage wars of aggression every year, even if non-Muslims are not fighting Muslims. This aggressiveness was buttressed by recourse to traditions, for example the tradition in which the prophet stated that he was "ordered to fight people until they testify that there is no god but God." Bellicosity did not serve the umma well. It was defeated in France in 732, by the Mongols in 1258 and at the Gates of Vienna in 1529 and 1683. Recently, parts of the umma were subjected to punishing bombing campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. The repression of reason, the treatment of tradition as revelation and recourse to the abrogation of the verses of reconciliation by the verse of the sword, also produced the "jurisprudence of terror." This represents the nadir of "Islamic" jurisprudence. It reveals the extent to which the politicization of revelation corrupted knowledge and became a threat to humanity.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GHJVBDGC
• ISBN13: 9798244440591
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"