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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