Leslie Terebessy

Two Faces of Islam: How Jurists Transformed the Religion of Peace into a Religion of War Leslie Terebessy

There are arguments whether Islam is a "religion of peace." After all, Islam also means peace. This book argues that Islam properly understood is indeed a religion of peace. The problem is that the knowledge of Islam was warped by problematic, tribal exegesis. As a result, what began as a religion of peace, turned into a religion of war. This was a result of a series of connected events. The transformation began with anti-rationalism. Anti-rationalism among Muslims arose from the disputes between the traditionists and the rationalists about the right way to "understand" revelation. Traditionists "argued" that tradition the knowledge of revelation should be accessed through tradition. Due to their proximity to the prophet, the friends of the prophet possessed the "best" knowledge of revelation. Hence their perceptions should be followed.