The Meaning of ‘Ilm
Today attempts are being made to understand the basic epistemological issues in terms of that orientation. This is a valuable effort that deserves our interest and encouragement. However, it can be fruitful only if the practice of rigorous analysis is kept up, with close attention to the precise definitions of the various concepts involved.
With this view, an attempt is made in this paper to delineate the different shades and connotations of the term ‘ilm, i.e., knowledge, in the Islamic context. It is hoped that this brief attempt will serve as a step for future groundwork for the construction of a framework for an Islamic theory of knowledge.
In the Islamic theory of knowledge, the term used for knowledge in Arabic is ‘ilm, which, as Rosenthal has justifiably pointed out, has a much wider connotation than its synonyms in English and other Western languages. The English term ‘Knowledge’ falls short of expressing all the aspects of ‘ilm. Knowledge in the Western world means information about something, divine or corporeal, while ‘ilm is an all-embracing term covering theory, action and education.
Rosenthal, highlighting the importance of this term in Muslim civilization and Islam, says that it gives them a distinctive shape. In fact, there is no concept that has been operative as a determinant of the Muslim civilization in all its aspects to the same extent as ‘ilm.
This holds good even for the most powerful among the terms of Muslim religious life such as, for instance, tawhid “i.e. the oneness of God,” ad-din “i.e., the true religion,” and many other terms that are used constantly and emphatically. But none of them equals ilm in depth of meaning and wide incidence of use.
There is no branch of Muslim intellectual life, religious and political life, and the daily life of the average Muslim that remains untouched by the all-pervasive attitude towards “knowledge” as something of supreme value for the Muslims. ‘ilm is Islam, even if the theologians have been hesitant to accept the technical correctness of this claim. The very fact of their passionate discussion of the concept attests to its fundamental importance for Islam.
Significant of Knowledge in Islam
It may be said that Islam is the path of “knowledge.” No other religion or ideology has so much emphasized the importance of ‘ilm as Islam does. In the Qur’an, the word ‘alim has occurred in 140 places, while al-‘ilm in 27. In all, the total number of verses in which ‘ilm or its derivatives and related words are used in the Qur’an is 704.
The occurrence of aids of knowledge such as book, pen, ink etc. in the Qur’an amount to almost the same number. The term Qalam (i.e. pen) occurs in two places, al-kitab (i.e. The book) in 230 verses, among which al-kitab for al-Qur’an occurs in 81 verses. Other words associated with writing occur in 319 verses. It is important to note that pen and book are essential to the acquisition of knowledge.
The Islamic revelation started with the word iqra’ (‘read!’ or ‘recite!’). According to the Qur’an, the first teaching class for Adam started soon after his creation and Adam was taught ‘all the Names’. Allah is the first teacher and the absolute guide of humanity.
This knowledge was not imparted to even the Angels. In al-Kafi, there is a tradition narrated by Imam Musa al-Kazim (PBUH) where he said that ‘ilm is of three types: ayatun muhkamah (an irrefutable sign of God), faridatun ‘adilah (a just obligation) and sunnat al-qa’imah (an established traditions of the Prophet).
This implies that ‘ilm, the acquisition of which is obligatory upon all Muslims include the sciences of theology, philosophy, law, ethics, politics and the wisdom imparted to the Ummah by the Prophet. Islam actually does not consider any type of knowledge as harmful to human beings. However, what has been called in the Qur’an as useless or rather harmful knowledge, consists of pseudo sciences or the lores prevalent in the Jahiliyyah.
‘Ilm is of three types: information (as opposed to ignorance), natural laws, and knowledge by conjecture. The first and second types of knowledge are considered useful and their acquisition is made obligatory. As for the third type, which refers to what is known through guesswork and conjecture, or is accompanied with doubt, we shall take that into consideration later, since conjecture or doubt are sometimes essential as a means for knowledge, but not as an end.
Besides, various Qur’anic verses emphasize the importance of knowledge, and likewise, there are hundreds of Prophetic traditions that encourage Muslims to acquire all types of knowledge from any corner of the world. Muslims, during their periods of stagnation and decline, confined themselves to theology as the only obligatory knowledge, an attitude which is generally but wrongly attributed to al-Ghazali’s destruction of philosophy and sciences in the Muslim world.
Al–Ghazali, of course, passed through a turbulent period of skepticism, but he was really in search of certainty, which he found not in discursive knowledge but in mystic experience. In his favour it must be said that he paved the way for liberating the believer from blind imitation and helping him approach the goal of certain knowledge.
In the Islamic world, gnosis (ma’rifah) is differentiated from knowledge in the sense that the latter is the acquisition of information through a logical processes. In the non-Islamic world dominated by the Greek tradition, hikmah (wisdom) is considered higher than knowledge. But in Islam, ‘ilm is not mere knowledge, it is synonymous with gnosis (ma’rifah).
Islam and Intellect
Knowledge is considered to be derived from two sources: ‘aql and ‘ilm huduri (in the sense of unmediated and direct knowledge acquired through mystic experience). It is important to note that there is much emphasis on the exercise of the intellect in the Qur’an and the traditions, particularly in the matter of ijtihad.
In the Sunni world, qiyas (an analogical deduction) -as declared by Abu-Hanifah- is accepted as an instrument of ijtihad, but his teacher and spiritual guide, Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (PBUH), gave preference to ‘aql in this matter. Thus, in the entire Shi’i literature of Fiqh and Usul al-Fiqh, ‘aql is much more emphasized, because qiyas is only a form of quasi–logical argument, while ‘aql embraces all rational faculties of human beings.
Even intuition or mystic experience are regarded as a higher stage of ‘aql. In Shi’i literature in particular, and Sunni literature in general, ‘aql is considered to be a prerequisite for knowledge. Starting from al-Kafi, the Shi’i compendium of hadith devote their first chapter to the merits of ‘aql and the virtues of ‘ilm. In Sunni compendia of hadith, including al-Sihah al-sittah and up to al-Ghazali’s Ihya ‘Ulum, a chapter is devoted to this issue, though it is not given a first priority.
This shows that there is a consensus among the Muslims on the importance of ‘aql, which is denoted by such words as ta’aqqul, tafaqquh and tadabbur in the Qur’an. Exercise of the intellect (‘aql) is of significance in the entire Islamic literature, which played an important role in the development of all kinds of knowledge, scientific or otherwise, in the Muslim world.
In the twentieth century, the Indian Muslim thinker, Iqbal in his “Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam”, pointed out that ijtihad was a dynamic principle in the body of Islam. He claims that much before Francis Bacon, the principles of scientific induction were emphasized by the Qur’an, which highlights the importance of observation and experimentation in arriving at certain conclusions.
It may also be pointed out that Muslim fuqaha (Jurists) and mufassirun (Qur’an Interpreters) made use of the method of linguistic analysis in interpreting the Quranic injunctions and the sunnah of the Prophet (PBUHH). Al-Ghazali’s Tahatut al-falasifah is probably the first philosophical treatise that made use of the linguistic analytical method to clarify certain philosophical issues.
I personally feel that he is rather maligned than properly understood by both the orthodox and liberal Muslim interpreters of his philosophy. His method of doubt paved the way for a healthy intellectual activity in the Muslim world, but because of historical and social circumstances, it culminated in the stagnation of philosophical and scientific thinking, which later made him a target of criticism by philosophers.
Knowledge and Wisdom
There was made a distinction between wisdom (hikmah) and knowledge in the pre-Islamic philosophy developed under the influence of Greek thought. In Islam there is no such distinction. Those who made such a distinction led Muslim thought towards un-Islamic thinking.
The philosophers such as al-Kindi, al–Farabi and Ibn Sina are considered to be hakims (philosophers) and in this capacity superior to ‘ulama’, and fuqaha. This misconception resulted in al-Ghazali’s attack on the philosophers. Islam is a religion that invites its followers to exercise their intellect and make use of their knowledge to attain the ultimate truth (haqq).
Muslim thinkers adopted different paths to attain this goal. Those who are called philosophers devoted themselves to logic and scientific method and they were derogated by the Sufis, though some of them, such as Ibn Sina, al–Farabi and al-Ghazali took recourse to the mystic path in their quest of the truth at some stage.
As I said earlier, ‘ilm may not be translated as mere knowledge; it should be emphasized that it is also gnosis or ma’rifah. One may find elements of mystic experience in the writings of Muslim philosophers. In Kashf al-mahjub of al-Hujwiri a distinction is made between khabar (information) and nazar (analytic thought). This applies not only to Muslim Sufis but also to most of the Muslim philosophers, who sought to attain the ultimate knowledge which could embrace all things, corporeal or divine.
In the Western philosophical tradition, there is a distinction between the knowledge of the Divine Being and knowledge pertaining to the physical world. But in Islam, there is no such distinction. Ma’rifah is ultimate knowledge and it springs from the knowledge of the self (Man ‘arafa nafsahu fa qad ‘arafa Rabbahu, meaning: ‘One who realizes one’s own self realizes his Lord’).
This process also includes the knowledge of the phenomenal world. Therefore, wisdom and knowledge which are regarded as two different things in the non–Muslim world are one and the same in the Islamic perspective. In the discussion of knowledge, an important question arises as to how one can overcome his doubts regarding certain doctrines about God, the universe, and man.
By: Dr. Sayyid Wahid Akhtar
To be continued!
