Understanding Islamic Governance: Redressing the Corruption of Knowledge - Tapa blanda

Sinopsis

Islam requires ruling with justice, the chief purpose of the sharia, according to the Book of Allah. It requires God-consciousness and righteousness. It requires knowledge of the Book and recourse to reason to understand revelation. Those that refrain from using reason are not equipped to pronounce on revelation. Past practices did not always reflect exemplary rule. Ruler did not always reflect the teachings of the Book of Allah or the best practices of the prophet. A few rulers treated revelation as permission to wage wars of aggression under the banner of Islam. They embarked on wars to enlarge the empire. But wars of aggression are prohibited in revelation. The prophet’s military engagements were all defensive. The justification of aggression required a reinterpretation of revelation. It required rendering permissible what Allah prohibited. To by-pass the prohibition of aggression in revelation, hawkish rulers engaged Islamist ulama to “reinterpret” revelation to justify aggression. But the ulama could find no justification of aggression in revelation. Thus, they turned to tradition and the teaching of abrogation. They justified turning to tradition by the assertions that revelation requires “clarification” and “detailing.” But these assertions misrepresent the Book. For revelation presents itself as “clear” and “fully detailed.” The justification of the turn to tradition by the assertions that revelation requires “clarification” and “detailing” rejects verses according to which revelation is “clear” and “fully detailed.” To contradict any verse, however, is to perpetrate kufr. Hawkish ulama justified the turn to tradition further by the assertion that tradition, too, is “revelation from God.” But the assertion that tradition is also “revelation from God,” “equal to” and a “part of” revelation, is an expression of shirk. For it treats the reports of transmitters as “equal” to the words of Allah. Thus, the justification of the turn to tradition by the assertion that tradition, too, is revelation, is also based on shirk. The turn to the teaching of abrogation was justified by the assertion that parts of revelation are contradictory and thus require “reconciliation.” This is allegedly furnished by the teaching of abrogation. The assertion that parts of revelation are contradictory defies verses which teach that the Book of Allah is coherent. To contradict a verse is to express kufr in the verse. We are also expected to reject all allegedly “abrogated” verses. This expectation is tantamount to an “invitation” to kufr on an epic scale. Thus, the justification of recourse to the teaching of abrogation also rests on kufr. As traditionalist exegesis and jurisprudence are tainted by kufr and shirk, they are not reliable. They require rehabilitation, their reconciliation with the teaching revelation, especially tawhid. For traditionalist exegesis and jurisprudence brought troubling results. The abrogation of the verses of reconciliation rendered permissible what Allah made unlawful, wars of aggression. These wars, referred to as jihad al-talab, are presented as the “sixth pillar of Islam.” Jihad al-talab requires fighting non-Muslims as a religious requirement each year only because they are not Muslims, even if they are not fighting Muslims. Accordingly, jihad al-talab is to be rejected as utterly alien to the teaching of revelation. The administration of the death penalty for apostasy ensures injustice, as he Book of Allah prescribes no worldly penalty for apostasy. The law of apostasy is used as a “justification” for the repression of political adversaries. It is a “license to kill.” Penal legislation is expected to protect life; not to provide a justification for the perpetration of crime in the name of Islam. In brief, hawkish jurists corrupted the teaching of revelation. In the process, they justified wars of aggression, beckoned the umma to kufr and prepared the road for present-day extremism.

"Sinopsis" puede pertenecer a otra edición de este libro.