the sciences which developed because of the qur'an
The sciences of the din of Islam came into being at the beginning of
the Prophet's mission and the revelation of the Qur'an, including laws
governing the behaviour and transactions of Muslims. Study of these sciences
developed in the first century after the Hijrah although initially, not
in any formal way. Since the Caliphs had prohibited the writing down of
the tradition, they were handed down by word of mouth by the companions
and their followers.
A small number of Scholars wrote on jurisprudence and on the science
of the traditions at the beginning of the second century when the prohibition
was lifted, 1 allowing scholars to record the traditions.
It was at this point that a number of disciplines came into being including
the Science of Traditions and the Science of establishing the authority
and sincerity of those men who transmitted it; the Science of analysis
of the text of the traditions; the Science of the foundations of jurisprudence
and jurisprudence itself; the Science of belief in the judgement after
death and the after-life. Even philosophy, which entered the Islamic arena
via the Greek, and remained there for some time in its original Greek,
took on the colour and beliefs of the people after a time.
Changes in the subject matter and the structure of disciplines took
place such that today, amongst Muslims, all subject matter concerning divine
gnosis is supported by proofs and reasons taken from the Qur'an and the
traditions.
All these subjects were also studied as an integral part of the Arabic
language: mastery of the science of verb declensions grammar, meanings
of words, commentary and explanation, the art of metaphors and good style,
and the philosophy and science of derived meanings allowed greater precision
and clarity in the study of the islamic sciences as a whole.
Indeed what stimulated scholars to record and arrange coherently the
laws of the Arabic language was the sense that they were serving God; love
of Him drew them to a clarity and sweetness of style which in turn generated
the science of correct speech and composition.
It is thus related that Ibn 'Abbas, who was one of the commentators
amongst the companions, explained the mean- ings of verses by taking examples
of the vocabulary in question from Arabic poetry. He advised people to
collect and learn arabic poetry saying, Poetry is the court of the Arabs
(meaning the place where the finest language may be heard).
The famous Shi'ite scholar Khahl ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi wrote the book
al-'Ayn on the subject of language and also described the science of poetic
rhyme.
Many others also wrote on the same subjects. The subject of history
was initially derived in Islam from stories of the lives of prophets, in
particular that of the Prophet Muhammad, and the description of the course
of past nations. To this basic material was added an account of the events
during the period immediately following the appearance of Islam. All this
was developed into a history of the world in the writings of such men as
al-tabari, al-mas'udi, al-ya'qubi and al-waqidi.
The original reason the Muslims translated and transmitted the natural
Sciences and mathematics from other cultures and languages into Arabic
was the cultural stimulation given to them by the Qur'an. Many different
sciences were translated from greek, syriac and sanskrit into arabic.
Access to these sciences was at first available only to the Caliph (who
was at that time leader of only Arab Muslims). Gradually they were made
available to all Muslims and improved upon as research methods, structuring,
classification and ordering of the subjects developed.
One of the main reasons the civilization of Islam, which formed after
the death of the Prophet, came to include a large part of the inhabited
world (and which today numbers over six hundred million inhabitants), was
the Qur'an. We as Shi'ahs, however, deny that the caliphs and the kings
who followed them had legitimate claim to the guardianship and execution
of the law even though they expanded Islamic civilization, and do not fully
agree with the way they explained the realities of islam.
Indeed the light of wisdom which illuminated the world was from the
light of the miracle of the Qur'an. The apppearance and diffusion of the
revelation caused a change in the direction of history and generated a
chain of important events resulting in the progress and development of
the culture of man.
1 This
restriction was imposed by the Umayyed caliph 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz, 99-101
ah.