Muslim Tradition can both validate and insulate doctrines and confer on them a degree of longevity or even permanence, by identifying them as the legitimate offspring of al-naql and al-'aql with genetic links that validate their pedigree and protect them from being communally disowned. Moreover, unmediated interpretations often fail to tell us why we should abandon the view of, say Abu Hanifa, Thomas Aquinas, or the Founding Fathers in favor of a novel rendering. While the implication is that the contemporary view is superior, this can be difficult to prove and may even backfire, as the person, memory, or "image" of Abu Hanifa or Thomas Aquinas may be dearer to the public than the substance of efficiency of their views. Reliance on Tradition, meanwhile, overcomes much of this signaling that one is willing to play by the same rules as those of the great masters, implying that the view that one is advocating is little more than what Abu Hanifa, Thomas Aquinas, or the Founding Fathers themselves might advocate (or at least recognize) were they confronted with contemporary reality. (25)
-Sherman A. Jackson, Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering, p. 10-11
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