Al-’ulûm al- Islâmiyya
Muslims have to keep on learning from the cradle to the grave. The knowledge which Muslims have to learn is called al-’ulûm al- Islâmiyya (Islamic sciences), which consist of two parts:
I) al- ’ulûm an-naqliyya, II) al-’ulûm al-’aqliyya
I) Al-’ulûm an-naqliyya (also called ‘religious sciences’): These sciences are acquired by reading the books of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunna. The scholars of Islam derived these sciences from four main sources. These four sources are called al-adillat ash-Shar’iyya. They are the al-Qur’ân al-kerîm, hadîth ash- sherîfs, ijmâ’ al-Umma and qiyâs al-fuqahâ’.
Religious sciences consist of eight main branches:
1) ’ilm at-tafsîr (the science of explanation of the Qur’ân al- kerîm). A specialist in this branch is called a Mufassir; he is a profoundly learned scholar able to understand what Allâhu ta’âlâ means in His Word.
2) ’ilm al-usûl al-hadîth. This branch deals with classification of hadîths.
3) ’ilm al-hadîth. This branch studies minutely the utterances (hadîth), behaviour (sunna), and manners (hâls) of our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’.
4) ’ilm al-usûl al-kalâm. This branch studies the methods by which ’ilm al-kalâm is derived from the Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth ash-sherîfs.
5) ’ilm al-kalâm. This branch covers the study of the Kalimat at-tawhîd and the Kalimat ash-shahâda and the six fundamentals of îmân, which depend on them. These are the teachings to be believed by heart. Scholars of Kalâm usually wrote ’ilm al-usûl al- kalâm and ’ilm al-kalâm together. Therefore, the layman takes these two branches of knowledge as one single branch.
6) ’ilm al-usûl al-fiqh. This branch studies the derivation of the methods of Fiqh from the Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth ash-sherîfs.
7) ’ilm al-fiqh. This branch studies the af’âl al-mukallafîn; that is, it tells how people who are discreet and pubescent should act on matters concerning the body. It consists of teachings necessary for the body. The af’âl al-mukallafîn has eight sections: fard, wâjib, sunna, mustahab, mubâh, harâm, makrûh and mufsid. However, they can be briefly classified into three groups: actions commanded, actions prohibited and actions permitted (mubâh).
8) ’ilm at-Tassawuf/Tazkiyah:This branch is also called ’ilm al-akhlâq (ethics). It explains not only the things we should do and what we should not do with the heart but also helps the belief to be heartfelt, makes it easy for Muslims to perform their duties as taught in the ’ilm al-fiqh. Tazkiyah is about purification of the self commonly by way of various Ibadah like Salah, Zikr and Self restraint, this leading to better charachter.
It is fard-i ’ain for every Muslim, male or female, to learn Kalâm, Fiqh and Tasawwuf/Tazkiyah as much as necessary out of these eight branches, and it is a guilt, a sin, not to learn them.
II) Al-’ulûm al-’aqliyya (also called ‘experimental sciences’): These sciences are divided into two groups: technical sciences and literary sciences. It is fard kifâya for Muslims to learn these sciences. As for Islamic sciences, it is fard ’ayn to learn as much as is necessary. To learn more than is necessary, that is, to become specialized in Islamic sciences is fard kifâya.
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