Renaissance of Islam: Reforming Exegesis

A few remarked that Islam "lost it vitality." Tradition is presented to as an unbroken process, where every generation builds on the achievements of the former generation. It appears that matters are less sanguine than that. While there was a continuum, there was also a "break" from key aspects of revelation within the tradition of Islam. This break transpired when the ulema bestowed the rank of revelation upon tradition. The treatment of tradition as revelation enabled a reorientation from revelation to tradition. The narrowing of the term salat to prayer was facilitated by the dearth of teaching on justice, ethics, and rationality in Bukhari. For Islam requires us to focus on Allah. But in the turn from the performance of righteous acts to the performance of ritual prayers, the ritual prayer became a righteous act in itself. In this way, the ethos of reform was replaced by resignation to "fate" and a passive surrender to tradition. In the course of time the focus on Allah was superseded by a focus on revelation and tradition. There was a re-orientation from revelation to the prophetic tradition.

When tradition was designated as revelation, guidance became secular. Rather than follow the revelation of Allah, people turned to and followed the precedent of the predecessors. The turn from revelation to tradition was triggered by the repression of reason, which was in turn launched by casting the use of reason to understand revelation as kufr.

The association of reason with kufr caused people to become reluctant to use reason, for fear of being accused of kufr.

The reluctance to use reason to understand revelation made it harder for people to understand revelation.

Reduced reliance on reason made revelation less intelligible. In response, attention shifted from revelation to tradition.

This dual focus" diluted the purity of revelation by first fusing and then confusing it with tradition. This conflated revelation with tradition and made it hard to distinguish the words of man from the words of God. To the extent that legislation based upon tradition became as "authoritative" as legislation based on revelation, the latter was effectively "subordinated" to the former. This did not bode well for the Muslim civilization. It signalled a transformation of Islam as a reformative religion to Islam as a religion focused on ritual more than reform and the doing of goods deeds. People were assured that if they performed their ritual prayers, they would be forgiven their sins and admitted to paradise. This encouraged outward conformity with the precepts of Islam at the expense of spirituality and sincerity. The reduction of emphasis on the performance of good deeds was reinforced by the incorporation of the teaching of predestination into the belief system.

There was no point in trying to change anything, as everything was predestined by Allah. As a result, the umma fell into backwardness. Accordingly, it is hardly surprising that a few persons feel that something "went wrong" in Islam, or with Muslims. People have written about the closing of the Muslim mind and the need to "reopen" it. A few attribute problems to insufficient freedom. Without freedom, Muslims could not realize their full potential." For the absence of dignity reduces the motivation to become or do better. It is when we fall short that we become aware of weaknesses. And there is no dignity without freedom. Falling into error presents us with a way to recover self-respect, to learn from our mistake. Allah bestowed dignity on the children of Adam. He also bestowed freedom on them. This freedom cannot be withheld without violating a person's dignity. Islamic renaissance requires a return to the uncorrupted teaching of revelation. For knowledge of revelation was corrupted by problematic methods of interpretation. Regrettably, these approaches were based on assumptions alien to the teaching of revelation.