SILK ROUTE FOUNDATION - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Director, Green Meadows Consulting

Khalil bin Ahmad Farahidi (718-791) has identified four different types of persons. (1) He who does not know and does not know that he does not know: he is a fool, shun him. (2) He who does not know and knows that he does not know: he is a child, teach him. (3) He who knows and does not know that he knows: he is asleep, wake him. (4) He who knows and knows that he knows; he is wise, follow him. (Arabic: rajulun yadri wa yadri annahu yadri, faasaluhu fazalikal aalim, faatbahu). It is this fourth category which has been referred to as man of knowledge. Mohammed Gayaman Turkmen, popularly known as, Shamsuddin Imam al-Zahabi (written as al-Dhahabi in the Arab world) has a great contribution to the world of knowledge. Infact, his repertoire of more than one hundred books makes one believe that he was a true aalim (man of knowledge) as described by Farahidi. In his book Siyar Aalam al-Nubala (10:642) Zahabi defined knowledge in Islam (al-ilm) as "Not the profusion of narration, but a light which Allah casts into the heart. Its condition is follower ship (ittiba) and the flight away from egotism and innovation." Personal opinions reduce objectivity and innovation results in deviations. To check innovations based on personal opinions, Imam Zahabi has suggested the technique of multiple referencing. He has cited example of using multiple statements to cross-check innovation in propagation of knowledge. In his book Tazkirat al-Huffaz Zahabi quotes many instances of Caliph Hzt. Abu Bakr and Hzt. Umar not believing a hadith until it was confirmed and verified by more than one Companions (sahaba). He also mentions that Hzt. Ali the fourth Caliph did not believe a hadith until its narrator took an oath of having personally heard it from the Prophet In his book Bayan Zaghl al-Ilm wa al-Talab, Imam Zahabi deals with various aspects of learning in great detail. Primarily his learning methodology can be divided into three major parts. For the sake of postulating, these parts have been given specific names by this author. Part 1 - Polygonal Learning - A polygon is a geometric figure with equal sides. It is closed like a circle, yet each of its side is clearly identifiable. All these sides are connected with each other to form a specific figure. The figure and its individual sides are interdependent on each other. For a specific figure a certain number of sides are necessary. On the other hand, if one of the sides is removed, the figure changes its basic shape. A four sided figure is square; a five sided figure is pentagon, and so on. A hexadecagon is a figure having sixteen equal sides. In his book Zaghl al-Ilm Zahabi has dealt with sixteen subjects like hadith learning, four schools of Islamic knowledge, logic, administration, mathematics, etc. The very fact that a book on hadith learning deals with multiple subjects is a proof that Zahabi believed that knowledge can not exist in isolation. For example hadith interpretation and its application in daily life would require a logical connect. Therefore, one should study logic. Logic, in turn, is closely connected with mathematics. Therefore, in order to have an all round knowledge, which this author prefers to call Polygonal Learning, interconnections between subjects have to be identified and those subjects need to be studied and taught.