Kanz Philosophia: A Journal for Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism (Dec 2011)

The Revolution of The Transcendence

  • Hassan Hanafi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.20871/kpjipm.v1i2.12
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 1, no. 2
pp. 23 – 49

Abstract

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Contrary to the general and common idea that Islam etymologically means submission, surrendering, servitude or even slavery, this paper tries to prove just the opposite, that Islam is a protest, an opposition and a revolution. The term Aslama, in fact, is ambiguous. It means to surrender to God, not to yield to any other power. It implies a double act : first, a rejection of all non-Transcendental yokes; and second, an acceptance of the Transcendental Power. Islam, by this function, is a double act of negation and affirmation. This double act is expressed in the utterance “I witness that there is no god except the God.”

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