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Chapter 40 - ‘Permission to Teach’ the Law

An Ijāza from al-Shaykh Muḥammad Muwaffaq al-Jalālī to ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Rāshidī, Issued 1215/1800

from Part VI - Alternative Sources for Islamic Legal Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2024

Omar Anchassi
Affiliation:
Universität Bern, Switzerland
Robert Gleave
Affiliation:
University of Exeter
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Summary

This chapter discusses an ijāza (a qualificatory ‘license’) given in 1215/1800 by Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Jalālī to a pupil named ʿAbd al-Qādir b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Rāshidī al-Muʿaskarī. The granter of the license was a major scholar in late 18th century Algiers, who had been appointed by Muḥammad b. ʿUthmān, the Bey of Algiers (r. 1766-1791), as director of the newly founded Madrasa Muḥammadiyya. The ijāza translated in this chapter illustrates many of the common features of an ijāza document. Aside from the usual prayers and salutations (to God, the Prophet, his family and the Companions), there is an extended exposition of the superiority of religious knowledge and the position of the ʿulamāʾ in Muslim society, as well as a brief introduction to the skills and qualities of the ijāza recipient. The author notes that the awardee had attended his classes, and emphasises that the awardee’s learned qualities had impressed him. The genealogies of both the ijāza donor, and the ijāza recipient are also clearly important, as they are noted with care.

Type
Chapter
Information
Islamic Law in Context
A Primary Source Reader
, pp. 412 - 418
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Primary Sources

Fawziyya, L. (ed.). al-Ijāzāt al-ʿIlmiyya li-ʿUlamāʾ al-Jazāʾir al-ʿUthmāniyya 1518–1830 (n.p.: n.p., n.d.).Google Scholar
Ibn Saḥnūn, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Rāshidī. al-Thaghr al-Jumānī fī Ibtisām al-Thaghr al-Wahrānī, ed. Buʿabdalī, Mahdī (Algiers: ʿĀlam al-Maʿrifa, 2013).Google Scholar

Secondary Sources

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