Al-Ilm wa al-Hikmah fi al-Kitab wa al-Sunnah

(Knowledge and Wisdom in the Book and Sunnah)

Muhammad Muhammadi Rayshahri

With the collaboration of Reza Berenjkar,

1st ed., 1997, 525 pages, Arabic

Dar al-Hadith, Qom, Iran

The present work is an attempt to demonstrate the value of knowledge and reason in Islamic viewpoint. No other religious school of thought att­aches as much significance to kn­ow­ledge, science and awareness as Islam does. Likewise no other reli­gious school of thought warns the people against the dangers of ignor­ance as Islam does. In the viewpoint of Islam, knowledge is the base of all values and ignorance the root of all shortcomings and indi­vidual and social corruption. Also in the viewpoint of Islam man needs knowledge and awareness in any move while his belief, ethics and pr­actices should be based on awar­eness and knowledge. The Quran and our Infallibles attached special significance to knowledge, conside­ring it the source of life. Hence they taught the characteristics and feat­ures of this gem to their follwers. They have introduced the true scho­lars and the way to benefit from them and by introducing the wrong­doing scholars, they have warned us against their dangers and impediments.

The present book, which is a part of the Masw`ah Mizan al-Hikmah, through a thorough study of the Quranic verses and hadiths nar­rated by both Islamic Schools of Thought is a collection of the issues related to knowledge and wisdom arranged in a topical organization, clarifying the viewpoint of Islam about these significant issues. The present work has been organized in seven main chapters while the sub­topical issues related to the main chapters have been organized in a special disci­pline.

Chapter I: It discusses knowledge and such subjects as truth, virtue, the outcomes of knowledge and the contents of various branches of knowledge. 

Chapter II: It discusses wisdom and includes such subjects as the mean­ing, virtue, outcomes and basis of wisdom, compre­hen­sive wisdo­ms, the characteristics of the theo­so­phists, and other related issues.

Chapter III: This chapter disc­usses the fundamentals of cog­nition and inspiration as well as the ins­truments of intuitional and rational sciences.

Chapter IV: This chapter discusses the obstacles of cogni­tion and the instruments to remove the obstacles.

Chapter V: It discusses the issues related to learning and its necessity, virtue and commandments as well as the manners of inquiry.

Chapter VI: This chapter discusses the issues related to the necessity, virtue, and manners of teaching as well as the man­ners of answering questions.

Chapter VII: This chapter focuses on the characteristics of the scholars, including such subjects as virtue, manners, chara­cteristics, rights and types of scholars along with some exam­ples of good and bad scholars.

The contents of each chapter have been arranged on the basis of the Quran, the hadiths of the holy Prophet and the Infallibles respecti­vely. Also attempts have been made to provide answers to the following questions in the contents of the book: Which branches of knowle­dge are considered important in Is­lam? Whi­ch branch of knowledge is the criterion for assessing man’s va­lues and all other values? Which br­anch of knowledge incre­ases God’s int­erest in man, upgrades man’s ho­nor before the angels and causes all creatures to beseech God’s forgiveness for scholars?

The Persian translation of the book along with its Arabic version has been published with the following bibliographical data: Knowledge and Wisdom in the Quran and Hadith, trans. by Abdulhadi Mas`udi, Qom, Dar al-Hadith, 1st ed., 2000, two volumes, 816 pages.

Also a shorter version of the Persian translation of the book has been published with the following bibliographical data: image of Knowledge and Wisdom, translated and summarized by Abdulhadi Mas`udi, Qom, Dar al-Hadith, 1st ed., 2001, 224 pages.

The book, that is, Al-Ilm wa al_Hikmah fi al-Kitab wa al-Sunnah, has been translated into the following languages:

1- Urdu, with the following bibliographical data: Ilm wa Hikmat Quran or Hadith ki Rushani Min, trans. by Scientific Board of the Institute of Imam Muntazar, Qom, Institute of Imam Muntazar, 1st ed., 2002, two volumes, 695 pages.

2- English, with the following bibliographical data: Know­ledge and Wisdom, trans. by Scientific Board of the Institute of Imam Muntazar, Qom, Institute of Imam Muntazar, 1st ed., 2004, 620 pages.

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