Islamic sciences

This article is about religious sciences practiced by Muslim scholars. For the history of science in the Islamic world, see Science in the medieval Islamic world. For the study of Islam in modern academia, see Islamic studies.

The Islamic sciences (Arabic: علوم الدين, romanized: ʿulūm al-dīn, lit. 'the sciences of religion') are a set of traditionally defined religious sciences practiced by Islamic scholars (ʿulamāʾ), aimed at the construction and interpretation of Islamic religious knowledge.^[1]

A scholar writing a commentary on the Qur'an during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (1592–1666)

Different sciences

These sciences include:

• ʿIlm al-fiqh: Islamic jurisprudence
• ʿIlm al-ḥadīth: the study of the authenticity of Prophetic traditions or hadith
  • ʿIlm al-rijāl: the biographical study of hadith transmitters with the purpose of evaluating their trustworthiness
• ʿIlm al-kalām (sometimes also called uṣūl al-dīn, "the roots of religion"): speculative theology^[2]
• ʿIlm al-lugha: Arabic grammar
• ʿIlm al-tafsīr: interpretation of the Qur'an
  • ʿIlm al-naskh: the study of abrogation (parts of the Qur'an which supersede or cancel other parts)
• ʿIlm al-tajwīd: rules for the proper recitation of the Qur'an
  • ʿIlm al-qirāʾāt: on the various ways in which the Qur'an can be recited
• ʿIlm ākhir al-zamān: Islamic eschatology (on the end times and the Day of Resurrection (yawm al-qiyāma))
• ʿIlm al-akhlaq: moral philosophy was an important subject for Muslim intellectuals in medieval Islam.^[3]

In Shiʿi Islam

Shiʿi Islam^[4][5] Many of the same subjects are studied at Shiʿi seminaries (known as hawza), but there are some differences:

• Falsafa (Islamic philosophy)
• Fiqh (jurisprudence)
• 'Ilm al-Hadith (traditions)
• Ilm al-Kalam (theology)
• 'Ilm ar-Rijal (evaluation of biographies)
• ʿIrfān (Islamic mysticism)
• Manṭiq (Logic)
• Lugha (language studies)
• Tafsir al-Qur'an (interpretation of the Qur'an)
• Tarikh (history)
• Ulum al-Qur'an (Qur'an sciences)
• Usul al-Fiqh (principles of jurisprudence)

According to Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali

The celebrated Islamic scholar Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali wrote on Islamic sciences in his well known book The Revival of Religious Sciences (Ihya `ulum al‑din). He argued that a Muslim has a religious obligation (wajib) to know whatever aspects of religious science are necessary for them to obey Shari'ah in doing whatever work it is they do. So, for example, someone working in animal husbandry should know rules concerning zakat; a merchant "doing business in an usurious environment", should learn rules about riba so as "to effectively avoid it".^[6] Sciences whose knowledge is wajib kifa'i (must be known by some people in society, although once enough people have met the obligation, the rest of the population is relieved of it).

Al‑Ghazali considers wajib kifa'i religious sciences to be classified into four groups:

1. Usul (principles; i.e. the Qur’an, the sunnah, ijma` or consensus and the traditions of the Prophet's companions)
2. Furu` (secondary matters; i.e. problems of jurisprudence, ethics and mystical experience)
3. Introductory studies (Arabic grammar, syntax, etc.)
4. Complementary studies (recitation and interpretation of the Qur’an, study of the principles of jurisprudence, `ilm al‑rijal or biographical research about narrators of Islamic traditions etc.)^[6]

Al‑Ghazzali aserts that not all religious sciences are "praiseworthy" (mahmud), as some proport to be "oriented towards the Shari'ah but actually deviate from its teachings". These are known as "undesirable" (madhmum).^[6]

See also

• List of contemporary Islamic scholars
• Ulama
• Islamic advice literature

References

1. Gilliot et al. 1960–2007.
2. On the term uṣūl al-dīn, see Gimaret 1960–2007. On the term 'speculative theology', see, e.g. Schmidtke 2016, p. 2: "rationally minded theologians employed the methods and techniques of speculative theology, ‘kalām’ or ‘ʿilm al-kalām’, as it is typically called".
3. Campo, Encyclopedia of Islam, "Ethics and morality" 2009: p.217
4. . Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project. Archived from the original on 8 March 2011.
5. Thinkin ahead: Shi'ite Islam in Iraq and its seminaries 10 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Christoph Marcinkowsi, Nayang Technological University, Singapore
6. Golshani, Mehdi (12 March 2013). "Introduction". Science and the Muslim Ummah. Al-Islam.org. Retrieved 8 August 2022.

Works cited

• Campo, Juan E. (2009). "Ethics and morality". Encyclopedia of Islam. pp. 214–216. ISBN 9781438126968. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
• Gilliot, Cl.; Repp, R.C; Nizami, K.A.; Hooker, M.B.; Lin, Chang-Kuan; Hunwick, J.O. (1960–2007). "ʿUlamāʾ". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1278.
• Gimaret, D. (1960–2007). "Uṣūl al-Dīn". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_7760.
• Schmidtke, Sabine (2016). "Introduction". In Schmidtke, Sabine (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–26. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199696703.013.48.