Logic Eclipsed By Non Logic In Islam

This is an academic paper written by my old friend Abdul Karim Abdullah (Leslie Terebessy) who is a researcher in Islamic studies. Karim hails from the old Czechoslovakia, became a Canadian citizen and has been living in Malaysia for over 15 years where he is also married to a Malaysian.  The title is :

Eclipse of revelation by tradition in Islam

Abdul Karim Abdullah   Civilizational renewal, Islam   April 16, 2018  

In Islam tradition grew in prestige to the point of “eclipsing” that which brought it about in the first place: revelation. 

The casualties of the elevation of tradition were reason and revelation. 

The “eclipse” was brought about by three factors, all of which required a shift of focus to accommodate tradition.

The first was the sacralization of tradition. This entailed the designation of tradition as revelation. 

Second was the subordination of reason to tradition. This entailed placing the authority of tradition above that of reason. 

Third was the subordination of the Quran to tradition. This entailed judging revelation by tradition.

The “eclipse” had far-reaching effects. 

The chief of these was that revelation was harder to access. The Quran became remote. 

This remoteness was reinforced with the entrenchment of taqlid, which required jurists to defer to the work of their predecessors rather than refer to the Quran directly. 

This paper explores the reasons for the eclipse, sketches its effects, and suggests strategies for reconnecting with the Quran as a way of addressing the “eclipse.”

Those who are interested in reading Karim's paper can click on this link here.

My comments : This academic research sums up the following errors by the fuqaha (ahli fikah)  or jurists :

1. falsely characterising the Quran as unclear

2. falsely asserting that unclear verses have to be clarified by tradition

3. elevating tradition (hearsay) to revelation

4. subjugating revelation to tradition

5. subjugating reason to tradition

6. claiming that 'tradition' abrogates revelation

If you have time do read Abdul Karim's paper.