The Phenomenon of 'Tahvil in the Ijazah Certificates of the Science of Qiraat

Abstract

In the Islamic educational tradition, ij & acirc;zah can be summarized as "the authorization given by a qualified teacher (who already holds an ij & acirc;zah) to certain students deemed competent, in order to maintain, preserve, and advance the discipline." In other words, ij & acirc;zah, which literally means "permission to teach what one has learned," refers specifically to the certificate or diploma granted to a student who, upon successfully completing the courses within a particular curriculum under the supervision of an authorized teacher(the one who grants the ij & acirc;zah), attains the ability to transmit the same teachings to their own students. This situation also demonstrates that there was no involvement from the official authorities of the time in the ij & acirc;zah documents, and that the entire authority belonged to the teacher granting the ij & acirc;zah. It goes without saying that in Islamic history, the teachers issuing these ij & acirc;zah were fully aware of this responsibility. This is because of the fact that this ij & acirc;zah tradition was practiced almost identically for centuries across all Islamic lands not only reflects the religious, cultural, and educational unity of Muslims but also indicates their meticulousness in this issue. This tradition, initiated by Muslims with the sensitivity to protect their intellectual heritage and pass it on to future generations, became a formal procedure implemented in all Muslim countries by the 4th century AH and even influenced Christian Europe. Indeed, the licentia docendi, which emerged in Latin West in the 12th century and eventually evolved into modern certificates, diplomas, and degrees, carries the same meaning as the ij & acirc;zah. A uniquely Muslim practice that developed under the influence of Islamic sciences such as hadith, tafsir, and qira'at, and later became a tradition, the ij & acirc;zah documents date back as early as the 3rd century AH. In Islamic cultural history, the earliest examples of ij & acirc;zah, issued to candidates considered competent after receiving education within a specific curriculum, are primarily found in the field of hadith. Later, they began to be used in other fields of knowledge as well. In the science of qira'at, one of these fields, the ij & acirc;zah serves as a kind of proof that the Qur'an recited by the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has remained unchanged both textually and phonetically. From the earliest period, based on the Prophet's guidance - "Learn the Qur'an from these four people..." - it is known that a robust tradition existed wherein the Qur'an was transmitted through listening (sama') and presenting ('ard) directly from authorized reciters and transmitters. In later periods, within the framework of the concept of fem-i muhsin, meaning "receiving Qur'anic education from a competent authority," ij & acirc;zah in qira'at terminology can be defined as a written certificate of competence indicating that the reader possesses the necessary qualifications to recite the Qur'an properly in accordance with established rules. In accordance with the focus of our topic, when we consider the position of tahw & icirc;l within the tradition of ij & acirc;zah documents in the science of qira'ah, it does not involve a different definition or application other than the ones in hadith studies. As in hadith, after the common narrator found in each chain of transmission (isn & acirc;d), the letter h & acirc; (sic) is placed between the chains, and the chains are presented in this way. The term mad&r, which lexically means "loop, orbit, axis, center, or something around which other things revolve," is used to express this common narrator, who likewise unites the separate chains within the ij & acirc;zah isn & acirc;ds. Unlike the science of hadith, however, ij & acirc;zah isn & acirc;ds continue to multiply by the addition of those who become eligible to receive an ij & acirc;zah. This situation considerably complicates the identification of the individual chains in ij & acirc;zah isn & acirc;ds within the framework of tahwil due to the increasing number of chains. In this context, the article first provides the text of an ij & acirc;zah document containing tahwil, then presents a diagram of the isn & acirc;ds within the ij & acirc;zah, followed by a detailed listing of the individual chains. As far as our research could determine, the use of tahwil in the tradition of ij & acirc;zah documentation within the science of qira'ah has not previously been the subject of academic study, which highlights the originality and scholarly value of this article. This article examines how the concept of tahwil, which originates from the field of hadith, is incorporated into ij & acirc;zah certificates within the science of qira'at. In hadith studies, tahwil is a technical term that refers to the practice of transitioning from one chain of transmission (isn & acirc;d) to another when narrating a hadith that has diffirent chains of transmission, and to the special symbol placed after their common narrator. Used in authoritative hadith works since the earliest period, tahwil became even more widespread in later times as isn & acirc;d chains grew longer and more numerous. Tahwil, as it appears in the field of hadith, is similarly employed in ij & acirc;zah certificates within the science of qira'at. The absence of academic research on the use of tahwil in ij & acirc;zah certificates signifies the originality of this article. Moreover, the primary aim of the article is to demonstrate the use of tahwil in ij & acirc;zah certificates by extracting the individual chains of transmission (isn & acirc;ds) from an ijazah that includes tahwil and attempting to determine the number of uninterrupted chains.