Continuity of teaching?

Coriolanus

I'm just wondering a little about Muslim... theology, or scholarliness for want of a better word.
Basically, is there, in the history of Islam, an equivalent to the progression of thought in Christianity. As in, in Christianity, there was Christ, then NT was written and added to over a period of time, and then you got Christian scholars all the way up to the modern day adding to the body of Christian writings, which are accepted as an authority, to a greater or lesser degree. As in a discussion might reference Jesus, but might also discuss St Francis' writings etc.

As in, I know there's the Koran, and then the writings contemporaneous to the times of Mohammed and interpretations by scholars. What I'm wondering is, are there say, 17th C Muslim scholars who are referred to in theological discussions as authorities on the matter, or does each generation go directly to the source so to speak?

That's not the clearest of posts. Does anyone get what I mean?

amibahabri

I dont really get what you mean.. but there are references in discussions. However, these references are not definitely taken for granted, although they are usually considered, and they are considered opinions rather than sources. The sources in Islam are two, The holy Quran and the prophet sunna ( saying & doings).

An example is Ibn Taymiyyah, the four imams and so on.

Coriolanus

Basically it always seemed to me that a lot of Christian, or at least Catholic, theological discussion and debate centred on medieval, renaissance and more contemporary writings than Jesus' own words or even the Gospels as a whole.

From the sounds of what you're saying though, Islam is much more "primary source" driven in it's theology.

amibahabri

Nevore wrote: »

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From the sounds of what you're saying though, Islam is much more "primary source" driven in it's theology.

Thats true. Even when one sates his opinion as reference in Islam, he/she must back it up with the `evidence" from either the Quran or Sunna. Furthermore, when one of these scholars opinion is referenced, again the source of his opinion is also mentioned. So, its really a primary source as you said.:)

Coriolanus

I should have gone with the primary source reference to begin with! :pac:

Thanks for the help amibahabri.

philologos

Nevore: I wouldn't say that is the case. In Islam, philosophers such as Al Ghazali, and Avicenna had used Aristotle's work to argue for the existence of God long before anyone did so in Europe.

As for Christianity not being primary source based, I'm not sure that is accurate either considering that much of it is written first hand such as the Epistles, Jesus' words are written by second hand witnesses of course, as are Prophet Muhammads words in the Hadith I had thought?

As for the Qur'an, the Qur'an was passed on orally for at least 100 years before it was written I had thought?

I find that multiple perceptions of God from multiple different prophets and authors help us to relate to Him better than just one.

hivizman

Jakkass wrote: »

Nevore: I wouldn't say that is the case. In Islam, philosophers such as Al Ghazali, and Avicenna had used Aristotle's work to argue for the existence of God long before anyone did so in Europe.

As for Christianity not being primary source based, I'm not sure that is accurate either considering that much of it is written first hand such as the Epistles, Jesus' words are written by second hand witnesses of course, as are Prophet Muhammads words in the Hadith I had thought?

As for the Qur'an, the Qur'an was passed on orally for at least 100 years before it was written I had thought?

I find that multiple perceptions of God from multiple different prophets and authors help us to relate to Him better than just one.

One of the important aspects of the development of Islamic thought is exhibited in the substantial work of Qur'anic exegesis known as tafsir. One of the most widely used of these is the Tafsir of Ibn Kathir (he was a student of Ibn Taymiyya, and worked in Damascus in the 14th century C.E.) - the Tafsir can be read on-line. This is analogous to Biblical exegesis, which involves extracting the meaning or meanings from the text.

In terms of doctrinal development, Islam recognises (or at least recognised in the past) the process of ijtihad [this comes from the same root as jihad, meaning struggle], where an individual scholar makes a legal decision based on that scholar's interpretation of the Qur'an and Sunnah. In addition, the idea of ijma, or consensus, suggests that the universal agreement of scholars can be a source of doctrine, obviously well-grounded in the Qur'an and Sunnah. There is a widely-cited hadith in which Muhammad is reported to have stated that "God will not allow my community to agree on an error". Arguably, ijtihad and ijma apply to legal decisions rather than to theological doctrine, though in Islam these categories overlap substantially.

With regard to the sources, the standard view among Muslims is that verses of the Qur'an were recorded in writing using many different media (such as papyrus, wood bark and even animal bones) at the time they were revealed, or soon after. The first caliph, Abu Bakr, is said to have instructed Muhammad's secretary Zaid ibn Thabit to collect together and verify all the verses of the Qur'an, and Zaid produced a written version of the Qur'an. The Qur'an was, however, transmitted through oral recitation, and as Islam spread in the decades after the death of Muhammad, there was a fear that different (and inconsistent) recitation traditions would develop in different parts of the Islamic lands. So the third caliph, Uthman, ordered a definitive text to be prepared, and this "Uthmanic recension" is the Qur'an that has survived. This took place around 20 years after Muhammad's death. Uthman, so the story goes, ordered written copies of the Qur'an to be sent to different cities in the Islamic lands, and these formed the basis for subsequent manuscripts. However, the strong oral tradition of Qur'anic recitation provided a check on subsequent transcriptions, making it much less likely that copyists' errors would creep into the manuscripts. The oldest extant copies of Qur'anic manuscript material have been dated to around 60-70 years after Muhammad's death.

One feature that still survives in traditional Islamic scholarship is the practice on the part of students of obtaining a certificate, or ijaza, from their teachers. One of the aspects of the ijaza is that it sets out the isnad, or chain of transmission, of the teacher's knowledge and authority to teach this knowledge. These chains of transmission go back through previous generations of scholars, often including very eminent figures such as the founders of the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence, to Muhammad himself.

AbuBakr

hivizman wrote: »

However, the strong oral tradition of Qur'anic recitation provided a check on subsequent transcriptions, making it much less likely that copyists' errors would creep into the manuscripts. The oldest extant copies of Qur'anic manuscript material have been dated to around 60-70 years after Muhammad's death.

Interesting that you talk about copyists' errors - Nevore referred to how Christian doctrine developed in the centuries after Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him). The doctrine of the Trinity doesn't really appear in the gospels, although subsequently the Church Fathers tried to find verses that could be used in support of the idea of the Trinity. A verse that's often quoted is in the First Letter of John (chapter 5, verse 7): "There are three that testify in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one". However, all the words after "testify" are now considered to be a copyist's addition, and they don't appear in many of the earliest manuscripts.

hivizman wrote: »

One feature that still survives in traditional Islamic scholarship is the practice on the part of students of obtaining a certificate, or ijaza, from their teachers. One of the aspects of the ijaza is that it sets out the isnad, or chain of transmission, of the teacher's knowledge and authority to teach this knowledge. These chains of transmission go back through previous generations of scholars, often including very eminent figures such as the founders of the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence, to Muhammad himself.

The idea of the isnad is also important for transmission of hadith (the words, actions, approvals and disapprovals of Prophet Muhammad - may peace and the blessings of Almighty Allah be upon him). These were passed on from the Companions of the Prophet through chains of transmitters, and eventually were collected by scholars who developed ways of assessing the soundness of hadiths by reviewing the reliability and authority of their transmitters. The oldest surviving written collections of hadith come from about 150 years after the death of the Prophet.