War on Error in Islam: Rescuing Knowledge from Tradition

By Leslie Terebessy

The war on terror requires being accompanied by a war on error. For the pen is mightier than the sword. There are errors in traditionalist exegesis and jurisprudence. To establish a d tente requires defeating the weltanschauung driving terror. This weltanschauung is Islamism. It rests on a corruption of the knowledge of revelation, warlike traditions and the "abrogation" of verses of reconciliation by the verses of the sword. Islamism is a corruption of Islam. That terrorism is perceived as "martyrdom" by not a few persons reveals the extent to which jurisprudence was corrupted by politics. Accordingly, it is necessary to rehabilitate exegesis and jurisprudence. For the politicization of exegesis and jurisprudence transformed Islam into a blueprint for perpetual wars of aggression, or jihad al-talab, fabricated by hawkish jurists, to provide their rulers with a justification for embarking upon endless wars of aggression to enlarge the empire. The corruption of knowledge was triggered by authoritarianism, which emerged in the wars after the passing of the prophet. Authoritarianism was reflected in the repression of freedom and the persecution of persons that upheld the freedom of the will. The Jabriyya or predestinarians persecuted the free-willers or the Qadaris. Marwan beheaded Ma'bad al Juhani, their chief in 699. In so far as predestination favored the establishment, rulers preferred the predestinarians at the expense of the free-willers. The teaching in predestination presupposes the rejection of causation. But causality is a part of a rational perception of reality. Accordingly, the repression of free-willers reflects anti-rationalism, too. The corruption of the knowledge of revelation was abetted by anti-rationalism. Politicized exegesis treats recourse to reason as kufr. Traditional exegesis treats reason as subservient to tradition. The persecution of the free-willers in the seventh century by the predestinarians was extended to the persecution of the rationalists or ahl al-ra'y by the traditionists or the ahl al-hadith in the following century. The knowledge of revelation was corrupted by the "abrogation" of the verses that teach reconciliation by the verses of the sword. Has the world ever witnessed corruption of religion of this magnitude? The corruption of the knowledge of revelation, assisted by the repression of reason, had political roots. Hawkish rulers requested the recording of the prophetic traditions to enable them to by-pass the prohibition of wars of aggression in the Book of Allah. The rulers enlisted the aid of ulama willing to reinterpret the religion of reconciliation as a religion of war. Islamism dragged the umma into endless wars with the rest of the world. The knowledge of revelation was corrupted by weaponized exegesis, endeavoring to establish the propagation of Islam through jihad al-talab as a sixth pillar of Islam. The corruption of knowledge was exacerbated by recourse to traditions that teach, in defiance of revelation, that blasphemy, adultery and apostasy all merit the death penalty. The Book of Allah prescribes no capital punishment for these acts. Accordingly, these penalties require being set aside. By endorsing capital punishment for apostasy, jurists defied the prohibition of compulsion in religion. Penal legislation is the exclusive prerogative of Allah. The alleged "abrogation" of the verses that teach reconciliation, was buttressed by hawkish traditions. These traditions encompass the tradition in which the prophet purportedly said that "the blood of the kafir is halal for the believer." They also encompass the tradition in which the prophet allegedly said that he was "sent with the sword as a mercy to the worlds." Hawkish traditions encompass the tradition in which the prophet allegedly asserted that he would "fight people until they all say that there is no god but Allah." These traditions portray Islam as a teaching of violence rather than as a religion of reconciliation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0BF2XBD84
• ISBN13: 9798353464686
• Release Date: September 2022
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 184 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"