Jihad as Self-defense vs Preemptive Jihad: How Militant Jurists Reinvented Islam as a Religion of War, (Paperback)

The tribulations of the umma are not triggered by external trauma but by its estrangement from its way of life: revelation, its tragic turn to tradition and the corruption of knowledge by its politicization. Autocracy is presented as piety. The Book of Allah teaches reconciliation, not aggression. It teaches people reconciliation with the Creator and with one another. Muslims are peacemakers. But Islamists, engaged by bellicose rulers, and enraged by perceived affronts against Muslims, re-invented Islam as a teaching of war. Thus, it is not surprising that Islam is perceived as a violent teaching. Islam is associated with terrorism. What are the reasons for this? The umma was misled by jurists engaged by hawkish rulers to furnished a justification for wars of aggression, prohibited in revelation. Under pressure from rulers bent upon expanding the empire, jurists reinvented the teaching of reconciliation as a teaching of aggression. They provided their rulers with a "religious" justification of wars of aggression, prohibited in revelation. They justified wars of aggression by politicizing revelation. They reinterpreted parts of the Book of Allah that rendered permissible what Allah prohibited: wars of aggression. They treat wars of aggression as a pillar of Islam, in the epic struggle between the dar al-Islam and the dar al-harb. They treat the perpetration of unlawful wars of aggression, as expressions of piety. Rendering wars of aggression as a "pillar of Islam" set the umma on a warpath against humanity, in the "clash" of the dar al-Islam and the dar al-harb. The rearticulation of Islam as a teaching of war was expedited through the weaponization of exegesis and jurisprudence. Exegesis was weaponized by recourse to hawkish traditions and their treatment as revelation. Jurisprudence was weaponized through the abrogation of all verses of reconciliation by the verse of the sword. For the verses of reconciliation restrict fighting to self-defense or against persecution. The weaponization of exegesis and jurisprudence produced Islamism. But political Islam is not just un-Islamic. It is anti-Islamic. For the Book of Allah prohibits aggression. But hawkish preachers tell a different tale. They treat jihad al-talab as a "sixth pillar of Islam." But jihad al-talab prescribes the "propagation" Islam through aggression, prohibited in revelation. The transformation of the teaching of reconciliation into a teaching of war was expedited through the politicization of revelation. The politicization of revelation was expedited by recourse to unwarranted perceptions and practices. These encompass the reorientation from revelation to tradition, the repression of reason, the treatment of tradition as revelation, treating tradition as a "judge" of revelation, recourse to the teaching of abrogation, and the treatment of jihad al-talab as a pillar of Islam. The turn to tradition was justified by the perception that tradition, too, is revelation. The repression of reason and its subordination to tradition was justified by the perception that the use of reason to understand revelation is kufr. The treatment of tradition as a "judge" of revelation was justified by the perception that revelation requires "explanation" from tradition. Recourse to the teaching of abrogation was justified by the assertion that allegedly contradictory verses require reconciliation by recourse to the teaching of abrogation. Recourse to these perceptions engendered troubling effects. These encompass the corruption of knowledge, the paralysis of reason, the emergence of taqlid, the replacement revealed rulings by rulings from traditions and the treatment of jihad al-talab as a sixth pillar of Islam. Islam is being used for political purposes. This process persisted for a millennium. This requires reaffirming the preeminence of revela

• Jihad as Self-defense vs Preemptive Jihad: How Militant Jurists Reinvented Islam as a Religion of War, (Paperback)
• Author: Leslie Terebessy
• ISBN: 9798275736519
• Format: Paperback
• Publication Date: 2025-11-23
• Page Count: 166