Talk:Ijazah
How exactly can you have "face to face interaction" "at the feet" of your instructor?
- Presumably neither of these phrases is meant to be taken literally. DS (talk) 16:11, 27 May 2009 (UTC)
This article needs expansion
Ijazah, ijaaz or ijaazah is not limited to the study of the Islamic sciences, Qur'an, Hadith, Seerah, etc. It applies to all disciplines that require a level of expertise. One good example is cupping or hijama. The current trend is to try and make hijama a course that can be studied via a book or distance learning program. Hijama or Cupping is very easy to learn but an ijaaza in cupping or hijama is not based on mastery of the technical aspects of the discipline. As with all ijaazza authorizations, they come from persons trained from a line of experts dating back to the Prophetic teaching or method. An ijaaza was only awarded to someone who displayed an advanced moral maturity far beyond mastering the technical or academic aspects of the discipline. Therefore, the smartest kid in the class was not necessarily the person who received an ijaaza. If we had an ijaaza system for Western medicine, banking, etc. we would not have the moral decay we are experiencing in these fields. Doctors no longer have training in morality and consequently have become anything but healers.
Even today, young Muslim men and women study overseas and think they obtain what is being represented as ijaaza certification or authorization and are not really receiving a true ijaaza. The system of ijaaza has been polluted on two fronts. First, the university system that emphasizes academic achievement and science and dismisses everything to do with spirituality and real training has taken front stage. And second, the lack of true understanding by self proclaimed scholars or sheikhs concerning what authorization or ijaaza really means - thus handing them out like candy to children. The mix between someone who received a doctorate degree from a "secular" university with partial knowledge of the ijaaza system has greatly clouded the true meaning. A real ijaaza only comes from a real sheikh an authorized teacher. A person who has become a real human being - studying under a person literally authorized by Prophet Muhammad. Direct authorization. This is in fact possible, but academics and scientists have not perfected their heart to the point where they have activated the senses of the heart which enables a true aspirant to spiritually see, hear, taste, smell and feel to the point you may meet and literally sit with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). If not reaching this level, who is authorized to say this is the Prophetic teaching? Authorized teachers of hadith were computers able to spit out thousands of hadith exactly as they were transmitted without a single mistake. This does not come from memorization it comes from a pure connection. It is not knowledge of the mind, it is knowledge of the heart.
Without a basic understanding of the above you can not convey the meaning of ijaaza.
Muslims have lost their way and deny these realities. Nonetheless, the general public should understand that ijaaza is something much more than mere academic scholarship. It is someone authorized by a holy (whole) person.
We should close all of our universities and start fresh. Raising morally acceptable people to lead all fields.
Comments before posting please! Anyone have "book" sources? :-) Not possible, so how do you include heart knowledge on Wikipedia that relies on book references?