The Hierarchy of Knowledge in Islamic Civilization
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 16645457 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Paul L Heck (corresponding author), Paul Heck |
| Year | 2002 |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 27-54 |
| Publication date | 2002-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Arabica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0570-5398 • E-ISSN: 1570-0585 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15700580252933983 |
| OpenAlex | W2090382810 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
T HE classification of knowledge in pre-modern Islam, in light of recent interest,' is a topic that calls for further consideration.2 Here I would like to consider the question as a function of competing social values within Islamic society, in particular those attendant upon language, as advanced by servitors of the state (al-kuttdb) as well as by proponents of the universal validity of the Arabic language. It can be said that the various social groups of this period, while bound together in a single world, also possessed their own specific conceptions of knowledge and rules for attaining and determining such knowledge. The jurists (fuqahal') found true knowledge in the sources of the law (al-sari'a), the HadTt above all. For the mystics (ahl al-ta.awwuf ), knowledge was based upon a spiritual exercise and experience, i.e. ascetism (zuhd) and union (fand') with the divine, which together lead to a certain unveiling (kasf) of the truth (al-haqq). Litterateurs (udabd'), for their part, understood knowledge to be based upon the correct usage of language, including the rules of grammar and recognized norms of
Arabic · Civilization · Epistemology · Function (biology · Grammar · Hierarchy · Islam · Linguistics · Mysticism · Political science · Social knowledge · Sociology · State (computer science · Theology · Education and Islamic Studies · Islamic Studies and History · Law · Mathematics · Medieval and Classical Philosophy · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2022 (12) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |